"Morning by Morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto Me."
Our family has thought about those words a lot over the last two years. From where we started to where we ended up has been quite the wild adventure. Watching God work, giving us all we have needed daily has been such a blessing. For those of you who don't know all of the crazy details, here it is.
Two years ago God began to stir in both of our hearts to leave California. We began to pray about it and we were really being drawn to Tennessee. We would look into it but not too much. In April 2011, Matt lost his job as a Purchasing Manager and while he applied for jobs everywhere he could, he applied a lot in Tennessee. I still had my part time job at Legacy and the Lord faithfully provided for our needs. We had decided to sell our home, someone bought it and we moved the week of Thanksgiving and lived with my sister Hollie for a month. It was time to make some tough decisions. As hard as it was, we decided to move to Washington the week of Christmas. Both of our parents graciously wanted us (and of course their grandchildren!) but we felt like Matt would have a better chance getting a job closer to big cities such as Portland and Seattle.
Matt continued looking for jobs immediately. We were settling into nicely as part of the "big Elliott family". At the beginning of January, Matt fell on a slippery ramp and broke his wrist. With no health insurance, the Lord brought this extra trial into our lives. Matt ended up having to have surgery to repair his wrist. What do you do when you've lost your job, your home, your life as you knew it and you now need surgery? You depend on Jesus all the more! "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided." As of today, we have one more outstanding bill that has to be resolved and the rest is paid in full! " Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."
As summer was approaching, Matt and I were having heavy hearts. Can I give a shout out to my wonderful husband? He was faithful for 15 months to go after any job he could. It made me love him even more. We were getting ready to return to California for Hollie's wedding with no job in sight. To say we were discouraged was an understatement. We talked together of Tennessee and how we probably had to get used to the idea that we weren't ever going.
Then the next day my friend Kelli told me of a job in Tennessee. Matt applied, had a skype interview, flew to Nashville, GOT THE JOB and flew back in time to leave for Hollie's wedding. We went back to Washington and five days later we were driving across the country to Spring Hill,Tennessee (about 25 miles south of Nashville). "Morning by morning new mercies I see."
So what is Matt doing? He is a manager for Waffle House restaurants. In the south they are as common as Starbucks. He works long hours but loves it! He has never done anything like this before. All the locals love him (of course!). The girls love going to visit, eat a waffle and tell everyone that their dad is behind the counter.
What am I up to? I am a stay at home mom loving and serving my family. I meet women for lunch (I'm a Southern Lady who lunches!), I kiss Lucy all day, I am involved in a Women's bible study at church (cbcnashville.org), I help lead a group in a mentoring program for young adult women at church and I just started singing on the worship team.
Ivy (6) is getting adjusted. She started off 1st grade a little behind in some areas but she is finding her stride and is now where she needs to be. After much persuasion (on her part) we let her ride the bus to and from school, which she loves. She is making friends and loves church.
Lucy (3) has quite the social life! She goes with me to bible study and has her own class and then goes to preschool at our church on Thursdays. She has a precious friend, Alli Peterson and I can't help but crack up hearing them talk like big kids. She was a whiz at potty training, taking less than a week. It was great having my assistant Ivy help me with that.
Over the years, through many trials, I have thought about the Lord's faithfulness and love for my family. Over the last few months here in Tennessee, I can't help but thank the Lord for His kindness. We would have loved and served Him in California, Washington or Iowa, but oh how kind He was to give us Tennessee. I still often cry out of just pure happiness. Matt and I lay in bed and still say," I can't believe we live in Tennessee."
Happy Birthday to the One who proves yet again to be faithful and true.
Love: Matt, Kelli, Ivy and Lucy Elliott
No comments:
Post a Comment