I just noticed that it has been awhile since we last posted.  It really doesn’t seem like it was 10 months ago that we last posted.  We both keep saying we will post something and then it just never really happens.

I cannot pretend that I can fill you all (assuming there is anybody still reading this thing),  to the events of this last year.  I will try to hit the high spots now and maybe fill in the gaps if I can remember them later.

I think the last post that Heather wrote informed everyone that I had started the hobby of beekeeping.  To this date, it has been one of the best hobbies I have ever embarked upon.  Although this past year was a terrible year for the beekeeper, it did allow me to learn a lot about the little gals and not focus so much on trying to produce honey.

To recap, Last year, I attended a local beekeeping workshop, where in which I won my first beehive. I decided that it would probably be wise to start this endeavor with two hives. So shortly after the workshop, I bought another hive setup and bees and started around mid May last year with two hives.  I knew that I would have to help the hives along this first year by feeding them sugar water until the colonies could grow large enough to support themselves.  My main goal was to get them strong enough for the winter. So essentially that is what I did until late fall.  One of the colonies was still fairly weak and I felt it wouldn’t make the winter, so I combined the colonies.  I checked on my one colony last week and it made it through the winter well and is bringing in lots of pollen from some of the early blooming flora in this region.  Meanwhile this winter I bought three more hives and assembled them.  I have some bees ordered and am hoping to catch a swarm or two this year.

Okay, enough about the beekeeping. In other news, Heather and I are buying a house.  We already have a contract for a house in a new subdivision between Spring Hill and Columbia.  As of yesterday, they have started the framing and are making good progress.

Heather is still in PA school at Trevecca.  She will be finishing her first year in a few months and in August she will begin her clinical rotations.  She is doing well and is excited about finishing and getting a job.

I suppose that is it for now. We hope to update this more, but don’t hold your breath.

As an exercise to satisfy my curiosity.  Please comment and let me know if you still read this blog.

Thanks

Jon

I suppose an apology is in order….
Dear blog, We are very sorry for not giving you the attention that you are due!  We will try to do better.

Sincerely,

Jon and Heather

Well, we have not kept up with this blog like we had hoped, so here is a much needed update for anyone out there who might read this. I will put things in bullet form to make it easy.

-I decided to give up on the job search and basically stay at home

-I changed my mind mid-March and decided to sell Mary Kay, that has not been as successful as I would have liked, and I’ve decided I really need more friends

-I have kept busy, reconnected with old friends and meeting new ones

-Jon and I have been attending Maury Hills Church and love it so far, we have roughly 20 days left in a study, and then I think we will reevaluate and decide if this is where we will place membership

-We found a small group that has been awesome, and one of my future professors happened to be in the group….God works in wonderful and mysterious ways

-Jon decided that he wanted to try beekeeping and began researching, we then went to a workshop together and won a bee hive….since then we have been busy putting together additional hives and getting ready, we should get our bees this weekend!

-Jon is the most wonderful husband on the planet

-I start school in less than 2 weeks and am both very excited and very nervous

I think that is about all of the “important” stuff. I’m sure in a few weeks I will have much more to talk about and reflect on, but will also have considerably less time, so we’ll see if this gets updated.

We just find ourselves so blessed to have such a great family, a nice home, a wonderful church family, great jobs, and great school opportunities. Thank you God! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin this new journey…

A short update:  We have mostly gotten settled in our apartment in Spring Hill.  Some old and dear friends of mine came and helped us move the remainder of our belongings from storage in Nashville to the apartment here.   Heather and I (mostly Heather)  have been busy unpacking and organizing things.  All is beginning to get settled.

Pogo has taken to the new pad pretty well.

The last few months have been pretty amazing.  Heather applied for PA school at the last minute. I applied for a position (still with  TVA) with the probability against me in getting it.  With all of this on the plate, we decided to make a move from Knoxville, where all our friends are and I love,….to a familiar yet uncertain locale.   God made a place for us here…. He provided me with the job, he provided Heather with the opportunity for education and we found a home closer to family.  God is good!!

We are still searching for a church home and have narrowed it down to two.  I think we will make a decision in the next couple months for sure.   It is weird to try to get plugged into a new church home when we left a great one behind.  We find ourselves comparing and contrasting the places here and our church in Knoxville. But all will work out…God has made a place for us here and I am sure that a church home is in his plans also.

If you are reading this and you are the praying sort…pray for Heather as she is preparing for grad school. It is a scary and daunting endeavour.  Pray for me…that I can forge relationships and be a proper example to those I meet.

Well, this update turned out to be not so short. I apologize.

Today is sort of bittersweet. For those of you that love reading, then you know how easy it is to get caught up in a book and get somewhat attached to fictional characters. Several years ago, I began reading books by Karen Kingsbury. I began the Redemption series then, and read those five books. Then she did 2 other spin-off series. There are a total of 14 books, and I finished the last of them last night. I know it seems so silly, but I have been through a lot with these charactersa nd so it is sort of hard to see them go. I feel like it is an end of an era. I have laughed with them, cried with them, been mad at them, etc. I have actually learned a lot from these characters about the love of God and the redemptive power He alone has. I’ve learned through them to trust Him more and know that He really does have good plans for our lives. I guess you would just have to read the books, but I love and appreciate the way she showcases each character’s relationship with God, the way they interact with Him. It has challenged me greatly. I’m just so thankful for literature and all we can learn from it, even fiction.

On a different note, Jon and I finally found a place to live that will be closer to his new job and not too far from my school. We are really excited about it. It is a nice place and we begin moving in on Saturday. Woohoo!

Well, this last weekend was awesome! Not only did I find out that I was accepted to grad school, but we also had the blessing of being in Florida and worshiping and visiting with old friends. This weekend is always special. In fact, it is how I began my experience at UT with the CSC and where Jon and I began our friendship three years ago. This past weekend was one of the best times yet. I felt as though God were speaking directly into my life. The messages seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear. I will not recap the entire weekend, but will tell you a bit of what I learned. I think the takeaway messages are as follows:

1. God loves us abundantly; one of the greatest challenges in life is to simply let God love us and rest in that, and that be enough

2. When we have a relationship with God, if we are allowing Him to love us like He desires, then we will experience true joy and have hope

3. God can use us right where we are; He can do the impossible. We are the ones that try to put limits on His power.

4. If we simply surrender to God, let His love fill our lives, He will do great things through us

5. He will never ever ever let us go

I think that’s about it. Maybe I got it all wrong, but that is what I learned/was reminded of this weekend. I feel renewed. I am seeing more clearly now how God wants to use me. I’m excited! Praise Him for an amazing weekend!

And now I want to leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns. They pretty much sum up the final message of the weekend from GCG. I hope you are blessed.

“Oh Love that Will Not Let Me Go”

Words by George Matheson

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee,
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee,
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee,
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Well, things are clearing up for Jon and I. A month ago, things were so uncertain. Jon and I moved to Nashville on faith, hoping that things would work out, but not really sure what God had planned for us. Jon was offered the position that he had been wanting, so that was one prayer answered. Then, today I received the answer to my school situation. The verdict was……I was accepted!!!!!! I have been struggling all afternoon to believe that I really got in. I feel incredibly blessed. God has just given us so much to be grateful for. I am certain now that we are exactly where God intends for us to be. I am really looking forward to school and all that it will entail. I will do my best to keep everyone updated as I begin this new journey.

Well, last week I had my interview with Trevecca’s Physician’s Assistant program. I think the interview went well. It was not quite as intimidating as I thought it would be. However, I found out that I was in the last group to interview. This sucks because the numbers went something like this: 400+ people applied, 144 got interviews, and they only choose 40. By the time I had my interview, 26 people had already been offered and accepted a spot. This means that out of the 60-70 people that interviewed with me, only 14 will get offers. Now, I’m not great with statistics, but I don’t think it is in my favor to get in. Never fear though, I have a backup plan. I’m looking for jobs already, and plan to just work for a year and get more experience and then apply again. No big deal. I just wish I would get the letter before Jon and I go to Gulf Coast Getaway. That way, I will not have to spend all weekend wondering about the results. I’m am pumped about GCG though. I know this weekend will be awesome. Maybe Jon and I will come back with a clearer vision of what God wants for us.

In other news, Jon and I have been debating about whether or not to buy a house or continue to rent for a while. This decision rests largely on whether or not I get into school and of course whether or not we can find something decent in our price range in the location that we need to live in. Complicated for sure. The task of finding a house seems so daunting, and expensive. We have almost decided to rent. We found the perfect apartments, with an exception. Their pet policy says that they will only accept dogs whose full grown weight is less than 30 pounds. I weighed Pogo the other night and he wieghed about 35 Wish I knew what to do.

Part of our reason we moved to the Mid. Tn area is that I had applied for another position within TVA.  This position is very similar to what I currently do, the major differences being that I don’t have to travel anymore and that I will be on a 5day work schedule rather than the current 4 day work schedule. 

Today, I was offered the job in Columbia, TN and I accepted.  The news doesn’t change our current living situation much right now. We are still awaiting to find out about Heather’s school situation, before we start making any decisions.  Thanks for all of your prayer and encouragement!

Heather and I have been in Nashville already for almost a month. Prior to our move, we both knew that finding a congregation that is the most fitting for us is important.  With that in mind, we decided to make a list and to visit each and every congregation on that list once if not twice before narrowing it down to a few congregations in which we will make our final selection.  We are  trying to make an educated decision and find the right fit.

Thus far, we have visited 4 different congregations and plan on visiting several more.  It seems like we might be visiting around for awhile.

I guess I took for granted the church home we had in Knoxville and wished I was more encouraging to visitors.  It can be an intimidating experience.

Pray for us while we continue our search and can find the right fit.

Have a great week!