Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory

FAVORITE MEMORY=This memory is my favorite because for my family it was a HUGE step of faith.  Many of you all know the story of how we ended up in Oregon but for those of you who don't here you go. And if you stick with me you will understand the meaning of the picture I promise. 

 It all started about 3 years ago when Marc came to Oregon for his then job to make contact with someone to start helping them with a cadet program.  I can still remember our conversation on the phone of how he described it and would love to retire in Oregon.  I, who have ALWAYS wanted to move out of Alabama was instantly on board but of course it was not in the cards at least at that moment.  For the next three years, Marc would travel back and forth to Oregon and Alabama and always looked forward to the trip bc he loved it.  With his current job he was gone 2 weeks out of almost every month and I felt like a single mommost of the time and it took it's tole.  Marc and I finally came to a point where we wanted a change, needed it.  We weren't sure what change that was at first.  We prayed for God's guidance and he answered.  Marc had started looking for a new job. One that would allow him to be home more.  We had a roller coaster of a ride with what we thought he was going to do but it ended up not being what God had in store for us.  So with a possibility of 3 jobs once we got into Oregon we made the hardest choice in our lives to follow what we felt God was asking us to do and head West.  Crazy you may think with Marc not having a concrete yes to a job but honestly when you take the step of faith and choose to trust God he always provides.  So we broke the news to all our loved ones, said goodbye, hopped in the moving truck and headed on our way.  It took us 6 days because we stayed with my brother for 2 days. It was a LONG drive but I loved each and every mile. The days with my kids in the car, walkie talkie in hand chatting with my husband in the truck in front of me, seeing this beautiful country first hand, having the wind blow through my hair as the windows were rolled down, the poor dogs in the back wondering what  we gave them to make them so woozy(lol).  I loved each and every moment.  But when I saw that "Welcome to Oregon" sign I felt I was at home.  Our heavenly father had guided us down this road and most of our prayers were unanswered then but I had a peace with in my soul that knew God was guiding us to something better and with our stepping out in faith he would bless us. 

Here are a few things that would not have happen if God was not in charge;

1)of course we would not be here in Oregon and Marc would not be able to be at home every night to tuck in his children and even get to play with them after work.

2)Every house we tried to get out here never worked out, there are not a lot of available houses in this area due to being in the center of wine valley, and when Marc did find a place it was scooped up the very same day by another couple only to be return to us a few days later.

3)If we didn't live in the house we live in now we would not have met our wonderful neighbors who we now have Family Sunday dinners with each week.

4)With only having one car at the moment I would not be able to get around as I do now since everything is in walking distance. If we would have moved in a few houses down the kids would be going a different school across town not in walking distance. 

5)We now go to a wonderful church that encourages community outreach.  This has been a passion of mine for a long time. 

I could go on and on about how I see God's hand in our lives and also could go on and on about the negative things in life but I love that I can see a clear path and have a peace about it.  It was hard to leave our support system back home and being far away from our families is not always easy esp. with the death of my father earlier this year.  But God always provides, ALWAYS!  So when I saw that sign I felt God saying Just Wait for what  I have in store for you.  Blessing are on the way!  Thank you Lord for all you have done so far.  We are truly blessed more than we deserve.

**And also wanted to note that like the other posts I didn't want to mentioned the obvious like the day I met my husband, got married, had my two amazing children, etc.  All were wonderful, amazing, beautiful moments.  But this one is my most recent most rewarding moment.