Transition

 We pray that your holiday season was full of joy and celebration and sweet moments with loved ones. We had a sweet time in Arkansas keeping I40 hot going back and forth between our parents. It was exhausting, but Clay felt well most of the time and the kids traveled great and the baby slept, so no complaints here! 

We have had some big news develop over the last month and a half. In November, we began praying for the Lord to show us if we should start the process of moving back to Arkansas to be closer to family. Through a really beautiful story, the Lord has provided us a temporary place to land about 15 minutes from my parents in Arkansas, so we will be making the move in mid-January! 

Emotions are a funny thing in this season. I find them more fickle and untrustworthy than ever, and yet feel them so deeply and thoroughly. When we started praying, I honestly just felt like I couldn't think of a single scenario that "felt" like the right thing to do. And the reality is that none of them will. This is not the life that I thought we would be living, and so nothing feels quite right. Praise be to God that He is leading us with absolute clarity. He opened this door in a way that made it so apparent to us that this is what he wants us to do. The house we are moving to is beautiful and spacious. The seminary is so generous to let Clay continue to work remotely. And we were able to get an appointment with an oncologist in Little Rock in whom we feel confident about transferring care. The Lord is so kind to lead us and make a way. 

We told the kids we were moving in a scavenger hunt the day we celebrated Christmas at home. They were thrilled to be moving closer to cousins and grandparents, but the next day on the way to church Lydia said, "Mommy, I'm excited but I'm really sad to leave, too." 

It is bittersweet indeed. We are thrilled to be closer to family  and friends in Arkansas, and yet, we are so sad to leave our community here in Nola. I have said from the beginning that we couldn't have been anywhere better when we got this news. The sheer army of  people who rallied around us from our church and on the seminary campus was an amazing and humbling thing. We have literally had a meal train for multiple nights a week since we brought Judson home from the hospital. Every time, they open it up for another month, I think, surely people are done feeding us, and every time it fills up. People have taken our kids for hours and hours of playdates. I have friends who meet each week just to pray for our family. We feel so loved and protected here. The Bride doing what the Bride was created to do is a powerful and beautiful thing, and it has been an honor to be on the receiving end of it here in Nola during the last 7 months.

But we look forward to a slower pace and living in the country. We are eager to see what the Lord has for us in this next season. 

Prayer requests:

• Clay has a brain scan and CT scan today (1/2) and a bone scan tomorrow (1/3). Please pray for favorable results 
• We also have appointments for our other kids and Clay is scheduled to have a round of immunotherapy on 1/11. 
• Pray for a sweet last couple weeks in Nola and a smooth transition for all of us back to Arkansas

Ready, break!