Location: Scottsdale, AZ

Tonight I logged on to Blogger for the first time in a long time. I've been wanting to blog about the events of the past year for a while now, but felt as though I haven't had time to get the thoughts out of my head and onto the screen. I especially didn't want to do it on an iPad keyboard. So, yesterday Michael and I went to Best Buy and bought a new laptop and here I am. The first order of business was to update my profile.
Location: Scottsdale, AZ. WOW!
So, how did WE get HERE? GOD! He's the short answer. The long answer goes a little something like this.
One day last March, after an extremely frustrating day at the office, I told Michael 'let's move.' His reply 'the only place I'd ever move is Scottsdale, AZ.' Ha, ha, ha! Funny! *short pause* Let's go! That night we seriously discussed a move to Scottsdale. We had vacationed here in 2011 for Michael to play golf. It was what he refers to as his 'reward' for completing a half marathon with me the week before. We came out and he checked a round at TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course off of his bucket list. We also fell in love with this area. So, that night last March we booked a room at the La Quinta Inn in Phoenix for one week. Our plan was to drive across the country, with Sunny in tow, and live as residents for a few days. That is exactly what we did. While we were here Michael visited the FedEx station to have a look around and meet the senior manager (who used to be at the Jonesboro station). He had a really good visit but felt as though it would be a while before a position opened, maybe a year. In FedEx, you can transfer anywhere in the company as long as you are qualified for the job opening and you 'win' it by bidding based on your seniority with the company. Even then he wasn't sure if he had enough seniority to secure a job when one came open. I had lunch with Patti, a business contact who I'd become friends with over the past eight years. I wanted to meet her face-to-face and I also wanted to ask her about the job market. We had a great visit and she assured me that a job wouldn't be a problem for me. That was nice to hear. With our work related errands complete we began exploring the area and looking at apartments. We toured three apartment communities and got a feel for the cost of rent. The last day we were in town, we noticed the Arizona state offices of the Southern Baptist Convention very near the FedEx station. We decided we would drop in and ask about area churches. It was then that we had the pleasure of meeting Byron Banta for the first time. Byron was serving as the interim director of the state convention at that time. We shared with him the reason we were in Scottsdale and explained to him our involvement in our church back home. We told him if we were going to move we would need to find a new church home. That's the first time we heard about Pinnacle Church, a church plant that had just started in January and met there on the same campus as the SBC offices. We visited with Byron for about an hour. We told him how we were excited to be headed to Peru in a couple of months on a mission trip. This trip would be extra special as it would be the first time Michael was going. We also asked that he pray for us as we considered the move. We wanted to make sure it wasn't a selfish move, that it was God's will. After praying with us and for us, Byron, I am sure unknowingly at the time, voiced the reason that we would move to Scottsdale. He said that he was a member of a prayer group that called themselves the Luke 10:2b group (Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.). He and his group had been praying that the Lord would lead a young, mission-minded couple to the area. Oh my! Michael and I couldn't fathom that we would be an answer to anyone's prayer. Yet we went back home to Arkansas and began to pray. As we prayed, God began to move!
During the next couple of months, Michael and I began preparing for a yard sale. We honestly didn't think we would be going anywhere for at least a year, so there was no immediate hurry. However, we had ample junk that we could get rid of and figured we might as well start the process. We stuffed the garage with boxes and boxes of clothes and housewares that we no longer had a use for. We also remained focused on our short term goal of Peru, July 25 through August 1. On June 21st a job at the Scottsdale FedEx station 'opened' for bids. Oh no! What about Peru? Every job that Michael had seen post since April had opened for bids on a Friday, bidding closed the next Friday and the desired start date was always the following Monday. However, this job had a desired start date of August 4...the Monday after we returned from Peru?!? Amazing! So, Michael bid on the job and I emailed Byron to request prayer from him and the Luke 10:2b group. That Friday when bidding on the position closed, Michael was out bid by one employee. We were a little discouraged, but knew that if God wanted us in Scottsdale, He would get us to Scottsdale. Michael called the manager is Scottsdale a few days later to follow up on the job posting. He was told that the man who out bid him had previously worked at the Scottsdale station and he knew that he wanted to return to the area. He was more than certain the other guy was going to take the position. Oh well, it obviously wasn't our time...so we thought. On July 16th Michael got a phone call from manager who said 'I'm not sure what happened, but he declined the job. If you want it, its yours.' That afternoon Michael called me at the office and asked if I wanted to move to Scottsdale! Of course I did!.. But oh, no...here we were only a couple of weeks away from our mission trip and Michael was going to have to get off of one plane and jump on another to begin work the following Monday. We would be apart and have to move separately... we had a house to sell... I had to find a job... we had a lot of business to take care of! What were we going to do? Nothing. We would do nothing. God would do it all. Our God is a God of details and He already had them all worked out. Because of various circumstances at the Scottsdale station, Michael's start date was postponed to September 3. We would not have to move separately. We would have all the time we needed to sell everything and make the move together. Knowing this, we were able to focus on our mission trip with the understanding that when we returned we would hit the ground running in preparation of the move.
That's exactly what we did. We sold everything we owned that didn't fit in our two cars. Everything that didn't sale was donated. It was a very freeing process. We also had to sell our house. Amazingly, we had someone contact us to buy it and never did as much as put a sign in the yard! As for my job hunt, there wasn't one. My boss was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to continue working for him while in Arizona. Michael and I were blown away by the way things were falling into place! We were also extremely blessed by the outpouring of love and encouragement from our friends, family and church. Our Sunday School class surprised us with a potluck in our honor a few Sundays before we left. They laid hands on us and prayed over us. What a joy to be a part of such an amazing class! I'll never forget the words of our precious friend, Teresa. She told me before we left that God had already picked out friends for us in Scottsdale and they were there waiting on us. Wow! What a comfort to know!
The next few weeks passed quickly. We tied up all of our loose ends and said all of our good byes. It was extremely emotional but even more exciting! We were about to take the biggest leap of faith ever. It would strengthen our relationship with God and with each other. Oh my goodness, we were really about to do this! I emailed Byron to let him know we were headed his way!
On Tuesday, August 27th, Michael and I pulled out of Jonesboro, AR with our sights set on Arizona...and Sunny in a laundry basket in my passenger seat. I'll never forget the song playing on the radio as I drove out of town...'I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind, the God of angel armies is always by my side.'
Driving across the country allows one a lot of time to think. I would be lying if I said I didn't have thoughts of self doubt during that trip. There were a few 'what were you thinking'-s and 'are you sure you're doing the right thing'-s. We both spent a lot of time on the phone during the trip. I think it was our way of occupying our mind. But there was a lot of excitement, too. We were going into unknown territory. Neither of us had ever lived outside of Arkansas. Michael had never lived outside of Jonesboro. We were beginning an adventure. In Amarillo Michael had a near blowout. We didn't make it as far as we'd hoped to in the first day, but God didn't let the time go to waste. We had the privilege of praying with the gentleman who changed the tire. His daughter was in the hospital for complications of diabetes and his wife was struggling with some issues of her own. We were certain it was a divine appointment and were perfectly fine with calling it a night earlier than we'd planned. The next morning we started the day with two new tires for Michael and got back on the road. If you haven't driven from Arkansas to Arizona I recommend it...once. The first time was great. We saw part of the country we'd never seen before. That part of the country isn't as exciting the second time around. Needless to say, we were thrilled to hit the Arizona state line. As we approached the Phoenix metro area, we could tell it was raining. Boy was it raining. We had a proper welcome to the desert with a monsoon! High winds and pouring rain during rush hour wasn't what I would've picked, but it made us all the more thankful to arrive at the hotel. When we stepped out of our cars it felt like we had stepped into an oven. I remember thinking 'wow, this really is hot.' We checked in and got a good night's rest.
On August the 29th we moved into apartment 152 at Chazal Scottsdale. It didn't take long to unpack all of our boxes and head out for our first Walmart trip. I emailed Byron to let him know we would be attending Pinnacle Church Sunday. Later in the week we bought a bed and furniture. By the weekend we were somewhat settled.
Sunday morning we headed to Pinnacle Church. We immediately felt welcome at Pinnacle. Rob, the pastor, was quick to approach us and let us know he was expecting us and had already been praying for us that morning. Wow! That really made us feel good! We really enjoyed worship and the message. Had we found our church home?
We both started work on September 3rd. Michael was training with other drivers and I was settling into a new office environment. Outside of work we continued to settle and make the apartment home. Sunday rolled around and we went to Pinnacle again. We had toyed with the idea of visiting other churches but I think we both knew that we were called to Pinnacle.
Weeks passed and we began serving in the church as part of the setup crew and greeters. We became members of Pinnacle on September 22nd. Shortly after that we began going to small group on Wednesdays and making friends with those that God had already picked out for us just like Teresa said He had. We had found our church home and it was the one that God had been leading us to all along!
So, there's the long answer to the question 'How did WE get HERE?'
But that's not the end of the story. God is still moving. Big things are happening at and through Pinnacle. Our congregation is growing, we've got an amazing team of missionaries working to reach our community and we have a lot of big plans for the summer. Just recently I got a message from our friend, Jennifer, back home and she wanted to know the name of our church. I didn't think much about it and quickly replied with 'Pinnacle Church, www.pinnaclechurchaz.org'. Later that week she sent me another message to let me know the reason she'd asked. Jennifer is in banking and had a customer come in that week to send some money to her son in Scottsdale. That prompted Jennifer to tell her our story. The customer then told her that she thought there needed to be more churches in Scottsdale and she wanted to send our church $10,000! Michael and I couldn't believe it! What a blessing from a total stranger that was obviously orchestrated by God! Most recently we've had visitors from Walnut Street, Larry and Waylan, who came out to look around and meet Rob to discuss possible mission opportunities. How cool to think a partnership might form between our church in Arkansas and our church in Arizona! So, we are super encouraged by all that God has done and is continuing to do. Michael and I continue to not only adjust to our new home, but we are thriving. God has blessed our marriage and it is stronger than ever, we are both doing well in our jobs and we are so grateful for the new friends we've made. Michael is enjoying golf and I've started hiking. We know without a shadow of a doubt that God has us exactly where He wants us right now and I can honestly say there is no better feeling in the world!