A few days ago Travis and I started talking about where we were a year ago and how fast time has gone by. And since I blog about everything I started looking back at dates and when things started happening for us and how mightily God has worked in our lives. Here is what the time line looked like a year ago.
Aug. 9: Travis supply preached for David McNew (Pastor of Fountain Creek Baptist Church in Emporia, VA) which is when we meet Betty (Edwards) Spradlin in Sunday School.
Oct. 18: Travis supply preached at Potecasi Baptist Church
Nov. 15: Travis trial preached at Potecasi Baptist Church
Nov. 22: Potecasi Baptist Church voted 100% yes to ask Travis to be their full time senior pastor
Dec. 30: We became full time residents of Potecasi, NC and the Pastoral family of Potecasi Baptist Church
I say all this because in such a short amount of time our lives flipped upside down and then right side up. We knew we were drawing near to a cross roads in our ministry but we weren't sure which way God was going to send us or when it would happen. So we PRAYED! I mean we really prayed for peace about it, for knowledge to discern what was going to happen and that when something did happen it wouldn't be because we wanted it to but because God wanted it to. We were on his time not ours. And when it happened it was like a firecracker fun and explosive.
I remember meeting Betty in Sunday School that morning on Aug. 9. She was quiet but very friendly. She mentioned she was engaged but her finance went to a church in NC where he lived, in a town we had NEVER heard of. But honestly we didn't give it to much more thought because we were just fill ins that day and we didn't know her finances church was needing a pastor. However, God made an impact on Betty through us. Because she told Richard (her finance, who attends Potecasi about us) and God began to work mightily in all of us.
We were praying about what to do at this cross roads and Potecasi Baptist was praying for God to send them a pastor that was the right fit for them. (who knew)
After our trial preach we got ready to head home for Thanksgiving. Travis talked to Richard and the pastor search committee many times that week about different questions people had or things we might be interested in, etc. I remember sitting in church (at our home church in Knoxville) that Sunday wondering what was going on at Potecasi that morning (Nov. 22). Wondering when it came time to vote if they would like us, hate us, or be indifferent about us. My stomach was upside down the whole day. I was helping my mom get stuff ready for Thanksgiving later that week when Travis's phone rang. It was about 3 that afternoon and he said it's Richard....my stomach sank.....this was it, either they liked us or the didn't. I was sitting in the floor when he looked at me and said.....I am now the pastor of Potecasi Baptist Church with a vote of 100% yes. And it was noted in the history of the church that this is the first time in the church's history any pastor received 100% of the vote. I was so excited. So many feelings overwhelmed me. Excitement, joy, nervousness, scared, sad, happy....the list went on. But just remember thanking God for going before us and preparing the way, the whole way.
So now I sit here a year later and I look at where we were, how far we have come and where we are going. I am still in amazement. I am still excited about our church, the people and how MIGHTILY God is working in our lives and theirs. Even though we are far away from family we are so blessed to have a church family who loves us like their own. I look forward to seeing what this next year holds as we approach the official 1 year mark that we have been here. God has done so much already I can only imagine what He will do in the future.
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