Brian's Heading Back to the Books...

It's about time I let everyone know our plans. Most of you already know, or have heard by word of mouth, but we thought we would fill you in on the details.

We are moving! No surprise there, huh? We seem to have a trend of moving every year! This time, though, it is for very different reasons! We have been excited to see how the Lord has led and how He has made it clear what our next step is. We are really going to miss living near family. It has been wonderful having Bob and Jennie and the kids just minutes away. Stefan loves having a cousin to play with, too, which I know he is going to miss. We will also miss our church. We have grown to love our church so much and have learned so much. It will not be easy to leave.

So. Where are we going? Brian will be studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. The ultimate goal is for him to get a PhD. Obviously that means years of study and he will actually first need to get a Master of Divinity. Thanks to his current degrees he is already 1/3 of the way through the MDiv (88 total credits). All of this schooling will take several years. We have a "goal" of how long it will take, but we also realize that family needs and financial needs could extend that time.

As a wife, it is super exciting to see my husband so excited about something. If you know Brian at all, you know that he is wired to study (and he's smart too, what can I say?!). He is so looking forward to being in seminary again and pursuing further degrees. We believe that this is how Brian can most effectively use the gifts he has been given. What that will mean after remains to be seen. Remember, this whole process is going to take awhile so we don't need to know the next step quite yet.

While we are very excited about our next step, we are certainly aware that it doesn't come without its difficulties and sacrifices. Many people would call us crazy. Thankfully most of our family and friends have been incredibly supportive for which we are grateful. We love you guys!

Pray for Brian. He has a big load to carry. Being a full time student on top of working to support a family is not going to be easy.

Pray for his wife :). I am very excited for Brian, but I know that there will be days when I will want to cave in to the normal desires of having a "real" house to live in, of having a predictable salary that isn't all going towards school bills, and not having a husband that has to stay up late at night reading, writing papers, or studying. Ok, let's just be honest here. It might be possible for me to get whiny:). I'll need God's grace to remain supportive all the way through, even on the tough days with three kids!

When is this all happening? Brian will begin classes in mid-August. We plan to move sometime in the middle of July. Hopefully that will give me enough time to recover from having the baby and still have time to get settled a little before Brian begins classes.

Brian has already secured a part-time job teaching piano at the Seminary's School of the Arts. We are incredibly grateful to already have a job to walk into once we move! Once we arrive there he will be looking for another part-time job. In order to remain a full time student he really needs something with flexible hours. We have also found an apartment to rent at least for the first year we are there.

So what am I doing now? Sorting, throwing, getting rid of, etc, etc. Everything has to fit into a 3 bedroom, 980 sq. ft. apartment. I need to have most of it done before the baby arrives so I have my work cut out for me!

We appreciate your support and prayers as we embark on this journey!