just because

I just told Jay how much I love it here. I recently posted a blog about what the Lord has done in my heart here. I'm still not over it. My heart & mind feel as fresh as the mountain air. CHEESY but so very true and my heart is full. God has blown us away with His faithfulness. He is everywhere. He amazes me daily, hourly. He has helped Gabe's heart go from "I'm never leaving Columbus." back in May to "I hope we never leave Angel Fire, ever." I feel ya kid. I feel ya. Here's a few stories I wish I could tell each of you over coffee... One Friday night, a month ago or so, we made coffee and put out some snacks in preparation for our weekly service. (Still being held at our house for three more weeks!) We had a rather small group that night I think there may have been 10 of us. We began like any other night - in worship. We began singing our last song and I kid you not it sounded like there were 200+ people singing with us. At first I thou

It's been just over 4 months since we left GA. I can't even begin to tell you all that these 4 months have brought. But I'm going to try... Leaving Columbus was hard. Leaving family was the worst. I'll never forget that last Sunday with my family. I'll never forget weeping through church sitting next to my family thinking "I can't leave them." I'll never forget crying...let's be honest...weeping the entire time I drove that Sunday afternoon. I cried most of Monday as well. (I'm crying now just typing about it.)  I knew I loved my family but the thought of not seeing them at least once a week broke me hard.  The first several weeks I cried every Saturday evening. I don't know what it was about Saturdays but I fell apart. I missed my family. I wanted to be able to see them at church the next morning. I missed my church family, my running buddies, my neighbors...I missed "normal" life.  But as the weeks went on the Lo

Wow, it has definitely been a whirlwind since I lost posted. We are still loving this Angel Fire life. I won't lie...I do get homesick often (ok sometimes daily) but I am sure we are right where we are supposed to be. The past several weeks have been so much fun. First my brother, his wife and 5 kids arrived. Y'all. I could hardly contain myself the morning of their arrival. I told Jay I was tempted to drive towards them just so I could see them faster. We had so much fun together. We ALLLLLLLL stayed at our house which was extra fun! People, stuff, food, clothes, etc everywhere and I loved every minute of it. We had one snag in the trip when G got crazy sick. I mean temp of 104, saying things that didn't make any sense and shaking uncontrollably. The timing made me question God but I know it was His timing because Josh & Claire were here to calm me down, pray with us and keep our spirits up. I won't go into details of all that we did but it was a good time! I w

Tomorrow will be our 4th week in Angel Fire. We are still trying to find a routine and settling in but it definitely feels right. It feels like home. If God told me today that I could move back to Columbus if I wanted to I would say no. I'd ask Him to send my family HERE (ha!) but I would say no to leaving. Here's why: Life here is much slower. Could be because there's not really anywhere to go (haha) but it is such a gift to our family. We aren't in a hurry. People here are kind. They aren't in a hurry either so they take the time to say hello and introduce themselves. The mountains are GORGEOUS. The lake near is house is beautiful and such a peaceful place to run in the morning. Deer and Elk all around. (Bears too apparently. Thankfully I haven't seen one.) the crime rate is like 0. I love watching mountain bikers ride down the mountain. I can't get over the fact that they do that. I posted randomly on the Angel Fire "better than the p

Well here we are. We’ve been in Angel Fire a week now. It is definitely a different life! Thankfully, it is starting to feel like home. Let’s back up to just before we left Columbus… Thursday before we left Jay’s motorcycle riding buddies, Jodie Creswell and Lee McBride set up a benefit for us. What a fun night! It was hard to hold in tears as so many friends that we love with all of our hearts lead us in songs from Jay’s life (different bands, etc.) and ended the night in sweet, sweet worship. It was so sweet. The amazing people in attendance raised over $12,000 for our church in Angel Fire. We were blown away. We were also blown away when a few minutes into the night Jay’s precious parents walked in!!! They surprised us! I can’t believe my mom kept that quiet.   We had so much fun spending a few days with them. My mom, Jay’s mom and I laughed A LOT while packing up boxes in my chaotic house. Janice took the funniest picture of my mom drenched in sweat with hair standing

I guess it was about 5 years ago that I visited Angel Fire, New Mexico for the first time. It was summer time but not hot & humid. Nights were cool and mornings were fabulous for running. I remember asking Jay several times that visit why we lived in Georgia. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I mean beautiful. Mountains that take your breath away, beautiful scenery everywhere you look. I wish I could describe it better than I am. God is evident that’s for sure. How could God not be evident? The name of the village is Angel Fire and the surrounding mountain range is Sangria de Cristo (the blood of Christ.)   Obviously HE has a heart for this region. We fell in love that village. We love how quaint it is, how slowly the people do life, and we see how God longs to take back that area. Now, keep in mind. We fell in love and looked forward to many years of VISITING this area. Fast forward to this past August we went back to visit again. It was the place I c