The Countdown is On...

This time next week, I will be driving a trailer back across the country to Dallas with my sweet longtime friend, Sarah who gets into Charlotte this Thursday!

I can't believe how fast 4 years has gone and how fast 1 month has gone by since I decided to move. Everyone keeps asking me if I am sad or happy and my best answer has been that I am feeling bittersweet about this move!!! Charlotte has been such a great adventure for me and I could never have imagined all the great relationships I would have made...with students, my church staff, friends and even my very own Charlotte family! I have gotten to travel to Raleigh, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville, Hilton Head, Charleston, Asheville, Columbia, Ethiopia, and Brazil as a result of being here in Charlotte!!! I have fallen in love with this part of the country and the people who really do exhibit Southern hospitality.

I feel like I am a different person as a result of living here for 4 years. I think I am more independent, more adventureous, more spontaneous, more willing to try new things, a better pastor, a better friend and I can say I have had to trust God more than ever before in my life out here!!!

This has been an amazing season of life for me, and as I move on to the next season...one full of studying for an exam, accumulating a massive amount of intern hours (3000), living in Dallas again after 4 years away, and getting reaquainted with the brutal heat of Texas...I am so thankful for the way God orchestrated getting me out of my comfort zone and showing me amazing things I know I never would have experienced if I hadn't taken that leap of faith!!!

So here I am again at the cusp of another big change in my life and career and I have a feeling of peace and confidence that God is going before me to pave the way!!! There is no better feeling than that!!!

Even though I'm sure over the next few days, quite a few tears will be shed, I am leaving confident that the verse I shared with the students on my last Sunday is true:
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phillippians 1:3-6

To God be all the Glory!!!

Lu

Let's make it official...

So we were southbound 35, we were headed down the road,
hit the border by the morning, let Texas fill my soul,
yeah let Texas fill my soul.


So...to start this post off, I have to quote one of my favorite musicians and post the picture from this past Friday night where I got to see him again in Charlotte thanks to my St. Jude friend Ashley who let me volunteer at one of her events that he was playing at.

Brendan~Me~Pat

That brings me to some pretty big news...after 4 wonderful years living on the East Coast in beautiful Carolina...I am packing my bags and heading back to....



That's right...just when I finally changed my license plates to NC plates, I'm going to have to change them back to Texas plates, come early July... I will be moving back to live in

Dallas

and pursuing my professional counseling license! God has opened this door and answered my prayers about wanting to live closer to family and longtime friends but I am still nervous about how it is all going to work out!!! I know He called me to Charlotte for a season and now I have no doubt that He is calling me back to Dallas!

I have never been good at goodbyes but I have a couple weeks to spend with all the students, families and friends who have made the last 4 years worth being here!!! So, I'm not going to be sappy on the internet and I am going to be giving lots of hugs, crying quite a few tears, I'm sure, and try to let those here know how much I love them!!!

For those of you who I will be seeing in Texas, I am looking forward to all the great times ahead!!! I have missed you all so much over the years and look forward to catching up with you again when I get there in July!

I shared this verse with my students this morning when I told them about my move and it will continue to be my life verse!!!

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
Ephesians 3:17-21

Ryan and Ashley's Texas Wedding

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

Last weekend, we celebrated Ryan and Ashley's wedding in the beautiful Texas hill country! It was so much fun seeing lots of family friends and spending some quality time with our immediate family and with the Curry cousins!

Here are some pictures from our fun weekend!


Kim, Mom and I at the Cowboys themed Rehearsal Dinner

Mom and Dad giving a sweet toast to Ryan and Ashley...of course I cried

My date for the weekend, Marisa

fun with the boys at the Rehearsal Dinner

The Smith/Curry cousins...(You can tell that I had some tears before this pic)

Ryan loved his Texas groom's cake

me and my date Marisa and our friend Bryce

me and my sweet dad

the siblings

me and my brother, the handsome groom

Ryan will look exactly like my dad in a few years...

The new Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Even though I'm pretty sure Ryan will never read this blog... just in case, I want him (and everyone) to know that I have the best brother in the world and I am so proud of the man he has become! As I said in the toast Kim and I gave to him (which apparently was pretty funny and enjoyed by all) that we hope we both will meet a man like him someday! He is more than just the best brother, he is one of the best men we know and he and my dad have raised the bar pretty high for guys in our lives! Baby Ryan, or Ryeena as we used to call you... I am so thankful to be your big sister! I love you and can't wait to see how God uses you and Ashley in your new life together in Houston!!!