A New Reality

Well, I have been in Dallas 2 weeks now and thought I would reflect on what this "new reality" of my life is. Although, this is a temporary "new reality" as I haven't been working and am living in the lap of luxury at my parents' house where they are spoiling me rotten with home cooking, laundry and a great time to reconnect with them while I am here!

I have had a chance to get back into the routine of a student...or at least a student who has 1 gigantic test that I must pass in order to acquire a counseling job that will help me pay the bills!!!

In my non-studying time, I have gotten to reunite with friends and friends' kiddos who I have missed seeing the last few years! I've spent days with Ali and Kennedy, Jeffie and Sam, Brookie and Gain, and Kerri, Kate and Elle! I have also been having dinner, Bachelorette viewings, movies and laying out time with Marisa, Sarah and Erin!

The strange thing is that I wake up each day wondering when my flight back to Charlotte is and then realize that I am here to stay...a bittersweet feeling still!!!

Pictures of all these fun times to come soon, but for now...just wanted to update on the life of a temporarily unemployed stay at home future counselor! My job at Frisco Bible starts in 2 weeks after I get back from the Texas coast!!!

In the meantime, go download this single...you won't regret it!!! I promise! :)

Fee's "Glory to God Forever" on Itunes!

The Bumpy Road back to Dallas

When I wrote my last blog entry, I don't think I had any clue what would really play out on that one last road trip!!! It wasn't so much the trip to the Outer Banks that was the doozy but the long road home to Texas that happened right after...let's start with the good parts...my last "goodbye party" and the Outer Banks.

Thursday before we left I got together with some friends at one of my favorite places, Angry Ale's to say bye to my closest friends!!! Here's a little of that...




Then, on Friday morning, I woke up at 4:00am to go to the airport to see off the students who were going to the Dominican Republic, a trip I would have been on if I hadn't decided to move...so that was a little sad, but pancakes and grits, Andy, Anna and Nick made it all better!!!



I have always wanted to go there...my friends Lynn and Erin worked there one summer in college and it sounded like so much fun...so since I was only a mere 6 hours away, I decided I wanted to spend my last weekend in NC with friends Kristy and Jake (whose birthday we celebrated while there) and my friend Sarah, who flew in from Texas to drive home with me.

We left on Friday morning and stopped in Durham to see some old college friends who work at Duke Medical Center and then to Raleigh were I met up with my sweet friends Kevin and Jenny who were the original North Carolinians who peeked my interest in looking at churches in NC when I was job searching after seminary...basically, it was because of them I felt good about moving to NC where I knew no one else...little did I know they lived a mere 3 hours away and I had only seen them one other time since moving to NC until this weekend. So, we met at Walmart and hugged and said goodbye...I got to see their 2 precious kids, McCain (who Jenny was prego with when we met in Karen and Rob's wedding in LA in 2005) and Anna...they have been so much fun to talk to and be around!!!




Then we were off to the Outer Banks where we enjoyed 3 days of fun, sun..burns, lighthouses, fireworks on the beach, kiteflying and delicious food...













After those fun memories it was back to Charlotte and the reality of packing and moving...with a quick stop in Raleigh to say bye to my friend Anna who was in town for her sister's wedding. We packed up the rest of my apartment and went to bed Monday night...woke up Tuesday morning and I went to pick up the Uhaul trailer. (here's a little hint if you ever are going to pull a trailer behind your car...make sure you get a big enough trailer/truck for the place you are packing up...i got a 6X12 trailer to haul all my stuff...which the movers successfully CRAMMED into the trailer and my car. All I had to give away was my bed...so I was feeling pretty excited that they got everything to fit...and we were off...

About 30 minutes outside of Charlotte in Gastonia on a 4 lane interstate highway, we hit our first hurdle...and it was a big one!!! As we were switching lanes, the trailer starting swerving behind us and basically took control of the car...we spun around at least once and then the trailer slammed into the median and then we were facing oncoming traffic...that's what happened in a nutshell...it was terrifying and the only way I can explain why we didn't flip, slam the car into the median or get hit by other cars is that God's angels protected us!!! It was truly a miracle!!! Sarah and I can laugh about it now and talk about our "new lease on life" but it was one of the scariest moments of my life! We pulled off the highway and called 911 and Uhaul to report the accident. Everyone just said it was a fluke thing and we must have swerved too fast and caused the trailer to lose control. We followed the state trooper to the nearest Uhaul center and they checked it out...said it was driveable and were would be fine. Got back on the road and went about 10 more minutes only to have it happen again..not as bad but there was clearly no way this thing was driveable for 18 hours to Texas. Thankfully there was a Uhaul place right up the road and we pulled in and tried to figure out what to do next. Our best option was to ditch the trailer and buy a truck to haul everything...it did cost a pretty penny but at least we were going to be safe and alive when we got to Dallas!! After some tears and nerves wearing off...we (Sarah and I) proceeded to unpack the trailer which had been totally crammed into the truck...it was hot, we were exhausted but we did it...couches, dresser, everything I had paid movers to load, we unloaded and reloaded into a truck. We attached my car on the back with an auto transport trailer and we were off...and to be honest we were most upset it didn't have a CD player to play our book on CD that Ashley had given us...but we did jam out to some good Ipod mixes and country radio driving through Tennessee...

through the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains we drove...got all the way to Nashville by midnight and crashed at a hotel. Feeling better the next morning, we woke up and got an early start around 8:00am. Things went really smoothly that day driving...we hit some traffic in Texarkana and some rain in East Texas but up until about 60 miles out, we were doing good.

I just happened to be watching the trailer with my car on it at the moment we had a blowout which I believe counts as miracle #2 (I had a weird fear that my car was going to fly off the trailer so i watched it the whole way when I wasn't driving)...so we pulled off the highway, called Uhaul and then waited for someone to come fix it...sitting on the side of the road knowing we had made it so close, but we still weren't home.. 1 hour 1/2 later, we were on our way again...watching each of those 60 miles praying we would make it all the way in...the plans to unpack with friends had been abandoned and after my dad parked the thing in front of the house, I took Sarah home, the trip was finally over!!! As my dad said, it will be a great story to tell our kids someday and as my mom said, at least I didn't put all those miles on my car...and there's the silver lining folks!!!

God bless texas!!! I'm never moving across country again...and if I do, i'll be flying and someone else can haul my stuff!!!

So tonight some sweet friends are going to come over and have dinner, unpack the uhaul truck...(no telling what it looks like in there from me and Sarah packing it)...so now I can begin this new chapter in this city that I love so much because of the people in it!!!

One Last Road Trip

Sarah is in town now and I have calculated we are going to spend approximately 32 hours in the car together in the next 5 days... I hope we are still friends afterwards! :) But here is our first stop and my last trip to an NC beach for a while!!!

Just a little piece of Heaven called the Outer Banks...



Happy July 4th!!!

Lu

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!!!

Sneak Peek: May Wedding Month

So in the span of 7 days 2 very special people in my life get married in 2 different states! First, my best friend in Charlotte, Ashley married John Trotter last night in a very beautiful wedding ceremony and fun reception that followed! Then, this coming weekend, the Smith clan will be heading to a small little town north of San Antonio, Texas called Boerne to celebrate my brother Ryan's wedding to Ashley Albrecht! Outside in Texas in May...should be a hot one! :) Here is a little preview of Ash and John's wedding...more will come later after I get back from Texas!