If you know Adam and my story you may know we moved to Corpus Christi right after we got married in the summer of 2004, one of the hottest summers ever. Our great plan was to live there for 2 yrs gain work experience, plant a Tippi Toes location and move to another city. 2 yrs turned into 4, Adam loved his job and Tippi Toes was doing great.
We decided to start a family and when I was 5 months pregnant with Lucy we decided to put our house up for sale - why not, we only have the biggest life changing event coming up. We did this to move to another house in Corpus and really mindlessly did it. About after a week of it being on the market we got a full price offer and we began packing our bags looking for a new place to call home. Little did we know God had a different plan, Adam got a call from a company to go work in Memphis, Tennessee. Within a matter of hours we decided it would be a fun adventure and we were preparing to say good bye to Corpus. To our church, friends, work and the beautiful beach.
Memphis was closer to my family and with a baby on the way this seemed like a great move - well it was...but God had another plan. After 5 months of living in Memphis Adam got a visitor in Memphis. His boss Reid had taken a trip to offer him a wonderful position back at the Hooks. We felt a tug from God telling us to go but I wasn't too thrilled.
I was actually still in the hospital with our 3 day old brand new baby girl, I was hardly unpacked in Memphis and you know when you already have said good bye it felt strange coming back. Anyway, with Lucy now 6 weeks old we drove back down to Corpus. This time we saw Corpus in a new light. We moved to a different area of town, had a baby to enjoy activities with and quickly reconnected with our amazing friends and church. Life has been great!
Then the stirring begins again after about 2 years in corpus - mind you this is 3 years ago from where we are today. A deep stirring, a desire for a new adventure a new challenge. We love our church in Corpus have the greatest neighbors anyone could ask for and love our friends and feel overly blessed by our jobs. So what was it - aside from being too far from family it was hard to put our finger on.
Well since that point we had 2 more beautiful blessings Lola and Hank. Adam was loving his job and Tippi Toes on fire! We finally decided let's quit trying to move cities and just move houses, closer to Adams office, a place with more land we thought that was the solution to our stirring. It honestly still didn't help. We played the "what if" game, the "where should we move" game and so on.
Fast forward to May 2013. The stirring was still there and it was so heightened in Adam - so much so that he decided to get some one on one time with his mentor and boss Reid. He had tried a few times but didn't think the timing was right - finally the timing felt right and he sat him down and just shared with him he was ready for something new. (You may think I am sharing too much personal info but as you keep reading the glory of God will be scene). After Adam talked to Reid, Reid smiled and said there are some big things coming sit tight a little longer. I can't share this information yet.
Adam certainly was excited because Reid steers him straight but now patience was needed....wait to see what would happen.
Then Adam learns that Reid would become the President of the Astros baseball team in Houston. We were elated knowing we were part Reid's team. Then we learn the team Adam works for would be sold. It would still be under the Astros and Reid would remain the boss so it seemed great. So we waited....
We heard possibilities of us moving to Houston quickly, so we went to Houston shared our excitement with the Milams and our brains started to move. We looked at homes, schools and Tippi Toes opportunities. To be honest nothing fit and we kept trying to make it. We wanted to be there.
We were worried about Adams commute if we lived far from work in Houston traffic, we worried about home prices if we lived close, schools, traffic, cost of living, if it was really the town we felt God wanted us to be in. It was like fitting a square peg into a round hole. We wanted it to fit so perfectly but it just kept not fitting right. Then the excitement began to lesson as time went on, wondering if it was going to work, time tables moved back, and so it went. The waiting, the timing and patience just seemed to tell us - Corpus is where you need to be - so we thought.
So this is where it gets really good - we decided we were being selfish trying to make "our plans" work. Before We prayed oh how we prayed saying "God show us where you want us in Houston?" But then together we began asking God what it was He wanted us to do, where He wanted us to be? We were asking Him where we should be in Houston when he didn't want us in Houston at all. Now remember all of this time our house has been for sale on and off - a few bites but nothing that made it sell. Nothing is wrong with this house in fact I am in love with it - but the timing wasn't right, God had something better planned!
Adam and I knew if we could really leave it all up to God, step back from all the wondering, and just let Him do his great work that everything would turn out as it should. In my heart I felt that Corpus was our forever (which again would have been fine). We reevaluated our tithing, we began to serve at church (what a concept right), we upped our prayer time, and we committed to not ever being in a phase with God but an eternal relationship where we could grow stronger every day and feel we are not in control. We will let The One who controls it all, control our everything.
So 3 weeks ago Adam woke up - wide awake at 4 in the morning and couldn't sleep. He got on the iPad and looked for information on how to buy a baseball team. Sounds crazy right - but he sent an email (btw we don't have the money to do that - but Adam said that was only a minor detail) The next morning while we were brushing our teeth he mentions - "hey I tried to buy a baseball team last night when I couldn't sleep" - being married now 9 years I said "that's great what team?" He said it is in a city called Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The next week he gets a call and learned more about this team, it actually wasn't for sale anymore but they were looking for a president to run the team (Adams dream job)
He told them he was interested and the process started. Turns out this guy who bought the team had Adam on a list of possible candidates for the job. After learning Adam too was interested too they asked it they could fly us out for a meeting. I literally had to go to the map to see where this place was.
In the meantime Adam only felt right to let his bosses Reid and Ken know he was going to check it out. He told them on a Friday and by Monday Reid offered him an amazing opportunity in Houston with the Astros. Adam was flattered but again - we had tried to make it work and we didn't feel that was where God wanted us.
On Friday we were on a plane to check out the city of Bowling Green. We spent all weekend learning and loving on this small town in Kentucky.
You see what is interesting about this is - it is exactly the kind of place we have talked about raising our family. Small family oriented town close to a big city (Nashville), closer to family (Jennie is only 5 hours away), good schools, good churches and quality of life. We instantly fell in love. This entire time we had no idea the stirring in our hearts, the thoughts in our mind and prayers would lead to this town. It wasn't ever on our radar but God had it circled long ago.
Picking up on the story...it has been about 3 weeks since I first wrote. Yesterday God tied our plans up in a big bow. We close on our new house next week, we are renting our house out on the same day and Adam starts his new job on Monday. These is so much going on and so much to do but it is so clear this is our path for now in our life.
Our story we know will continue to evolve and change and we could not be more happy. It is an honor to following Gods path!
Here is a picture of Adam on his last day at the Hooks. What a blessing and what a journey.
- written with love for my sweet family. Capturing our love, life and memories!
1 comment:
Sarah this story is awesome!! So excited for you and your family!!
Post a Comment