In August of 2008 I had a work trip to Nashville for a conference (my first plane ride!) Trent decided he would drive up the last day of the conference, pick me up, and we would drive over to Memphis and visit the seminary he had been looking at attending for several years. Since I would already be close to there, it seemed like the best opportunity. So we drove over on Wednesday afternoon and made it to Memphis just in time to go the Wednesday night service at Bellevue Baptist Church. It was Awesome August week and David Platt was preaching. That was my first experience at Bellevue (Trent had been before). The next day we visited Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary and got a tour from Andy (who Trent went to college with at BCF). We got to see the campus and the housing. As we were leaving the campus, we looked at each other and knew this is where we would be…the question was just when. We knew that God had plans for us to move and Trent to attend MABTS. It was both exciting and scary…it was 8 ½ hours from home! But God continued planting in our hearts the love for this place and the reassurance that He had plans for us there. So we drove back home (a long drive back) and began praying about the timing. I don’t remember when we finally got the answer, but we were to move in January and Trent start class in the Spring semester. So we had to make all those preparations and tell our jobs and family…not an easy thing to do. But it was a chance to be a great witness. We had several responses that we were crazy or why leave your secure jobs when the job market is so unstable. God had just put a peace in us that He would take care of all that. We started sending out resumes, but didn’t hear from any of thing. I was contacted by a temp agency, but nothing really sounded like what I was looking for. So we enjoyed Christmas with our families, had a going away party, and packed up the moving truck.
On January 5th we packed up the truck…well my dad did most of the work (really well I might add, because NOTHING broke!). Dad drove the truck over to my parents’ house and we slept there that night. The next day my parents, Trent’s parents, my brother and Trent and I loaded up and started the trek to Memphis. It rained the WHOLE way to Memphis, but it was actually a peaceful drive and I got to spend some good time with my little brother. J We got to Memphis around 4:00 PM, signed papers for our apartment, handed over the 1st month’s rent payment and deposit (which was basically all the money we had really be able to save up) and got our keys. We had gotten to Memphis a little earlier than our parents, so we had a little bit to check out the place by ourselves. Then the moving truck arrived and the unloading began. Our first meeting with a new neighbor was Jack, who very kindly offered to help us unload furniture. How great! We got the truck unloaded and the essentials setup (bed, dressers in place, dining room table put together). We went and ate at Corky’s BBQ and were exhausted, so our parents and my brother went to their hotel and we went back to spend our first night in our new place. Our parents and my brother stayed a few days (I can’t remember exactly anymore) helping us unpack and get settled. Then when it came time for them to go home it was the hardest day of our lives. I cried so much because I knew I could no longer just get in the car and go see them (at least not easily or quickly). But all through this we still knew this was God’s will and were excited about what was to come. I had an interview the next week for a job at a CPA firm. I checked website and the phone books and started sending our more resumes to get as many options as possible. Nothing seemed to be right, so I did get a little discouraged. Our money was running out and one of us needed a job! Rent would be due! I landed a job at Patrick Accounting and was to start February 2 (or maybe it was the 3rd…I can’t remember). The month in between moving and starting my job was strange. We didn’t have cable yet and I was bored but also relaxed. We couldn’t get out to do much because of funds, but it was a good time to chill. Trent was still searching for a job, but we were doing fine. He started school on January 19th, and it snowed! It was awesome…our first snow, well at least that we remember. We visited around different churches, trying not to just go with our first choice. After a while we knew that Bellevue was the place God had for us, so we joined in February. We also went to a dinner to learn about Evangelism Explosion, where I met Dadrian, one of my great friends in Memphis. Her husband was in class with Trent and when they found out we were both accountants, they knew we would be great friends. J We got plugged into a great Bible Fellowship (Bellevue’s name for Sunday School) that we loved was a great Bible focused class. Trent found an opening at Family Christian store for a job and so he started training in May and really started working in August. He was working about 4 hours a week, but at least it was something. Then not long after, there was an opening at Bellevue for an internship. Trent started in October as an intern in the missions department. He would be working out at Bellevue’s ministry center in Frasier. It’s a part time job that works well with his school schedule. He works with the after school tutoring and Bible club, as well as the Saturday morning food ministry. The other intern out at Frasier is Kevin and he and Trent are really great friends. Kevin and his family are from Alabama, and just so happen to be Alabama fans! So not long after Trent started his intership I met Kevin’s wife Stephanie and we are awesome friends. They have two little girls who are our “Memphis nieces.” God has really blessed us with some great friendships here…we wouldn’t trade that for anything.
