Roadtrip Day 3

How beautiful is the Painted Desert? After exploring Albuquerque this morning, we headed to Arizona. In Albuquerque we saw the International Balloon Fiesta where hundreds of hot air balloonists are in the sky for a week all at the same time...pretty cool! Then we visited Old Town Albuquerque and grabbed lunch at the same place we ate last night. Normally I like to try different places, but it was just so good! My new favorite thing is posole or green chile stew. They also had the best flour tortillas! I could eat those all day. After I spilled some posole on myself and my pillow, we headed to Arizona.

As you can see by the picture, we visited the Painted Desert. The Petrified Forest is in the same park, and we saw that too. It has tons of petrified wood scattered all over the forest. One really cool thing we saw when we were leaving the park was the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ. Have you seen the movie Cars? Well, it looked like it came straight out of it. There was even a Towmater parked in front of one of the Wigwam teepees. I'll post those pictures later.

We're stopping in Flagstaff, AZ for the night. We haven't eaten yet, so we'll grab some food before bedtime. But we have to rest up because tomorrow is the Grand Canyon!

There are so many pictures I'll post later when I get my computer back...yes, I said back! It's all better! The Apple store fixed the recalled video board. God is always faithful. He reminded me of that yesterday through the "healing" of my computer and through His word. I was beginning to get anxious about our house selling when I read some feedback from a realtor that showed the house last week (on moving day by the way). I decided to read His word so my fears would be calmed. I know that He will always provide but sometimes I just need reassurance. This is the verse I read, "For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do." Hebrews 6:10

Roadtrip Day 2

Yesterday was our second day on the road. We left Dallas (actually Arlington) in the morning and headed to Lubbock to visit people. Our friends, David and Shelley are in grad school at Texas Tech, and my cousin, Ashley is a freshman there. We went to David and Shelley's apartment and ate lunch with them. Even though we only saw them for a little bit, it was really good to see them! Then we met up with Ashley for coffee. I hadn't seen her in over a year, so I'm glad we were able to see each other!

After leaving Lubbock, we headed to Albuquerque, NM. We got there about 8:30 and ate some really good southwestern food! It was super cheap and super good. We had this green chile stew that was pretty spicy and amazing! Today we're headed to Flagstaff, AZ...eventually. We're watching hot air balloons land right now at the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.

Roadtrip Day 1

GeoTagged, [N33.08133, E96.13450]

We have finally begun our journey to Seattle. We left a little later than planned. You'd be amazed how much we were able to stuff in this car!

Today we went through Alabama (of course), Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. We're stopping in Dallas tonight and heading to Albuquerque tomorrow. And we get to see our friends, Shelley and David tomorrow in Lubbock!! My only goal for the rest of today is to get some good Tex-Mex food...I miss it a lot!

Moving Day

Today was day 2 of packing. Tomorrow is loading day. Our house will be vacant and we'll be down to one car. Yesterday the realization of moving began to hit me, and I've been a little emotional.

When something huge is going on all it takes for me to get emotional or upset is for something little to go wrong. On Monday my computer died, and the Apple store said it would cost $1300 to fix the problems. I did not handle that well. I definitely had a couple 'freak-out' moments. Today it was really little. The movers packed my pumpkin muffins I made this week for breakfast. First of all I wanted to eat them this morning. Second of all, when we unpack them in December, there's going to be a whole lot of stink and mold. It shouldn't have made me sad, but it did.

When I listen to my mind and emotions, I make bad choices. I cry and sometimes act like it's the end of the world, which is definitely not the case. When I listen to the spirit in me, I make good choices. I take my burdens to the cross, pray, and am grateful for what I've been given. "be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

Moving

Hey friends! We finally know when we're moving. The movers are coming next Wednesday and Thursday to pack up our house, and then on Friday, Oct. 1st, the movers are loading everything and moving our stuff to a storage unit in Seattle. We're going to go to Tuscaloosa that weekend so we can go to the Florida/Bama game. We'll come back on Sunday and leave for our Seattle road trip on Monday. And it will be a road trip! We're planning on taking 7-8 days to get there. We're planning on making a few stops along the way: Dallas, Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and finally Seattle. I know it looks like a heart monitor graph, but we've never been to most of those places and figured it was better to do it now when it's at no cost for us than later when we had to pay on our own. I'll have to post pictures throughout our road trip. Someone, hold me accountable!

The whole process seemed move slowly until now. Everything is now moving very quickly! The reality hasn't hit yet, and it may not hit me until Wednesday. I'm hoping when reality hits, I will be excited rather than upset about leaving. Though I am sad about leaving friends and family, I know that we'll be back plenty to visit everyone.

Change

God has been teaching me a lot about change and how to adapt to it. God didn't intend for life to be lived comfortably. Jesus definitely didn't live a comfortable life, but thank God he didn't! If he lived a comfortable life, we would have no hope and no reason for living. I like comfort. I like coming home to my house, sitting on my couch, eating food I love, and spending time with people (and dogs) I love. But I want to do more with life than that. I want to have purpose, and just doing things I like to do day in and day out won't fulfill anyone.

This summer I was actively looking for a job, and nothing seemed to feel right. The school I worked at last year didn't work out. Fast forward a couple months, and I had an interview at another school system. Well, during this time we found out Chris's grandma had pancreatic cancer (beginning of July). It was stage 4 and really progressive. It was in her pancreas, lymph nodes, and liver when it was found. She died July 30th, the day of my interview. I didn't feel right going to the interview when I felt like Christopher needed support, but he and his family encouraged me to go, so I drove 3 hours from Montgomery to Decatur. The interview actually did go well, but can you say bad timing?! It seems like God closed every door for me in Huntsville, which I didn't understand for another week.

A week or so goes by and Christopher found out that his job will be ending in October. Boeing really worked hard for him though and found him some job openings in Huntsville and one in Seattle. We continually prayed and felt like God was leading us to Seattle. This was where we had to decide to listen to God or decide to live comfortably. It would have been so easy to say we're staying in Huntsville. We have a house, a church we love, amazing friends, and it's close to family and football.

After about a week of deliberation, Christopher accepted the Seattle job with Boeing. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the move and what's going to happen, but we're choosing to trust in the one who told us to go. He knew that Christopher would have his dream career at this time, working on commercial planes. He knew that we were leaving not only for career choices, but also to help others, particularly the 89% of people that aren't Christians. I heard Rick Warren say that in your later years, you'll regret the good you didn't do in life far more than the mistakes you made. We don't want to pass up an opportunity to show Christ's love to a city that doesn't see much of it. And I know things will be okay because we're doing what we're supposed to do. I admit that this has been very difficult. It's the toughest decision either of us have had to make. I've never really made any sacrifices to God, but now I'm sacrificing comfort for obedience. But amazingly, God has given me comfort throughout this time. I decided to study Paul's life, thinking it really wouldn't apply to me. I picked up a book I had but had never read called To Live Is Christ by Beth Moore. I couldn't have read it at a better time! God's timing is so perfect! There was a quote by Beth Moore that really spoke to me: "God will never take you anywhere he hasn't already prepared for your arrival."

God knew from the day that Christopher and I were born that we would end up obeying his call on our lives. Though we don't know what's going to happen, he's already prepared our arrival in Seattle. Now that is praiseworthy! Without our God we should fear to move; but when He tells us to go it would be dangerous to tarry (Charles Spurgeon). The only thing I should fear is God!

Matthew 6:28-30 is so comforting to hear. God is so good and so faithful. He is providing comfort throughout this transition already, and I know He will continue to do so. We're leaving the south for a time, but we'll be back plenty to visit. We will definitely miss everyone so much, but know that all of our family and friends are welcome to visit us anytime! We really appreciate all the prayers. Let us know how we can pray for you. You are such a blessing in our lives, and we are so grateful for every one of you!

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers." Philemon 1:4

-Christie

Lately

Dear Whoever Is Reading This,

Sorry I'm so delinquent on blog postings. I can't believe the summer is almost over! This summer has been productive and lazy at the Elm household. The laziness comes only from me. We've done much needed projects around the house this summer, and all I can think after they're done is, "Why didn't we do this earlier?" We've painted, bought and assembled patio furniture, placed boards in attic to create more storage, organized and decluttered the house. I feel like a new woman! I'll have to post pictures of the house soon, but I have no storage on my computer so it may not be for a while.

God has also taught me a lot this summer. I've read a lot of books, but the two that have really been helpful are "So Long, Insecurity..." by Beth Moore and "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. Insecurity is something that either is always present or just crops up during our weakest moments, when we're most vulnerable. Insecurity has always had a grip on me, but in different forms. I used to be really insecure about my body image, then insecurity became circumstantial. When I was weak, I would become insecure about anything and everything. This book taught me that "I am clothed in strength and dignity, and I laugh without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)" And I truly believe this about myself. A job doesn't change my worth; I am still clothed with strength and dignity. I did enjoy my summer because I laughed without fear of the future. Every person deserves to feel this way about themselves.

God also taught and inspired me through Francis Chan. The "Forgotten God" in his book is the Holy Spirit. I am guilty of frequently quenching the Holy Spirit. I'll feel Him leading me to do something or to not do something, and I'll ignore Him and do what I want to do. Think about how a butterfly becomes a new creation. It begins as a caterpillar, then one day, it takes a long nap and wakes up as a beautiful butterfly. It not only looks different, but it can fly and do new things. We should be the same when we become a Christian. We become a new creation, but too often, we don't look any different or act as if we can do anything new. When the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in us, we should look and act differently. God can do a whole lot more than we can on our own, and if God is in us, we have newfound strength and are a brand new creation. We shouldn't act like those who don't have the Holy Spirit inside of us. I haven't been acting any different than non Christians. I need to follow where the Spirit leads me. Things are changing a lot in our lives right now (which I'll talk about later), and I need to follow the Spirit more than ever. I now have love, joy and peace like I've never had before because I'm obeying. Though our circumstances aren't ideal, no one can take my joy away from me.

-Christie