“So, when
are you moving?...”
This is the
most-asked Snead question since our last post in February (only slightly more
popular than other FAQ's like "Are you a day care?" And, "Do you
need help out with these?" ... Which always confuses me cause I'm
not sure if they mean the groceries or the kids....course, the answer's the
same for either....)
Anyway,
after 6 months of not being quite sure ourselves, we can finally say "As
soon as we find a house!" Art began his new job as Director of
Lifeway's Ridgecrest Conference Center and Summer Camps over a week ago, so we
have hit the ground running preparing for a move to Asheville, NC! As we
said previously, we lived there from 1996-2006, so although we will miss our
Nashville area friends soooo much, we are also excited about this opportunity
as we begin this next leg on our family's faith adventure!
I (Shelly)
have had a lot of time to think and reflect over our journey this far, and
stand amazed at where God has taken us - individually and as a family - as we
have begun to yield each area of our lives to him. It hasn’t been an
“all-at-once-surrender” but as we’ve given (and sometimes taken back, then “re-given”)
Christ control (of what he already owns anyway), from agendas to finances, from
fears to family, we’ve had the privilege of experiencing some pretty cool
things! Geographically we’ve been able
to live in places where experiences have included Kayaking the rivers of
Tennessee and North Carolina to exploring ancient ruins and snow skiing in New
Mexico. We've had the honor of meeting and serving some neat people, from
orphans in Haiti and Uganda, to flood victims in Mississippi and Alabama. We have been blessed by and allowed God to use
us however he saw fit in our church families of Biltmore, Christ Church and
Long Hollow.
We’ve seen
our family grow physically and culturally as we were able to adopt two (quite
active!) children from Rwanda, and be able to help others in small ways who
were adopting as well. Even the
struggles along our journey have produced great opportunities, like the
wonderful relationships with our son’s nurses over the 5 years that he required
home health care, including a precious native American grandmother who read the
Bible for the first time in our home while caring for Josiah.
We have
waded the rougher waters of marriage and child-rearing among friends, family
and mentors who have made our family so much richer, and taken risks that have
deepened our faith in God and increased our awareness of his amazing love for us.
It really
has been an endless “string” of adventures, which is why I look forward to this
move with great expectancy. His
faithfulness and sovereignty in the life of our family leaves us no other
response than gratitude and trust. And
we can say with the prophet, Habakkuk, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will
be joyful in God my Savior. The
Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, HE
ENABLES ME TO TREAD ON THE HEIGHTS.” (Hab. 3:18-19)
So now I’ll
turn the question back on you! When are you moving?.... Maybe He’s not calling you to pick up and
move across the country. But maybe it’s
time to take a risk and go out of the comforts of your “safe zone”… this could
be across the ocean or across the street.
It could be releasing your hold on some resources or releasing some
spare time. The result will be SO WORTH
the RISK! He will enable YOU to tread on
the heights as you seek first HIS Kingdom!
Many
Blessings, and thanks for stopping by!
The Snead
Family 6
(Art and the 4 kids taking the plunge at Cummins Falls)
