Someone once said...........

is good. And it's a good thing because we are undergoing lots of change at the VeStrands. For some of you, this will be a repeat, and for that, I apologize. For others, who have no idea what's been going on in our lives over the past six months, I hope this will be exciting news.

Before I explain, I want to share the words of the following song, sung by Bebo Norman and taken from Psalm 121. It has been our "theme" song for the past six months as we've faced some big decisions and uncertain times in our home.

I will lift my eyes to the Maker of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to YOU!

We are about to begin a new adventure in our home. At the end of May, Jeff resigned his pastoral position at Mountain View and accepted a teaching position at Liberty Christian School that will begin this fall. Early this year, after much prayer and deliberation, Jeff and I knew that our time at Mountain View was over and so he began to earnestly search for a new position. We also knew that we needed a break from full-time church ministry, which made things interesting as all of Jeff's education and experience are in ministry positions. But in God's perfect plan and timing, he clearly opened doors and worked miracles. Fast forward six months and here we are! I am no longer a pastor's wife and Jeff is a teacher.

Of course, change rarely happens in a vacuum, and so lots of other things are changing too. We have found a new church that we love. The kids are thrilled to be attending church with lots of friends from school, and Jeff and I have already started the process to serve in various ways--including music and worship, which, as most of you know, are where our talents and passions lie. Because the church, the school, and my office are all about 30-40 minutes from Mt. Airy, we have decided to sell our home and, hopefully, move closer to the school, church, etc. So right now, we are in the process of doing some repairs, remodels, etc. preparing the house to sell. It's going to be a delicate balancing act as we need to sell our home before we feel we can look for another and because we'd like to move sooner than later.

So, for all of you who have followed our adventures over the years, this is the next chapter in the "Adventures of the VeStrands." God is faithful and has shown himself to us in amazing ways over the past six months. Thanks to all of you who have so graciously supported and encouraged us over these past months. Now you can adjust those prayers to ask that our home would sell quickly (there are already four homes on our street for sale!) and that we would find the "perfect" home for our family at the "perfect" price ( no small feat, if you know anything about housing prices around here!) We are very excited about what God has in store for us and we look forward to sharing all of that with you in the months ahead!

One more thing for all of you who might be wondering about the kids. After some initial tears and fears, they are doing very well. Sydney, Payton, and Sawyer are thrilled that Jeff will be at school with them every day. They are also very excited about living closer to school and friends and look forward to being more involved in after-school activities, such as sports, clubs, etc. Brooke is equally thankful that Jeff isn't teaching at HER school (I'm only half kidding!) and is particularly excited about our new church and the youth group, where she has already signed up to audition for the youth praise band and is looking forward to attending summer camp for the first time with a group of church friends. When we began this process, the kids and their feelings were our biggest concern. Thankfully, they have all adjusted well and embraced the upcoming changes with excitement and eagerness. God is good!