A mere 365 days out of the previous thousands

Aurelia and I experienced the most surreal realization on Sunday, June 24th. It marked exactly one year since we invited the other couples in our Sunday evening Life Group to attend the Banner Hill Vision Meeting being hosted that evening by Bryan & Jodi Shippey. It was our understanding that the Shippey's would share more details on how God was leading them to Framingham and the MetroWest area of Boston. We assumed the meeting would also provide more specific information on how we could support their ministry (ie, prayer partners, financial support, Blue Bell shipments, etc). Our attendance was a show of moral support for our friends (and my barber... Bryan is a man of many talents, lol)! As mentioned in our earliest posts ["Vacation Turned Vision Trip" and "How This Began"], God had much bigger plans for our "show of support" than what we had envisioned.

Aurelia and I walked out of the meeting having told the Shippey's that we each had separately felt an inexplicable and seemingly insane "feeling" that we were supposed to move with them to Framingham... move to Massachusetts! Born & bred Texans! Not ministers or missionaries... just ordinary folks (we're both registered nurses). We wandered in a daze for a few days... was this a mid-life crisis? Was this some bad Tex-Mex food creating delusions of grandeur? Could God really be asking us to uproot our family and walk in blind (arguably reckless) faith? How could we afford the cross-country move? Where would we live? Where would we work? Are we jeopardizing our family's well-being? Who are we to think we have something special to give or important to speak into the lives of those New Englanders?

On the morning of June 27th, we received the latest installment of daily scripture sent via group text by the legendary Mike "Coach" Meyers. This is what the text said: "Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives! See Jer 1:8. Safest place = center of God's will!" Mike was not aware of the decision we were debating... almost no one was aware of it yet. Of course, God was aware!

“Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. 
I, the Lord, have spoken!”  -- Jeremiah 1:7-8

I think we already knew the decision was clear, but that timely verse of encouragement was just the booster shot we needed to pull the proverbial trigger! We told God "Yes" to whatever was His plan as long as He provided the way... after all He said, "I Am the Way!" Just peruse through this blog to see the unimaginable means & method that God provided "the Way". Today, July 2nd, is now the jumping off point... we stand at the door of the plane, the light has turned green, it's time to jump. But we do not jump into the great unknown or into a deep & dark void! No, dear friends, we leap into the outstretched arms of our Father who will never fail us (Heb 13:5b)... He beckons us to spring from our supposed place of safety & security into our true place of strength and refuge. A mighty fortress is our God. Our protector and our guarantor.

Our house is empty. The moving truck is gone. Tommy has resigned from MD Anderson effective today. Our minivan is loaded (read the incredible story of that blessing HERE). We hit the road this afternoon. We are Faithfully for Framingham. Framingham Here We Come!! #AllIn #BannerHillChurch #LeapOfFaith #NoFearInMyFathersArms

We need a Minivan?!?!

If you read Tommy's previous post, you already know that God has continued to challenge us in this new season of life.  You also may know that we just purchased a Minivan after our Camry was totaled. Why a Minivan? Well, along with all the other BIG news coming from Tommy and myself, we are elated to announce that our family has grown by two little hearts!!  No, I'm NOT pregnant and definitely not pregnant with twins!  Tommy and I have been blessed with the opportunity to take assume custody of my niece and nephew on a permanent basis.  While they were living in a wonderful home with my mother, it was decided that the children would benefit more from living with our family and so, in March, we began the process of moving these two young kiddos into our home with the intention of moving them to Framingham with us this coming summer. I would like to formally introduce both children!



Laura Beth Amann is 6 years old (only 6 weeks older than Alex) and has always had a special place in our hearts!  She is spunky and witty.  Her sense of humor can compete with some of the best and her "tell it like it is" attitude is refreshing.  She is in the 1st grade and is looking forward to playing in "that white stuff on the ground" when we move to the Metro West area.  She enjoys playing outdoors and can keep up with the boys better than most girls I know!  We are so excited to see what God has in store for this little girl with a BIG heart!

Blake Duane Amann is 4 years old and is a firecracker.  He runs, jumps, and climbs on everything and has NO FEAR!! I'm sure we will rack up quite the ER bill due to all the broken bones and stitches he will need as his courage multiplies in the coming years.  He is certainly teaching Alex what it means to be a Texas BOY and they have such fun together... when they aren't fighting.  Shortly after he moved in with us, he started pre-school and enjoys going to "big boy school" just like the big kids!  This little man loves to give and receive affection and when he's having a bad day, a hug will usually improve his mood!




Izzy and Alex have taken well to the change in atmosphere and are settling in to having more siblings.  This means less chores and more playmates... what kid wouldn't be happy!  There are certainly challenges, but the good far outweighs anything else.  A lot has changed in the last month for our family but we are confident that God has placed these little ones in our home for a reason and we plan to take full advantage of our time together.  We don't know what the future holds for our new party of six, but right now we are just enjoying our new family unit and look forward to moving forward in our pursuit of being Faithfully for Framingham.