Our Journey to Georgia

When Gary and I first moved to Georgia, we were here for new opportunities and a new adventure. Of course, we were also here without jobs!!

After we were married, we rented a small one bedroom apartment. Gary was working as a Computer Networker at a small company and I was working at a local elementary school. As we became accustomed to married life, we also began looking at our budget and dreaming of buying a home and starting a family.

After crunching the numbers, we didn't see it happening -- ever. He was on a beginning salary and I was on a Mississippi teacher's salary (even with a Master's degree, it is not much). We sat down one night and made a list of places we thought we could live. We began with cities in Mississippi, thinking we would like to stay close to family. When we didn't have any leads for new jobs after a while and many applications and resumes were sent out, we decided we needed to branch out and so we made a list of other states we would like to live {Georgia was NOT on this list}.

Little did we know that God had Georgia as the only state on HIS list! Gary, as a last resort, decided to email a friend of his who lived here already (in Georgia). The timing couldn't have been better. We received an email back that the following weekend was a teacher's job fair for the Atlanta area. After work on Friday, we packed the car and made the long drive. On Saturday, I went to the job fair with our friend's wife and made my connections. Gary gained insight into the computer field opportunities from his friend who is also in the field.

We left feeling hopeful, but not set on Georgia. It wasn't long; though, that I began receiving phone calls. On Good Friday (MS still has a holiday from school on this day), a friend and I made the drive back to GA for an interview. The interview went well. After the interview, we went to get a bite to eat and were going to go back home. While we were eating, the phone rang and I was offered the job. I was so excited and a little bit in shock!

And, the rest as they say is history. We made the move to Georgia that summer after school was out. Gary still didn't have a job so we knew it would be difficult, but we were trusting God that this was His plan for us.

Little did we know what difficulties lay ahead of us. It was summer so I wouldn't be getting a paycheck, the apartments here were SO much more per month than the ones in MS and Gary had no job yet.

After a few months of rice and beans, Gary finally got the call back from the job he had been interviewing with. They finally (after three interviews and several weeks at a different job) offered him a position. We were so happy! Things were finally looking up. We were also introduced to Dave Ramsey during this time through a local church. We ended up attending there while we lived in that city and we loved it. First Baptist Church in Woodstock is such a wonderful place. Check it out if you are in the area http://www.fbcw.org/

Since that day, Gary has changed jobs a few times, always to a better one. He is now working so close to home which is great since he can come home for lunch sometimes. I was able to teach for 5 years in a great school. I was also able to complete my design degree. We were able to buy a home in a great neighborhood. And, we have met so many wonderful people. We have also been able to adopt Declan and begin our family. You can read more on our Adoption story {Our Adoption Journey}

So much has happened since that summer, but we know that God had His hand in everything. We don't know what our future may hold, but we do know it is in His hands. We do have to keep reminding ourselves that He does have a plan and that it will be the best one for us imaginable. We also have to remember when we face difficult times now that He did bring us out of a few very dark years. We have a hope that He will continue to bless us as long as we follow Him and trust in Him.

We do hope having family close to us is in our future and we do hope and pray that more children are in our future, but we will see!