N&C's Life Lane: September 2013

So I thought I would highlight a few things that have made Franklin feel like home this last year and a half....

First Our Jobs...
      Nate is working for a healthcare company called Kemberton Health Care (http://www.kemberton.net). From what I understand they do third party billing for hospitals all over the country that do not have onsite billing facilities. I couldn't explain the ends and outs to you if I tried. Nate is enjoying the job for the most part. It is a steady schedule with paid time off, something he has never really had before. He loves the people he works with. Most of his superiors are Godly men and that makes for a very good work environment!
     I have been working for a year now at Little Star Kids' Gear (www.littlestarkidsgear.com). It is a small childrens store in Franklin. It is really close to where we live and my bosses are amazing! They love God and their families have been such an encouragement to Nate and I as we have gotten to know them. They have small kids who they bring to work with them so I get to have my baby fix while working :). I am always telling Nate after working in this store I will be so much more prepared to have children. There is so much I have learned about stuff I didn't even know I was missing!! We are located Next to Whole Foods and so it is always fun to see who is going to come into the store on a daily basis. In conclusion I love my job! It has been a huge blessing to me!!

Second Our House Church
     Nate and I moved to Franklin with high hopes of solid community! Soon after we moved we started meeting with some old and new friends. Currently there are 7 of us that meet every Tuesday!! We are on our 39th week of New City Catechism (www.newcitycatechism.com). The Catechisms have been a huge blessing as we are each week faced with another truth of scripture. Some weeks we agree more then others but it always leads to such encouraging and edifying conversation. God has definitely been using it to challenge Nate and I on what we believe and why we believe it! It has also been such a blessing as we intentionally are getting to know these seven people at a deeper level. We are regularly praying for each other and keeping each other accountable. It has been one of the biggest blessings for us here. God is for sure using this group to invest in our lives and allowing us to invest in theirs. We are so thankful for our Tuesday night house church.
    We also start each Tuesday night our with a family meal together. One or all of us help cook a meal and then we sit around the table and eat and talk and laugh. It is great. We most always cook at least one part of our meal in a cast iron (we love cast irons). Our meals are always vegan friendly as well because we love our resident vegan, vegan+chicken, and vegetarian members :)

                              Community Group Ceremonial Burning of our Christmas Tree!!!

A few of us from our House Church Went to hear Missy and Jase Robertson Speak!
Chris may actually be part of the Robertson Family :)

This is the famous Cast Iron that we cook most of our House Church meals in :)
Dan is the proud owner!!

This picture was at Nate's Birthday Celebration this year!!!

I had to get a picture of Lisa our 7th House Church attendee in here somehow...

Lisa and Dan are our resident Dating couple :) We love them!!

Sometimes things are hard
I would say the thing I thought would be the easiest when we moved as been the hardest!! Here we are almost two years living in this new area and we have yet to find a church. We have been learning a lot about ourselves and how much we want/need out of church. We didn't realize how much we loved our churches at home and I think we have been looking for that and it has seemed nearly impossible to find. We are continually praying for God's leading and direction and that he would really give us a peace. In a place where there are churches EVERYWHERE I really did not expect this to be the thing that left us so discouraged. We would appreciate prayer as we continue on our search. We have been attending a church for the last month that we are enjoying. Pray that we would have wisdom and discernment as we dig deeper with this church and learn about who they are at the core of the church!
We also still miss our home much of the time. We miss our families and the familiarity of home. We feel confident that God worked it out for us to move so we are trusting His leading still! We really believe that God is still teaching us important life lessons here in Franklin and for now we are waiting for his leading for the next thing in life!

Highlights from 1 1/2 years in Franklin

Nate Runs his 1st Half Marathon!!!