Texas Bound

Fred was offered a job in Texas. The job is at the Red River Army Depot. That is near Texarkana, the northeast part of Texas.
After praying and weighing in the pros and cons, we have decided he should take the job. It is what he has been looking for the last 2-3 years. It is about 30 minutes from his brother, it's a rural (slower pace) area, and the job is going to be more challenging than what he's been doing for the past 23 years.
The pay is less, but with the cost of living comparison, it's actually a raise.
A lot of things were considered: Andy and Steph, we are concerned they don't quite have their heads on straight, and coming with us to Tx is definitely NOT an option for them. But we figured it's time for them to be on their own. (Steph has been in Orlando for a while, but we have always been here to 'help' her) Mom, we have encouraged her to come with us. I truly don't think she can be left here by herself. She is not well and she is getting more and more forgetful and confused. (though she will deny it) She said she will think about it, but I have a feeling she is leaning towards staying back.

I am excited about the move, though, ideally, I was hoping for Tennessee, Texas is nice too. And Fred has been wanting to move closer to Tom for a while. Tom seems real happy about our move...he has already sent us 2 silly videos welcoming us to Texas. lol

There are SO many things that will need to be taken care of. The biggest is that Fred will need to start work with them on Jan.18th. I will stay back and sell the house, so I will be here for a while, I presume. He is concerned I will fall apart by myself. I will be the first to admit that there will probably be days when I just want to run and hide. But I don't think he gives me enough credit. When push comes to shove, I can handle things. I will be making a lot of lists to keep me on track. And I appreciate the time to help the kids get on their 2 feet before we officially leave them.

Yes, this is going to be a bit scary, but we have prayed for this opportunity for a long time. We are very comfortable here in Valrico. We have a wonderful home, a great church, I have job that I like MOST of the time, and Fred's is a secure position. But I think it would be a mistake to stay here because we are 'comfortable'.

One of the many good things about this move, Freddy will be 6 hours away. Not that we will see him regularly, but it will definitely be cheaper and easier to see him. Becky & Tym are heading to San Antonio as soon as their house sells, so we can maybe plans for vacation time to see them.

And after saying all this, Fred still needs to go through a physical and a background clearance before it's 'Official'. But I don't think he has any skeletons in the closet and he is quite healthy.

We are telling our SS class this Sunday. Now THAT is going to be hard. Our poor SS class has gone through a lot of teacher changes. The class is actually compiled of 3 separate classes who lost their teachers. And they simply LOVE Fred, they really do. So Fred is struggling with what he has to do. But again, do we stay here because his SS class loves him? No, God will provide someone to come behind him and love the class.

So to say we would appreciate prayers is an understatement. Pray we continue to follow God's lead and that we will have minimal 'bumps in the road' these next few months. Pray for me that I will handle the new responsibilities as such that Fred won't have to worry about us....