Well, here we are again.
Since my last post in June while I was gleaming over my
Great-Grandmother turning 101 years young, many things have changed around the
Suttle Nest. The Nest is uprooting once
more…
Really the best words that describe this story I am about to
share are…God is not only guiding our steps, but dragging us into them so we
don’t even have the opportunity to mess up and miss it. We knew our last move
to Chicago was a God thing, but you see, we did not know just what it was going
to lead to.
To recap our memories….we got married almost 2 years ago
(yes we have moved across the country twice and about to move again – all in
less than 2 years). God planted us in
San Diego to start our marriage, which obviously means we already had great
favor with him because hello – San Diego is paradise! We learned what being planted and serving
fully in a church that we fell head over heels in love with was like. Its an Australian based church that is now global, with church plants going up all around the world - remember than fun fact for later. We also learned what it was like to have an
amazing marriage by watching and being under such great leadership there, and we basically
lived on vacation for year making working so hard seem totally worth it.
When God uprooted us to Chicago through Adam’s job promotion,
there was no doubt that it was where we were supposed to take our nest. Our pastor at the time was coming back from a
conference and ended up sitting on a plane in the very seat beside one of his
pastor friends from Chicago.
Conveniently, that was just after found out we would be moving here, so
he told him that he had a couple moving to Chicago and that he would send us
his way. Can you say God thing??
Next thing we knew, we were moved into our new place in
Chicago! We got up to go to City Church Chicago for the first time and hello….the
church was less than a mile from our building AND…what??? FREE PARKING….in
Chicago…no way! Besides the great
parking, our pastors took us under their wing from day one. We have grown beyond measure under their
leadership, and we were given opportunities that neither of even saw in our
future. Before we knew it, we were leading a new member’s class and teaching
people what becoming part of church looks like.
Next thing I knew, Adam was up on stage giving the church announcements,
offering messages, altar calls, and then the best thing ever happened…he got to
share his testimony. Truly one of the
most powerful things I’ve ever heard, and even though I knew every word and
have lived through all it, there is such power in a testimony, and it was like
nothing I’ve ever seen before. Seeing
him allow God to use him through all of this was the greatest thing. If you aren’t so sure where you fit in at
church or what your calling is, just get involved and doors will open, your
gifts will develop, and you will go to the next level - “Whole Nutha Level” as
Pastor Alli likes to say.
So, here we are. It
was the first week of July when on the very same day Adam’s company went
through major changes, we got a letter saying our super expensive rent was
going to be raised another $300 if we renewed our lease, and this new company
fell out of the sky and reached out to Adam.
Long story short, we both began praying about what our future was going
to look like with his company, our home, etc.
Next thing we knew he had very quickly received and taken this new
position that is moving us back to Nashville, TN…HOME. It has always been a desire of ours to go
back, just not this soon. I began the
very mixed emotions stage with much excitement to get back to family and
friends that we have missed while being away, but then I started feeling a bit
of claustrophobia – we are really done with the journey of our little traveling
nest, and our life is no longer going to be just us living as husband and wife
away from all our of family and friends back in TN? I continued praying…a lot. A few days later the story that puts all of
this together happened.
Adam’s dad is in construction. He had a meeting with a potential client to
do some custom work on a house. They
began talking about why the couple had moved to Nashville and whatnot. Come to find out, the couple had moved to
Nashville to help start a church – hold up, what? AND not just any church, but the exact same church plant movement that we were at in San Diego! Not impressed by God yet? We joked so much when we lived there to
people that we would eventually go back to Nashville and who wanted to come
with us to start one there! His dad
explained our story to the guy, and he was in unbelief as well. Adam called him and they began talking about
all the details. We made plans to meet up right when we get there, and we couldn’t be more excited! AND, the
couple knows several of the same people that we know within the church movement. In shock!!
What about my job? Well, that’s just another fun fact to add
to the story. When we moved to San
Diego, God blessed me with a job within the first two weeks of us living
there. It was literally the first job
that I applied for and was going to be my, “Okay Adam, I tried to get a job” plea
so I could play tourist in San Diego for a few months. That didn’t work. I started right away, and then God blessed me
with transferring right into the John Hancock building when we moved to Chicago
– the absolute best location I could have gotten with the most incredible
view. So, I told my boss on a Monday
that I was going to be leaving for Nashville at the end of August. That same week on Friday, a girl in my EXACT
same position put her two week’s notice in at one of our locations in
Nashville. How cool is that? To top that
off, when I spoke with my new soon-to-manager, she informed me that we went to
the same college (Go UT!) and were in the very same sorority. Small world much??
I say all this because it is so clear how God will write our
story for us if we just put him in control.
I had no idea as a 21 year old who said “yes” to my marriage proposal
that I would be moving all over the country and developing a life with my husband
that can only make since knowing God’s hand was in every single step. He truly will guide you, and he truly will
provide more than enough to make your journey more than you ever asked for or
imagined. Don’t discount what God can
do in your life, and where he may lead you.
We aren't even sure what Nashville is going to look like for us, but we are sure that we are going to get to be a part of what
God doing there. Get
ready folks, the best is yet to come!
