Rocky Top Tennessee

Yes, I have neglected my blog yet again. I think me taking care of an infant is a valid excuse as to why the neglect. Much has happened since my last post.

As most of you know, the Garner family has relocated. We now live in Knoxville, Tennessee. That's right, Volunteer country! We now live in the land where "Rocky Top" is played constantly and everyone wears orange. You may ask why this change in scenery. Well, that's why I am writing this post.

Chris has been struggling with working full-time and going to school. He wants to be a good steward of what the Lord has given us, and taking out loans for school is not in the picture. He knew that adding a baby into the picture would add to the struggle. He knew that the Lord had called him to ministry, specifically church planting, and taking classes at Boyce just to repeat them in seminary did not seem like the best way to use our money. After the Fall 2010 semester ended, Chris came to me and told me that he wanted to move back to Tennessee. While I did not act out in such a way, I was completely shocked. Tennessee was not in my mindset. We were supposed to be in Louisville for the next several years. After thinking about the possibility, I felt like this was really what the Lord wanted for us. With Chris still having his residency in Tennessee, this would free him up to go to a state school, which would mean cheaper tuition and the possibility of grants and scholarships. With much thought and prayer, we decided that Knoxville is where our new life would be.

It was such a blessing that Ben came two weeks early. It was hard enough to get everything ready to move four weeks after his birth. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be with only two weeks! We left Louisville on June 17. We were so blessed with all of the help. There were about 15 guys total, and they packed up the truck in an hour! Because of a miscommunication with Chris's new job, we are living with his parents and our belongings are in storage. However, the situation has been resolved and we will be moving into our new apartment on July 23. We are so thankful for the opportunity of staying with Chris's parents, but we are DEFINITELY ready to have our own home.

Even though we know that Knoxville is where the Lord wants us to be, we do miss Louisville, specifically the people that we left. We have been blessed with amazing friends and we miss them terribly. We can no longer call up "The Shire" and see if we can come over to hang out. We can't hang out with Wellum's Couples after church or for special events. Louisville and Southern Seminary has been an incredible blessing to us. After all, this blog title would be different and my cute little boy would not be here if I never would have moved to Louisville and married my best friend. We are thankful for this season of life and we look forward to join the Southern family again once Chris is finished with his Bachelor's.