I feel a little overwhelmed lately when I think about blogging. So much is going on in my head and I still can't seem to get it all out. I have been wanting to blog, but every time I sit down I don't know where to even start. So, this post will be somewhat simple. This is the best I can do for now.
-I just finished "Same Kind of Different As Me." It helped me to see the poor differently and challenged me to not be so quick to judge those who are different from me. It's an easy read and I would certainly recommend it.
-I've just stared reading "Blue Like Jazz" and have loved it so far. Thanks for the loan, Jess.
-Mitch losing his job has certainly had it's perks. Although we feel like it has taken our faith to a whole new level (which is what i'm mulling over to blog about at some point), we are enjoying the time that God has given us that we otherwise wouldn't have. When it's nice outside Mitch can take the afternoon off and we can enjoy the day together. On Friday after dropping Neily off at MDO I actually got to have a "mother's day out" while Mitch stayed home with Jake. I got to go run at one of my favorite places, Jemison trail in Mountain Brook. I have logged so many miles on that trail since college, but hadn't been back to run there in over 3 years. It was such a delightful morning.
-My little girl just turned 4 and I am still getting over the fact that I have a 4 year old. I'm sure I will say this again as each birthday rolls around. Man, it goes by fast.
-One thing I struggle with right now is feeling displaced. I feel like I belong, yet I don't. This is one of the hard parts about our circumstance. We are trying to dive in and be a part (of church, of a community), but at some point our circumstances bleed into that and it makes it seem more difficult and frustrating than we ever expected. Oh that we may have a permanent address one day!
-Okay, so Mitch is watching some vampire movie while I am writing this post and I have totally lost my train of thought. Seriously...does anyone else's husband watch this stuff? Monsters, vampires..I just don't get it.

Nighty night.

A New Chapter
Let me first apologize for leaving the lovely 5th grade picture up for 3 weeks. I was quite the blogging slacker over the holidays!

As many on you know by now, a chapter of our life has thankfully been closed and we are eagerly anticipating what the next will bring. As of Friday, Mitch was laid off from his job. Some gasp when they hear the news, yet we are truly relieved. We have known for sometime now that our family was not a good fit for his company and vice versa. We knew that we wanted to stay in Birmingham and really felt like God was leading us to do so. For us, Mitch losing his job is wonderful confirmation of our desires to remain here. The road we have travelled with his company has not been a fun one for us and we are certainly glad it is over.

So what next? We have outlined a "what if" plan for the next several months (what if being "what if it takes Mitch several more months to find a new job") but in general we will take things week by week. His company did give Mitch a severance package which will allow us to not sweat the financial side of things until the end of April. So, when you think of the Stephens, please continue to pray for a job for Mitch. He has made several great contacts over the past 3 months and thankfully he has a list of people to call tomorrow. He will also finish up studying the next 2 weeks so he can take his LEED accreditation exam (for green building) at the end of the month. That will be a big deal and something that will look fabulous on his resume. Pray that he will pass because we hear that it's a pretty tough test.

God is good and is loving our family so uniquely. We are excited and hopeful to see what he has in store for us!