The Florida Herrons Update!

(Ya betta park-it because this is a LONG POST, get cozy haha!)

First, thank YOU for caring about us and being interested in my blog! Thank you also for praying for us as we transitioned to Florida! In case you're totally confused, here is a post about why we moved to Florida to plant a church. I don't know exactly who reads my blog but I'm humbled to have about 3,000 views a month... that's crazy! So, that's 3,000 of ya'll who I'd love to pray for the hearts in Florida that we come across! My heart breaks as I think about all the people that I love that I won't be able to see very often that may be reading this. I love you! How quickly life changes. Moving on...

I wanted to post an update since there's been a lot going on in our lives! It has been amazing and painful at the same time to see how God has paved the way for us to settle down here in the sunshine state; Pembroke Pines, FL to be exact. We moved out of our home in White House, TN on May 23rd not knowing:

1. Who would buy our house in Tennessee

2. Where or when Blake would find employment next
3. Where we would live
4. How we were going to pay for everything without an income
5. What, when, and IF anything would happen 

Talk about crazy, haha!! Before I tell you just how God worked everything out, I have to share my lack of faith! You may be thinking, "well, you had to have SOME sort of faith to go through that list above." Yes, I guess you're right. However, I was definitely the worrier, the negative one, and the naysayer at times. Just because God calls you to do something, doesn't meant you're going to enjoy every step! I wasn't happy, patient, or optimistic at times either. My heart became hardened when someone backed out of buying our house! I was so confused as to why someone would give their word and then take it back, affecting us incredibly financially and as a family! Talk about anger haha, I was enraged! A wise friend told me anger is just the symptom of a deeper emotion, I agree! At that point I was so scared and confused as to what God was doing.  It took me a while to realize that God wasn't trying to upset or confuse me about His plan. Someone else's disobedience or mistakes (usually) greatly affect other people.

I was mad at God because I doubted that he would take care of us. Sometimes when my emotions don't match up with what I KNOW about God, I doubt!! I know that our emotions don't always line up with the TRUTH but it's really hard to talk yourself out of that spiral when you're in the middle of it. "IT" being, moving far away from everyone we love and everything we know to do what God told us to do... without knowing the first step! Insert truth/Amy Grant classic hit...thhhhy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (repeat) nothing will I fear as long as you are near, please be with me till' the eeeeend! Gotta love me some Amy Grant. 

Obedience brings peace but not immediately. 

I know that we are following what God told us to do but it definitely took more patience than I ever anticipated. We sure did have doubts when we were living in East Tennessee for almost two months waiting for God to provide a job for Blake. I felt so alone and scared! (It was a treat to be around so many family members though!)

Blake had way more faith than I did; I'm so grateful for that! Thank you Lord! It's amazing how the Lord allows only one of us to freak out at a time! When Blake gets down, I'm the encourager and vice versa. While living in East Tennessee with family, we felt like we were waiting in the desert with no response from God who had told us clearly that we were supposed to "GO TO FLORIDA AND PLANT A CHURCH." A beautiful desert filled with family and friends haha, but we felt like God was asking us to just wait! God's timing isn't our timing and although I'm grateful for that, it's definitely not easy to experience. I'm sure you can think of a time where you had to WAIT ON THE LORD. Haven't we all! 

I think I was experiencing shock, denial, anger, and detachment all in a weeks time. I'm so glad that Jude survived all my emotions haha! Some days he would just look at me with this confused look as to say, " Mom, why are you so stressed?" It was a BLESSING to have Jude to take care of. There were many moments where I felt the Lord calling me to His peace when I'd have to sit down with little Jude every few hours for a bottle, food, playtime, diaper change, nap, repeat. Predictable rhythms throughout the day that I never knew I'd be so grateful for. I can't wait to have more predictability here in Florida! 

In case you've never heard of this philosophy, there are stages of grief.

 "STAGES OF GRIEF/LOSS." 

I think I had a harder time dealing with all the changes coming my way because I wasn't in the word much. (Duh, you should read your Bible, Caroline) Running on empty you may say. I know that it's not smart to go through a huge life change and neglect spending time with the Lord. I learned a lot about myself during that time (this time still) of desperation. I was mad at the Lord for not answering us and telling us where to go! It's ok to be mad at God and tell Him all about it but, it's not ok to blame Him! 

When you're out of the word, you can become a leech, hanging on too closely to other people's words, opinions, and advice. Some people I talked to were trying to talk me out of how I felt instead of trying to just listen. Others listened first and then gave sound advice. I think that listening is an important step to letting someone grieve. Sure, if I was out doing something self destructive or crazy then TALK away. For example, when someone is griveing a loss of a loved one, you do not try to talk them out of their pain. You listen. You pray and grieve with them. Now, there did come a time where my anger wasn't healthy and I did appreciate my husband telling me to "get on up out of your anger and do something about it!" Sometimes, I do not deal with change well. I felt like the whining child that didn't get their way; "WHHHHYYYY? HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO LIVE OUT OF A SUITCASE?!" Haha I'm still living and learning! 

I'm glad to be past the anger phase. Now, I'm just thankful that we have suitcases. I'm thankful that we are alive! I have NO idea how we are going to handle the extremely high cost of living down here (double the rent for the same square footage as TN for example).

It's really easy to focus on what we don't know but it takes self discipline to focus on what we do know when it come to faith. 

So, I DO know that if God wants us down here then he will handle all the details. Even if my emotions don't match up with the truth, the truth doesn't change... and my emotions don't change the truth. Blake is working hard and I'm working hard keeping Jude company... and away form snakes, alligators, and poisonous frogs! Yes, there are poisonous frogs everywhere!

Now that you've heard my heart on the subject, here's a timeline of our travels so far!  

We moved out of our home in White House, TN on May 23rd as I mentioned above. My sister, Blake's mom, my dad, and my mom graciously opened up their homes and their pantries to us as we waited for God to open and close doors! Our little Lolly cat stayed in a bathroom at Blake's mom's house the whole time; we'll never be able to repay them for that, haha! It was definitely not easy being patient but we're thankful for all our your encouragement!

Blake set out to Pembroke Pines, FL to find employment on Sunday, June 16 and wasn't sure when he'd return. He stayed where we still are today, at our lead pastor's house. For a few weeks there were ten of us all under one roof, now there are eight! Thankfully our close friends, Kelsey and Dwayne who were here at the house too, found a place to live nearby and moved in last weekend!

We planned on Blake staying for at least two weeks in FL to find a job and suddenly, God provided a full time job! The same day, we received and accepted an offer on our home in White House, TN! We were thrilled and singing praises!!! Our house closed this week! Blake was a star at his interview and was so grateful for an open door; such an answer to prayer! All his coworkers said that he talks like Blake Shelton, haha!

So, Blake and our friend Dwayne were salesmen for a marketing company called AMI in Ft. Lauderdale which is about a 45 minute commute. (yes, I said were.) Blake enjoyed working there as he traveled to about forty+ businesses a day! He embraced the opportunity to share the gospel with many people who scratch their heads at the thought of a young man and his family who moved from picturesque Nashville, TN to Pembroke Pines, FL to "start a church." He worked around sixty hours a week for about a month and never got anything but $92.00 soooo Dwayne and Blake quit on Friday. Blake doesn't have a job lined up yet, we just have faith. (yes, we're crazy) We found out that the company was a complete SCAM. Those meany heads! We're not going to discuss how much we spend on gas and tailored suits! We'll be lucky to get any actual paychecks from them! His employers made a lot of promises and they didn't keep their word. At least we were able to secure a house and we do have some support coming in from our church plant donations. The numbers don't look promising to us but we trust that God will provide if He wants us to do His work here! It's all His money anyways, right?

Jude and I went 18 long days without seeing Blake so we tried to figure out how exactly we would get to Florida with two carfuls of luggage and a cat. Poor Lolly! After wrecking our brains, the only solution was to have two cars and three people. Blake's mother and Lonas were SO kind to offer... so, I took them up on it. Poor Lonas had a drugged up Lolly cat in his car for 15 hours hah! We had a very pleasant first half ride down to Tifton, GA listening to every CD I own and then drove the remaining seven hours to Pembroke Pines, FL the next day. We arrived on July 4th and reunited with Blake! 

After placing multiple offers on homes to rent, we recently found a house and moving day is August 1! The houses for rent down here go very quickly! We are so ready to have our own space again. The house is exactly what we need and we can't wait to set up a spare bedroom for family and close friends to come visit! If you'd like our address you can ask me for it at blakeandcarolineherron@gmail.com or on Facebook.

our rental home :)

the view of our backyard

Jude and I have enjoyed our days together learning the street names, learning about local preschool gatherings in the area, and taking many humid walks around the neighborhood! It's a new experience being joined by frogs, lizards, snakes, and very unattractive " buzzard ducks" as we call them! Our new creature friends inspire me to run a little faster though haha! At least I haven't run in to any gators yet!

the "buzzard ducks"

We have had two church gatherings since we've been down here and we've been very encouraged! Right now, we feel like it's important to build a core group of leaders who all share our vision; to share Christ, share life together, and build disciples! (1 Thessalonians) Especially since we can't fit a large group in our pastor's house, we are keeping the group open but limited until we have a large space to use; hopefully in January. We are challenging each other to find one person to disciple, pour our lives into. Also, we try to individually share the gospel at least twice a week! Exciting! My sphere of influence is limited but there are a lot of nice strangers at Publix, the bank, and on my neighborhood walks! I've met an interesting and very sharp 90 year old man, for example! Haha! There are about 20 of us meeting right now and it was so humbling to hear that our church plant is an answered prayer to some! Wow! Why are we surprised when God moves?! We are studying 1 Thessalonians where Paul talks about "sharing life" with believers and unbelievers. I'm challenged to walk with my eyes open to who God wants us to open our home to. I've been thrilled to get to know our lead pastor's wife Misty better, as well as two ladies and one of their daughters that go to our church meetings! God knew I needed women in my life to love on!

We miss Tennessee, our amazing families, friends, having a routine, normalcy, our own bed, making a mess and not cleaning it up, and our little Lolly cat who was being boarded and is now at Kelsey's, but we are thankful to be a part of such an exciting journey! Thank you for praying for us...pray that Blake will find a job! As we try to share the Gospel in an area where there's been much resistance, we know that we will face many trials and tests! Please pray that we will cling to Jesus and each other! God loves you. Jesus gave His life for you to have life, and we get to share that life with others; how awesome! Much love and grace!