Zack and I are beyond excited to announce that we are moving to
Southern California
after our wedding and honeymoon!
It all started with a prayer of what our lives could look like if we lived near family. That meant one of two things- we would one day live in Florida or California (2 great options- I know). This prayer had no more strings attached. It didn’t have a timeline, hidden agenda, or other necessities.
We simply lifted up a one line prayer to our great God to bring us to family one day.
This was a prayer we thought we would be praying for years, but how silly of us to underestimate a God whose dreams are bigger and grander than ours will ever be. It would be only a couple of months later that we receive a phone call from Zack’s hometown church, TerraNova, in California to speak about a couple of job openings.
Our first thought: shock followed by slight bits of healthy and exciting nausea. TerraNova would be in need of a High School Pastor. Their current high school pastor would be welcoming in another beautiful baby(by the way, I can’t wait to love on this baby) to their family this year and he would step into a part staff position at the church. Zack of course asked immediately about me and if they had other needs a the church. TerraNova excitedly shot back with a plan of creating a
{dream} job
for me as a Community Creations Pastor. I would be handling social media, working with Young Adults Ministry, and developing/carrying out assimilation strategies within the church. I of course will be volunteering with high school girls as I know that God is still calling me to that ministry.
A message for the high school students at TerraNova Church:
This was not something we took lightly. It took many nights of tears and constant fear of and wonder if we were making the right decision. I remember looking at Zack with my eyes filled- as my heart broke thinking about the people I love so much here in Virginia. We prayed for God’s guidance and how we would maneuver this and the timing that came along with it. After many emotional nights,
we made the most bittersweet decision of our lives-
to leave our lives here in Virginia- and head out on a new journey in California.
I will miss every single person here in Virginia who has molded me, poured into me and has built me up to be who I am today. You all have prepared me for the biggest adventure of my life- to be a wife, a leader, and most of all a daughter of God who fully trusts where He has called me. You have supported Zack and I together.
You have prayed for us.
You have welcomed us into your homes and loved us as your own family. From the people at CrossFit Krypton who could make me belly laugh after a brutal workout, to the ladies of Spring Branch whom I spent nights sharing stories and testimonies. In the past year, we have poured our lives into our couples Life Group as they have given so much to us. We sat around the coffee table in Zack’s home on Thursdays- talking about a tough, but gracious Father and how to carry out our faith in our every day lives- until 9 or 10pm at night.
All along… you were all little pieces to a bigger puzzle, a picture that God is painting in our lives right now.
I just want to say…
I will constantly pray for my high school girls as they embark on their Senior year.
You ladies have showed me
how beautiful a simple love truly is,
and most of all how to not take myself too seriously {that was a 7 year process}. I will absolutely never stop praying for your future and how God will use you. Your individual faces, personalities, quirks, HEARTS and everything you are will forever be ingrained in my heart and soul. I will cherish our crazy Girls Retreats, Sunday nights spent in small group, trips to Florida/Nicaragua, and all of the little moments that I have tucked away in my mind to hold onto.
As we continue through this process,
I realize that I am living out my “lasts.”
Though I came back physically broken, I was able to experience my last spectacular Bigstuf. I helped out at my last CSSM party night. As I stood on the beach on August 7th, I watched my last Spring Branch Beach Baptism. I ran over to Natalie and cried in her arms as I realized the depth of this and how hard it would be leave it behind.
To all of our friends in ministry in Virginia Beach and Spring Branch, thank you for allowing us to serve by your side. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve those in need and bring people to Christ as a team. Special thanks to my roommate Erin Burdick for putting up with the wedding craziness that has taken over her house while we were in the process of selling Zack’s home. Thanks Erin for always being REAL, sharing endless bowls of guacamole, watching horrible reality TV, making late night trips to Skinny Dip, and most of all being a great friend. The Farthings, Werwaths, Magees, Smiths, Oberhelmans, Fentons, Lowry’s and the list goes on and on… your love for each other as a family unit is what we aspire for our family unit to look like one day
– full of LOVE- enough for each other-
and 2 Californians who walked into your lives long ago.
And to our parents, siblings and families
… your endless support for us is incomparable.
We couldn’t plan a wedding, sell a house, and move across country without your wisdom, guidance, and willingness to help. It has been crucial for this time of change and for what is to come. We love you beyond words.
We will miss you and cherish you all more than you will ever know, but we are overjoyed to head to the same place where our individual stories began back in 1990 in Long Beach Memorial Hospital- where God started planning the amazing things He was going to have us do. These things we will now do together, and with family by our side. Cheers to an amazing chapter of our lives, continuing to plan our wedding and
build a marriage built on whimsy faith.
Our wedding will be a day full of celebrating new beginnings and teary goodbyes. We will honeymoon… somewhere {Zack has still managed to keep it a surprise} until October 9th. Our moving van needs to be packed and ready to go on October 12th. To those who have volunteered to help us pack up- we are SO grateful as it’s going to be a whirlwind.
Orange County, California- watch out!
The Neelands’ will be camping across the country with deaf white Boxer in tow. We can’t wait to see you, serve you, walk alongside of you while we enjoy the beautiful weather, beaches, deserts, and mountains! I will blogging on here with fun stories, pictures and shenanigans as we cross the country. We will look for a permanent home once we move to California. We hope to find a place that can house friends and Florida fam to come visit us.
Our doors will be open to you as yours have always been for us.
#ZandAtakeonCA
Every day God invites us on the same kind adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what is is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us,
He whispers,
“Let’s go do that TOGETHER.”
^ I clearly had a moment of “I’m over this heat.”
Thank you to my mom for taking some amazing pictures of our moving announcement. FYI- We took these in 107 degree weather in Cape Charles…
and then treated ourselves to ice cream right after (it melted in 2 minutes).
If you have any questions about our move, want to spend time with us before we leave, or just share words of advice and wisdom- please do so! Also, please comment with any great places to stop across the United States.
We would like to only half-way wing it (wink wink).