Georgia's first violin recital (May 2016)

Georgia began taking violin lessons in March, and in May she performed in her first violin recital! She was even the first student to play. We were so very proud of her growing musical ability and her confidence at the recital.



 
 Note: this is my attempt to embed a video from YouTube. Please let me know if you cannot see it.

Georgia's baptism

Since we knew I was pregnant with each of our children, Nathan and I have prayed for their salvation.

It is the deepest desire of our hearts for our children to follow Christ.

Georgia has been asking spiritual questions for months now,

 and we have been so very blessed by our conversations with her.

In late August, with no prompting from her parents, she prayed and asked Jesus to save her, 

to draw her to himself, to give her new life in him.

Her joy and enthusiasm was immediately apparent--is still apparent--and is such a blessing to us.

After a private interview with two of our pastors, who confirmed the work of God in Georgia's life (to the best of their ability), Georgia was baptized by her father on October 9, 2016. Later in the service, as a baptized believer, she participated in communion for the first time.  What a privilege! What a blessing! We pray it will be a lasting, treasured memory for Georgia as she grows in her faith.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Baxter turns seven -- September 28, 2015

Wasn't Baxter JUST born? How did he suddenly turn 7 years old?

This boy:

energetic, joke-teller, sensitive, snuggle-loving,

wrestler, sword-fighter, Master Builder extraordinaire,

light sleeper and early riser, chocoholic,

blue-eyed wonder of a child

We have lost more sleep because of B than any of our other children.

Yet when his sleep is interrupted, Mommy and Daddy can easily soothe and settle him. 

It is a precious thing to comfort a child--especially one getting so big!

We pray that the intensity with which he experiences life will become 

an intensity lived for Jesus. 

Celebrating his seventh birthday was loads of fun! Presents included books (he LOVES to read now!), Lego sets, breakfast with daddy, and double chocolate cake.

You are loved, Baxter!! Happy Birthday! 

The Finns take Jackson, part 2 (first contact)

You can read part one here

Mid week of Valentine's week, Nathan came home from work, put his things down, and sat in his rocking chair to chat with me about his day. This was not unusual or uncommon; he did this most days. The kids weren't around at that moment, though I don't remember why. Nathan seemed distracted and fidgety, but it wasn't enough to bother me.

Then he said: “I've been contacted by a friend at Union about submitting my resume for the Dean's position.” Long pause. “And I didn't say no.”

BOOM. There it was. He didn't automatically say no, and in that moment, I think we both knew something had changed.  In the past, different people had suggested Nathan submit his resume for the open position, but he had never felt led to do that until the "first contact" in February. 

He agreed to pray about it, and we took a few days to pray and decide if he should proceed with sending in his resume. Truthfully, I prayed a little bit, and cried a lot at least once in those few days. Yes, I had a big, ugly, I-don't-want-to-go-don't-make-me cry before Nathan even sent his resume. Because, you see, sending the resume is saying we were okay with going. And I wasn't. In fact, I told Nathan that if he wanted to submit his resume because of some age-old promise to Danny Akin (see part one), I wasn't biting. It was not necessary, and it was unfair to Union (or any other school that came calling) if we didn't really mean to go through with the process. Nathan assured me that he wanted to submit his resume to Union because he wanted the job. God had changed his heart, and I am not sure either of us saw it coming until it hit.

We can point to many things that led us to the conclusion that Nathan should submit his resume, but the biggest one for me was the multitude of 'outside confirmation.' To be clear, we told very few people we were even considering submitting our resume. It was much too early in the process for us to do that. However, Nathan and I each told our closest friends so they could be praying for us and supporting us (and for my girlfriends to know why I might randomly burst into tears at any time). The response was universally positive, encouraging, 'yes I could see Nathan doing this job' comments. We felt a peace about taking the first step in the process and Nathan sent his resume in.

This was not a calm peace, at least not for me. It was a jittery, on the edge of my seat, waiting for the cute guy to call me, nervous energy kind of peace. I knew it was the right thing to do, though I was reluctant about it, and Nathan knew it was the right thing to do, and we just wanted answers. What next? Would he get an interview? If he did get an interview, would he be offered the job? Would he take it? Our minds were racing about how soon Union University wanted to fill the position. As it had been vacant for two years, we knew they needed someone fast. There was a lot of crazy speculation happening in the Finn household, and at times, not much else! Nathan still had to teach, and be an elder, and a daddy, and I still had to homeschool, and help lead a Bible study, and be a good mommy and wife. It was an interesting balancing act, to say the least.

Right after Nathan submitted his resume to Union, winter storms hit. Two weeks in a row, we had snow in Wake Forest, and Jackson Tennessee had snow and freezing temperatures at the same time. It threw everyone's schedules out of whack, including all the committee meetings. So we sent Nathan's resume off, and then we heard absolutely nothing for weeks. It seemed like months, but it wasn't quite that long (though it was close). It was nerve-racking, but God was teaching us and molding us, causing us to cling to the cross, to focus in on what was most important, and to lean hard on God's goodness when we had no idea what the future held.

More to come....

One month in

One month in Jackson today. It seems both long and short. It seems like "hey, we've completely got this whole 'Jackson' thing down" and then other days we are drowning in adjustments and emotions and new jobs and making friends and life. God is good, and God is faithful, and this struggle--for struggles are not automatically bad--is for our good and His glory. We are glad to be here in Jackson. We have seen growth and fruit and development already, and we cannot wait to see what else lies ahead for us on this journey.

The Finns take Jackson, part 1 (the background)

Before I can even start the story, I need to give some background. If my life were a movie, this would be a quick flashback, but my life is not a movie and instead it's a long rambling blog post. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Union University is a top-ranked private Christian university united in its love for Christ, for rigorous academics and for Biblical truth. (I didn't write that--it's direct from the website, but it is truth, and you can check it out here: www.uu.edu)  Union is the gold standard in evangelical Christian liberal arts education, and has been for decades. The former president, David Dockery, a brilliant theologian, writer and thinker, influenced and shaped Nathan's view of higher education for the glory of God.

Five or more years ago, Nathan and I informally talked about our five and ten year 'plan.'

It wasn't a real plan, as in we did not take active steps to put things in motion; it was more of a dream followed by some searching questions about what was next for us.  Union was a 'pie in the sky' kind of dream in that talk. You see, in our early married life, we never expected to teach at a seminary. "Our plan" was always to pursue a Ph.D. and then Nathan would find a job in a small Christian college. Teaching opportunities at a seminary rarely materialized, and so we didn't hope for it. When we discussed our pipe dreams, teaching at Union under David Dockery was on the list. 

But that changed--honestly because we found ourselves becoming more rooted in Southeastern. More involved in the vision of the campus. More in love with the Wake Forest/Raleigh/Durham area. We loved being a part of the mission at SEBTS and had no desire to leave.

Let me also back up a little bit and say that in the academic world, there are some positions, some jobs, that just due to WHAT they are, you should hear them out. In other words, don't automatically say no, don't slam the phone down on them, don't say it could never happen. Once upon a time, Dr. Akin told several young faculty members that though he wants them to stay at Southeastern forever, if certain schools should come calling, especially for positions of influence, they had to talk to them. Yes, Nathan was one of the people who heard that speech.  Union was one of the schools on that list, but Nathan thought nothing of it.

Circling back around (thanks for bearing with me, folks!), Union University's Dean of the School of Theology and Missions left two years ago to become the president of another school.  The position has been vacant for a long time! It was vacant while we were here for sabbatical last spring, which led to a lot of jokes (which really weren't jokes) about us having a semester long audition for the job.  Let the record show, the job was not offered to Nathan while we were here January 2014-June 2014:-)

We didn't even really pick Union for our sabbatical. Shortly before Thanksgiving 2013, we were discussing Nathan's upcoming sabbatical and I wished out loud that we could go someplace exotic (confession: I meant England). Nathan told me that we could relocate, but it would have to be affordable, and have access to a library and writing space. I thought it sounded intriguing, and we made a list of a few schools to contact. Union happened to be the first one because Nathan has a good relationship with several administrators. To our surprise, Union was very amenable to the idea, and ended up rolling out the red carpet for us, finding us a house to live in for free, giving Nathan office space, and granting him library access. So we moved to Jackson for five months.

And...Nathan's and my experiences were a bit different:-)

He researched and wrote all day almost every day. He attended weekly STM faculty teas (basically just faculty hang out time), and though they gave him plenty of space to do his work, he got to know most of the faculty in the department. For me, it was harder. We moved in January, when the temperature was zero degrees. I had four children that I was homeschooling, it was freezing cold and I didn't want to go out, and the youngest child was just eight months old. It was a lonelier time for me. I confess that I allowed that loneliness to color my interpretation of Jackson to my friends back home, to the point that someone said to me "How can you move there? You hated it!" Whoops.

I didn't hate Jackson. I missed my friends, my home, my church, my rhythms of life in Wake Forest. Jackson felt foreign to me, though it is a very Southern town and in many ways is oh so familiar. My kids were very lonely during the cold winter months, especially my social butterfly, Georgia. I did not feel like people made much of an effort to reach out to me, and I allowed that to irk me.  In addition, though we lived in Jackson for five and half months, we were away from that city five weeks of the time, visiting Wake Forest, hanging out with friends in Nashville and Kentucky, and spending two weeks in Georgia when Nathan's mother was deathly ill. We were never in town more than five weeks in a row.  I could have made an effort to make friends and get to know more people, but I wasn't too concerned about it-- we were going back home to Wake Forest soon!

All of the above aside, Jackson was an amazing time for us as a family. The Finnlings grew in their relationships with each other and their abilities to play together. I read so many books because we didn't have any evening plans! As a family we explored parks and cities that we had never seen before. Chickasaw State Park became a favorite weekend spot, we adored our day trips to Memphis, and we stayed in Nashville for the weekend as much as possible:-) We found our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tulum, in Jackson, Tennessee.  Much to my surprise, after returning to Wake Forest, we had many moments where we spoke about how we missed Jackson.

It was the Lord preparing our hearts.

Big changes for the Finns

When months go by between blog posts, many things are bound to change.

For the Finns, the change in the past few months has been earth-moving for our little family. We have moved from our home of eleven years, Wake Forest (and our beloved church and school), to west Tennessee--specifically Jackson, TN and Union University.

Nathan has accepted the position of Dean of the School of Theology and Missions at Union University in Jackson, TN. In God's kindness to us, we lived in Jackson for five months last year, so we have a jump start on our knowledge of the area, learning our way around town, etc.

We have seen God's hand guiding us here, and we have been blessed beyond measure by how He worked every detail out during the process. As a family, we all miss Wake Forest, First Baptist Durham, and SEBTS, and that manifests itself in different ways at different times. Yet the Lord has said "Go" to us, and we cannot help but follow. We look forward to seeing what is in store for our family here, and we are excited to be a part of the wonderful things going on at Union University.

Over the next few blog posts, I hope to tell the story of how we came to this place, not because it is an amazing or even terribly interesting story, but because we want to remember this process and set these 'memorial stones' in place as a reminder of God's faithfulness to us.

For the record, God has ALWAYS been faithful to us.
It is against his nature for him to be unfaithful.

Nathan and I know that in this big life changing decision to move states and jobs and homes and churches we have seen God's faithfulness and sensed God's leading in multiple ways. I do not want to forget these past few months, and I want to be sure my children know this story as well. So please feel free to follow along. Thanks for your patience with me in my sporadic blogging. 

Happy Second Birthday, Fuller!!

Our crazy fourth child, Andrew Fuller Finn, turned 2 years old on April 25.

It's amazing how fast these two years have gone.

Fuller is a delightful, wild, expressive, comedic, silly little boy.

His facial expressions are the best.

He loves to tickle, and be tickled.

He thinks his big brother and sisters are the greatest in the world.

He gives a mean fist bump.

He doesn't want food on his hands but loves to play in the dirt (see below)

He refuses to eat chicken but loves hummus.

He babbles all the times but says very few words.

He wobbles when he runs, but it never stops him.

He loves life, and we love him. Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Playing in potting soil

Eating pizza like a big boy (not cut up)

but pants are optional :-)

The two candles for his birthday!

Note: he didn't even want to try to blow out the candles!

 Cupcake!!

And...he's done!

These kids love their little brother (though he isn't enjoying this picture:)

First library cards!!

 We make weekly trips to the library.

The Finnlings pick loads of books each, and I pick a stack as well.

It's rather astounding how many books we check out at a time.

This past week, we reached a milestone.

Georgia and Baxter each got their own library cards.

To say they were excited was an understatement!!

I'm pretty excited for them, too. 

I don't remember getting my library card

--maybe because I had it from such a young age--

but I remember proudly signing my name on the printed cards in the back of the books.

My parents would discipline me by taking away by bag of library books.

We are crazy book people, this Finn family. Yay for the Finnlings!!

Back to school interviews with the Finnlings

My First Day of Second Grade

Georgia Finn

I am 51.25 inches tall and weigh 61.8 pounds.

My best friend's name is: Lydia W. and Grace S.

My favorite thing to play: dolls.

My favorite color: blue

My favorite book: the Laura series (Little House on the Prairie)

My favorite TV show: The Lego Movie

My favorite food: Pizza

When I grow up, I want to: be a nurse

Something I really like: is to dance

Something I really don't like: being annoyed

My favorite thing about myself: is reading

Something I want to do this year: sewing

My First Day of Kindergarten

Baxter Finn

I am 47 inches tall and weigh 48 pounds

My best friend's name is: Benjamin.

My favorite thing to play: Battleship  & Legos.

My favorite color: blue

My favorite book: Special Forces

My favorite TV show: The Lego Movie

My favorite food: Pizza

When I grow up, I want to: be a builder

Something I really like: Emmett (Lego Movie)

Something I really don't like: Wyldstyle (Lego Movie)

My favorite thing about myself: Master Lego builder

Something I want to do this year: draw

My First Day of Preschool

Eleanor Finn

I am 39.5 inches tall and weigh 32.6 pounds.

My best friend's name is: Russell

My favorite thing to play: babies

My favorite color: blue

My favorite book: Daddy Hugs

My favorite TV show: Lego Avengers

My favorite food: Pancakes

When I grow up, I want to: build

Something I really like: to watch something

Something I really don't like: hitting

My favorite thing about myself: building

Something I want to do this year: build Legos

The Finnlings go to the dentist!

Though we have pediatric dentist office that we like in North Carolina, a dentist office in Jackson that has animals on the roof is just too hard to resist! So, a couple of weeks ago, the three biggest Finnlings had a trip to the dentist.  What is not to love about an office with animals on the roof, a tree in the lobby, and movies at every chair?

Unfortunately, one of the kids has several cavities thanks to genetics and really close teeth, so we will be paying a return visit or two :-( It was such a great experience, though, the kids are asking to return. I kinda wish I could go there and watch a kids' movie while getting my teeth cleaned. That might help me relax during a visit!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today my partner in crime, soulmate, best friend, sweetheart, love of my life

celebrates his birthday.

For one half of a year we are the same age again :-)

I am so glad that I get to share in this crazy life with him.

Happy Birthday, Nathan! May our gracious Savior and Lord grant you many more 

for us to celebrate together!

Coming home from the hospital

I just found this blog post draft that had never been posted! Enjoy this 'blast from the past'! Hard to believe this sweet boy is about to be one.

Date taken: April 27, 2014