Moving Update!!!

March 31, 2006

            The theme song for the Gilley family this past week has been "Great is Thy Faithfulness" as we have watched the mighty hand of God in our lives! The acrostic for FAITH is Families Achieving Impossibilities Through Him. Believe me, He has worked great impossibilities for us! Packing 19 years' accumulation of "stuff" for 9 Gilleys in 10 days while driving an hour away to a revival each night was definitely an impossibility!! There were times when we thought we could not go another step, but He gave the strength and grace we needed. On Thursday, March 30^th, we hit the ground running and started loading the 26 foot moving van and 2 12 foot trailers at 7 am. Around 9 am, God sent 5 "angels" to our home to help load the truck. I know. . .if you'd seen them on the street, you might not have recognized them as angels, but they were definitely angels sent from God to us! By 12:30 pm the furniture was loaded, and those angels left for lunch. We kept working and finally at 10 pm, we had our final prayer meeting at 413 Northern Blvd. and took off towards Decatur, AL. Emotions were mixed as we left our home of 19 years and headed toward our new life of faith.

            We were a strange caravan as we pulled out of Wilmington that night! Of course, the children went to sleep soon after we left, and we drove until 1 am when we gratefully pulled into a pet- friendly Holiday Inn! (Leah's cat, Isabelle, was a part of this caravan!)

            On Friday, after a free continental breakfast, we were on the road again by 9:30 am. Believe it or not, we did not stop once until 4:30 that afternoon!! Obviously, not one person in either vehicle expressed a need to stop! After slowing down for torrential rain near Birmingham, we finally pulled up before our new home at 9 pm, and we praised God for His grace, protection, and that we were able to drive for 15 hours without getting sleepy!! Rick's sister, Martha, and her son, William were there to greet us!

            We were thankful to slip into our new neighborhood under cover of darkness! Hopefully, it eased the shock to our neighbors. One trailer was unloaded by midnight and we set up camp in our music room. What a slumber party it was!

           The next morning Nancy's brother, Tom drove down from Nashville, TN to help us unload the truck and remaining trailer. Between Tom, Martha, William, William's friend, Weston and 7 Gilleys, we had everything unloaded and were able to return the U HAUL vehicles by 6:30pm. All the beds were put together by midnight, and there was one happy Gilley family sleeping in their own beds that night!

            God continued to answer prayer by leading us to a precious little church on Sunday morning where we felt right at home! After 30 years of church ministry, it is very important to us to find a local church to call home.

            Somehow we settled in some, hung some curtains, packed up again and were able to leave for a camp meeting by 4:30 pm on Tuesday! After all, this is a big part of Faith Family Ministry!!

            How could we ever thank all of our family and friends for all of your love, support, and prayers during this exciting transition for our family? It is the power of prayer that enables us to press on for Him! We love you and thank God for your faithfulness.

To God be the glory!!!!