Happy 3 years in NC

We moved to NC three years ago today! It has been a very full 3 years and it has been a blessing to be here. The anniversary got me to thinking that we have also been in ministry 15 years this summer.

We began at a little church in Bassett, VA. Gospel Baptist Church. We drove up every Sunday from Winston-Salem where Greg was a Senior at Piedmont Bible College. They has no music so I took a few lessons and chopped out a hymn or two on Sunday morning. Since that was the extent of the special music, Greg usually preached the rest of the hour. ( about 50 min.). He got his preaching practice in every week for sure! And let me tell you..those pews were hard! They couldnt pay very much and I think we broke even ( or went under) paying for gas to go back and forth each week.

In July of 1997, we packed all our worldly possessions ( not very much!) and moved to Daniels, WV. I honestly don't know what made them unanimously call a 23 year old, fresh out of college Preacher and his pregnant wife, but they did and I will forever be grateful. God used that little mountain town and the sweet people in it to teach me so much about being a mama, wife and pastor's wife.

It was so many little things I was taught in my 20's and when you add them all up, they have made me much of who I am in my 30's. How to make a pie crust, a rum cake and chicken & dumplings, a love for primitive things and longaberger baskets, how to host a dinner party, how to put on a VBS and a church banquet...so many things. In fact, half of my recipe box is from my years in Daniels and the generosity of the sweet ladies sharing their knowledge with me.

Daniels was even instrumental in us being called to Goodwill Baptist and moving to Kernersville. A man that had been Greg's mentor in WV, Preacher Joe, had moved to Kernersville and joined Goodwill and when their pastor resigned he recommended Greg and even had a mutual friend of ours try to find us in FL to contact him about coming to NC.
Here is a photo of us on our third anniversary at Daniels, WV. They made us feel so loved every year that we were there and always had a lady whose mother went to our church make a gorgeous cake. Abby was 3 and Nate was 3 months! Little did we know Esther would be making an arrival 15 months later!

and here is our family now

15 years in ministry isn't a very long time compared to others and I hope we will be able to continue to reach 20, 30 ,even 50 years as a couple ministering together for the Lord. The people we have met and the places we have been able to go have been such a blessing and I honestly wouldn't want to have any other life. I am thankful to have been given the gift of a wonderful and wise husband that loves the Lord and loves his church family.

So Happy Ministry Anniversary Greg Mullis. Thank you for following the Lord and His calling and thank you for letting me join you on this wild and crazy ride!