Time for Change

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.


A few weeks ago, Tim was offered a job in the great state of South Carolina. His first response was he could only think of maybe three reasons to take the job and move and hundreds of reasons to stay in Wilmore.

Over the years, we've dreamed of living at the beach. But we always agreed we had a good life in Kentucky. Our family and friends are here, we have a good church and good jobs. Why would we consider moving?

If this was not a God thing, we'd be staying. But God has other plans.

At first we each found God saying, "Follow me," through our devotionals, through our Bible readings, and through comments from friends.

Tim led a finance meeting at church, and in the parking lot Cathy Miller called out, "Tim Layton, you have the gift of administration." The new job is in administration instead of development.

Tim turned in his resume on a Monday, and on Wednesday he flew to Myrtle Beach for an interview. Our good friends, Willie and Melissa Lee, live in Murrells Inlet and picked Tim up from the airport.

(Here are Willie and Melissa at Scott and Kellianne's wedding.)

I stayed home and prayed while Tim met with two wonderful men in his new company. The three men immediately clicked, and Tim got excited.

Melissa and Willie prayed with Tim and gave him godly counsel. Before Tim left on Friday, he was offered a job.

Over the next few days, we lost sleep, we prayed, we felt nauseous more than once, we prayed some more, we cried and we listened and watched for God's answer. God continued to give us signs, and Tim still struggled. Scott asked how many more signs Tim needed, and he said one more. The next day, God gave Tim three more signs, and he said yes to the job.

We never thought we'd leave Wilmore and our beautiful family, but God has other plans. We're not sure what they are, but we feel blessed beyond measure to be called on this adventure.

Now begins the journey of selling our home and actually moving. We'd appreciate your prayers in the weeks ahead. Thanks so much.

I Am Second® - Chip & Joanna Gaines Take a Step Out in Faith

Soon I'm going to share with you how Tim and I are taking a step out in faith.

Maine Lights

Back in August, Tim and I went to Maine for a long weekend. This month we vacationed in Maine with my brother and his wife, Chris and Carol Lutz. We'd planned this trip for a year, and it lived up to our expectations.

We arrived in Portland and after lunch went to see the Portland Lighthouse.

It was majestic and beautiful, and we couldn't have picked a better day to see it.



The next day we walked out to the Rockland Lighthouse. It's an amazing experience. You walk out on huge rocks that are somehow held together to make a path through the water to the lighthouse.

Here's Tim with Chris and Carol.

That's how our vacation started. Maine's coast is beautiful and rugged, and we saw the leaves starting to turn red and yellow. I'll share more about our trip later.







Psalm 8: 1-4
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

A time to rest

I'm going to take a few days off from blogging to rest. It's been a busy year with changing jobs, a wedding, and being sick for weeks, and I think it's time to rest. I look forward to returning and leave you with Ecclesiastes 3.


Ecclesiastes 3 New International Version

A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.[b]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself,

“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Just for fun...buried treasure

Have you ever seen people combing the beach with a metal detector? I suppose they're looking for buried treasure. In a slow rhythmic motion the swing the machine back and forth. Once in a while they'll stop and dig for an item, but I've never seen anybody jump for joy or throw a fist in the air and let out a victory whoop. Have you?

Once Tim lost the car keys on a beach in Florida, and a kind soul with a metal detector helped him find the keys. By the time they were found, I'm sure Tim cheered with relief.

We're planning a trip to Maine, and I was curious about buried treasure. We usually visit the Carolinas where there are stories of Blackbeard and other pirates, but I didn't know about up North.

It turns out there may be buried treasure in Maine. My research shows Captain Kidd may have buried at least 45 treasures in Maine around Wiscasset. Bucksport is another area known to have buried treasure from pirates as well as the mouth of the Penobscot River. These pictures are from the Bucksport area.




I don't think I'll plan a vacation around finding buried treasure though. When I go on vacation I like to relax and spend time with family and friends. Spending time with family is better than finding any buried treasure.

Boldness for 2016

Instead of a list of New Year's Resolutions, I decided to be focus on being bolder in 2016.

"Once I let go of the fear and turned it over to God I ended up with the joy." Susan Anne Mason

One of the things I accomplished this year was having my first novella published. I joined three other ladies, Loretta Gibbons, Rose Allen McCauley and Jennifer Johnson, to write romances centered around Bald Head Island.

Right now, my husband and I've been praying to determine God's will. We're pretty sure we know what He wants us to do, the question is are we brave, or bold, enough to follow.

I'll keep you all posted.