Day One of the Adventure!

 Today is the day! We woke up at 4:00 A.M., loaded the last minute items, ice chest, and overnight bag! We said good bye to Kyle's family (we have been staying at their house for the past week.). There were tears and hugs. We were so excited, and secretly I was a little scared :) We got in the car, turned the key...the car wouldn't start. Click. Click. Kyle's only words, "You have got to be kidding me!" Alright, everybody back to bed!

At 8:30 A.M. we had our car towed to a Chevy Dealership, the nearest place with a service station open. While we waited for a diagnoses we dropped Tucker (Kyle's parents dog) at the grooming salon, and went to Corner Bakery for breakfast.

It is definately not the start to our adventure that we thought we would have, but I guess that's why it's called an adventure! Going with the theme of feeling "free from control" I have had to just surrender all of this to the Lord. (So not like me) I can't control what happens. Before we got out of bed this morning, we prayed for God's Hand of protection on us and I have felt such peace today knowing that all of this is His Hand on us. Since this morning we have found out the problem- battery cables need to be replaced, so it is being fixed as we speak. Our new plan is to leave when the car is fixed and just drive east for as long as the sunflower seeds will keep us alert...we are going east right? Geography is not my best subject.

So I can't help but think of this verse- Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his ways, but God directs his steps." Thank you so much for your prayers! We love you!

The last two weeks have been full of packing and saying good bye to friends and family. I wanted to start this blog a long time ago, but it has been so crazy! At the moment Kyle is begging me to quit and go to bed already!! Through the packing I had moments of stress and especially when I was tired, I was thinking, "Ok God, what are we doing again?"

Kyle and bubble wrap. Yes that is a knife in his mouth.

  Saying good bye to friends and family was a lot harder than I thought. I would find myself crying, especially when my mom played me the song "My Wish" by Rascal Flats.

I was able to do VBS with my sister this last week in Fresno. It was so much fun, playing with my nieces and nephew. My mom drove all the way to Bakersfield just to pick me up to spend time with me before we left. We are at Corner Bakery enjoying dessert. Don't I have the best mom ever!

Throughout this crazy week, this verse continued to play over and over in my head,

"Do not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

COOKing up the dream...

Psalm 16:11 "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever."

My name is Holly Cook and I am married to the hilarious and handsome Kyle Cook. We are two kids born and raised in Southern California with an itch to try something new! We are moving to Arkansas!

We found each other at California Baptist University in 2004, both wild and thought we had it all figured out- Taco Bell and teaching. Here we are married 8 years later and unemployed at the very moment! Sounds scary, but for the first time, I feel so free! Free of control. Even though we don't have the jobs figured out like we did 8 years ago, we have finally figured out what is essential. God as the center of our lives and our marriage. We have been in prayer about this move specifically for over a year now. After our miscarriage in November, I felt like God kept reminding me, "I have great plans for you." During the low points, God continued to give me a skip in my step and a dream in my heart. 

We honestly don't know where we will end up, what we will be doing, or if it will actually be in Arkansas. All we know is that God has made a way, daring us to dream... We are so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to go on this adventure. So here is the start to a new chapter...We leave tomorrow at 4:00 A.M...