Carey's Journey Episodes

We were finally expecting our second baby. Jackson’s pregnancy proved to be the most challenging on my body, but his delivery changed us forever. Sometimes what we want and what we beg God for is not in our best interest. In this instance, His answer of “no” was the most loving and powerful gift He could have given us. ……………………………….. Sign up for email notifications and subscribe with your favorite podcast platform on our new website: thejourneypodcastwithcarey.com Keep up with and share t...

God had given us clear instructions: quit your job, live in the flip house, go to school and work in a church. We were in awe of this calling, but the practical logistics soon proved to be daunting. How would we sell our Tennessee house in a recession? How could we afford a moving truck? What kind of income would we have in Mobile? Could we afford health insurance? How would we pay for college tuition with zero savings? These mountains seemed impossible and led me to many nights on my face...

In 2009 we were living with one income and two mortgages. Money was tight, to say the least, and mathematically, the numbers didn’t add up. But God’s math is not our math. We tithed to the church consistently, we put our daughter in cloth diapers, I couponed systematically, we made our own baby food and laundry detergent and somehow, we never missed a meal or were late on a bill. The Lord used that season to teach us so many things about stewarding His money. We went through Financial Peace Uni...

I had worked so hard to complete my professional goals before tiny Anna was born. Being a stay at home mom was all I had hoped it would be. When Anna was 5 weeks old, Nathan’s company wanted to move us from south Alabama to East Tennessee, 8 hours away. I resisted the idea at first, but after making the move we learned that the company was preparing to shut down Nathan’s plant in Alabama. His bosses were working hard to save his job before plans of the shut down became public. The Lord was looki...

On February 9, 2020, our family got on a plane and left China. Today I need to record my heart for posterity and for future generations. At that point, coronavirus was just a China issue. We were going to spend a few weeks in the US while this virus business died down and then we'd go home. We made a decision on Saturday afternoon to return to the States. I packed suitcases with 1 week's worth of clothes for everybody. We left dishes on the counter and pajamas on the floor. Before sunrise on S...

All my life, all I wanted was to have babies and stay home. That was about the biggest dream I could dream for myself. But first, I had to get through the blasted CPA exam. In 2007 I busted my butt to study 5 days a week, on top of a full time accounting job, to make sure I passed that test on the first try! To my surprise, I passed the exam and came up with a positive pregnancy test at Christmas 2007. During my pregnancy, unbeknownst to us, God was casting vision for our future by sending Nat...

This episode is full of confessions: We had no idea how to buy our first house, we made a horrible financial investment, and I started having doubts about God. One year into our marriage, we weren’t too confident about adulting, but dang it, we were doing it! We bought a house and we got super involved in our church. That’s what we were supposed to do, right? Even though our first steps in adulthood were a bit rocky, I can look back now and see the Lord guiding our path. He led me to a job that...

We got married at the tail end of university and that day couldn't come soon enough. We did some things in that season really well. Other things...eh, they needed improvement. There were so many new challenges...bills to pay, seeing each other every day, a for real grown up job, petty arguments, and buying refrigerators! We had no idea where this life was headed, but we were thrilled to go there together. Marriage is meant to be the greatest blessing, and we are still walking in the fruit of th...

After dating for a year and a half in high school, Nathan and I chose universities that were 4 hours apart. We each had incredible, full college experiences that have served us well throughout life, but in the end we were both focused on getting through that season and being together.

After leaving China for COVID-19 and being unable to return, the company decided it was best for our family to relocate to USA. We have accepted a job in the Houston, Texas area, but riding the emotional roller coaster and finding a house didn't prove to be that easy. For 5 days we looked at 21 houses, dreaming of what the next season of life might look like. We thought we'd made a decision, but His still small voice directed our path in another direction. On the afternoon of the last day, He u...

I can't very well ask you to share your story if I'm not willing to share mine. So scattered throughout these episodes, I will share the journey the Lord has had our family on over the last 20 years. It's been a wild, incredible journey, but He always comes through bigger and better than we ever thought He would. In this episode, we'll start at the beginning. I was 16, Nathan was barely 17 and it was an experiment in missionary dating where God showed up. Little did we know we had launched an i...