Southern by God's Grace: Our BiG News

In my last post, I said that we (the hubs & I) were hoping to see some of our dreams come true in 2013.

WELL...

Meet my husband:

The first Chick-fil-A Operator-select of 2013!

The above picture was taken around 7:50 a.m. on January 3rd, as a car came to pick us up from out hotel to spend the day at Chick-fil-A, Inc.

While visiting, I was able to meet many of the people Brian tells me about, so it was good to put some faces with names!

Chick-fil-A feels that when an Operator takes over a store, it's a family endeavor, so they bring the spouse in for the final interview...which I greatly appreciated and loved being a part of!

It was my first time at "home office" as Brian calls it, and it was such a great experience. I've never met so many nice, friendly, welcoming people in one place! Their HR department deserves a pat on the back for sure. :)

Brian saw lots of familiar faces, but I was even able to see a few! I was able to reconnect with one of the managers, Brooke, from the Chick-fil-A I worked at in high school who now works at corporate, as well as a friend from college, Amanda. Amanda was actually working on a photo shoot for some news salad items coming out. That was super cool to see!

After we got the good news that Brian had been selected, he got to take part in some traditions!

When an Operator is selected, you get to ring the famous "bell," as seen below. Then everyone on the hall comes out to meet and congratulate the new Operator. What a fun tradition!

He was then able to sign the "Wall of Fame."

All Operators sign it after their selection. :)

And afterwards, we had to take a picture on the famous "blue couch," where many have sat while awaiting interviews and the outcomes!

If you can't tell, I am still bursting at the seems with excitement and pride for my hubby and our family! This is something Brian has felt called to do since he started working at Chick-fil-A in high school at the age of 15. To have been able to watch this man seek the Lord's will for our family and then so diligently pursue each different path that got us here has been an absolute and utter joy.

We are so incredibly blessed to be part of the Chick-fil-A family.

In case you're wondering, the store we've been selected for is Paddock Mall in Ocala, Florida.

If you've never heard of Ocala, it's a beautiful community full of horse pastures and farms.

There are even a few hills! It's like a little bit of Southfork (ya know, from "Dallas") came to Central Florida. And then of course there are huge oak trees with moss (like the picture below) as well as palm trees. It's one of the few places in Central Florida not hit as hard by the economy, and it's a pretty unique community. The area is pretty famous for their natural springs as well...they're beautiful!