I’m sure anyone who knows us is not surprised that the Mitchell’s are moving again, but we are so excited to be moving back home to South Carolina!
The way this whole thing came about is truly a God thing.
We’ve been in Columbus for three years now and the original purpose for this move was to be close to my parents and family down here. When after a year or so of being down here, my parents moved back to Chattanooga, we realized that our dream and reason for being in Columbus was no longer the same.
We still had my sister and Aunt, Uncle and Cousin here, so we weren’t totally alone but we really struggled in finding our place here. We weren’t really drawn to the area…it was the people in it that made us stay.
When I invested and became part owner in a self defense school here a year ago, we felt that this was an anchor to hold us here in Columbus. I loved my job and enjoyed working in the evenings.
But every time we would go back to South Carolina, Chris would say “Man, I really miss being here. Do you think we could move back?” And I would agree…it did feel like coming back home. But I own my own business and I can’t just drop that and move, right?
A turning point came in June when we went to the beach with Chris’ family at Harbor Island. It just felt like home. Being back with Chris’ family and being in South Carolina. That’s when my heart began to want it too.
We talked about it but dismissed it because there really wasn’t a way for me to step away from my job. We took out a loan to invest in it and had to make the payments on it.
Fast forward to August/Sep. We couldn’t get moving back to South Carolina off of our minds. Not only did we miss his family, but we also missed our church and community there. The Clemson/Anderson area is one of our favorite places in the world and we knew that’s where we want to put down roots and raise our family.
So we took a leap of faith and Chris sent out his resume. We didn’t hear anything for awhile which was discouraging but we felt like the Lord wanted us to keep being faithful where we were at and wait for Him.
He got a call from a job recruiter and he said he had some leads on potential jobs that would be a good fit for Chris.
We both kinda freaked out. Although nothing was in stone yet, just the potential of moving made me want to be upfront with my business partners to give them a heads up. We talked about it and it was received…okay. There was no promise of a good buyout but we really didn’t discuss details yet.
I ended up finding someone who wanted to buy my share of the business and I was so excited. This felt like a win-win to me because not only would my loan be covered but we would even make a little…and with our kitchen being completed gutted since July, we needed any extra cash to help cover those costs.
And by him buying me out, it wouldn’t set the self defense school back at all because they wouldn’t have to pay anything.
When I presented the buyout offer to my partners…let’s just say it did not go well. They didn’t want another partner and were not open to letting me out of my contract. They changed my work schedule without my knowledge and more than doubled the prior agreed upon classes I was to teach. When I called them about this they said they wanted “to be fair” and for me to start carrying my weight. I had no power because they had the majority vote and they let me know that. A lot more went on that I don’t feel comfortable going into on here…but it was pretty bad.
I had panic attacks and anxiety attacks because of all of this. One night I was up until 1am unable to stop throwing up or breathe. I kept crying and telling Chris “What do we do?! If you get that job and we move I’ll be in breach of contract and we’ll walk away with a lot of debt!” Chris told me that at this point he didn’t care. He saw how this was affecting me mentally, emotionally and physically.
We tried to negotiate some kind of buyout with them but they barely offered me a third of what my share was worth and none of the money for it would be up front. When things continued to escalate we talked to Chris’ parents and asked for their advice. “Are we stupid if we just walk away and get out of this toxic situation?” Chris’ dad said “Chris there is no price you can put on protecting your wife.” *tears*
So that’s what we did. I walked in there and gave them my share. Gave it to them. We took the hit and for the first time in over a year I have PEACE.
We know God will provide for us and we have no regrets.
(They did try to come back and offer me their original offer (the one that was less than 1/3 and it would only be a tiny check once a month for the next 5 years) but they wanted me to sign another contract that had so many stipulations and a gag order. We didn’t feel comfortable signing that and having any legal ties to them for the future.)
A week or so later after I walked away from my job, Chris got a phone interview for a plant in Greenwood, SC. They then scheduled an in person interview for that Friday. By the next Monday he received a job offer.
Our house is still under construction but the kitchen should be done just in time for us to list the house. I’m very sad I won’t even get to cook a meal in my brand new kitchen, but I know that God worked out that leak and mold issue to end up getting us a new kitchen that will be a huge selling point in our home.
We move in less than two weeks and he starts December 16th!
Everything fell into place and even though it was SO hard how it all happened, God resolved everything that needed to be resolved and took care of it.
I know that even though we aren’t in the best place financially right now that He will continue to provide for and take care of us. It’s been so cool to see His hand in all of this!
So South Carolina friends! We’re coming back to Clemson! We cannot wait to be back home!
The Carolina Farmhouse 
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