My journey on this road involves more than myself. This blog is about me, yes, but also about what my God has taught me and my husband along the way (and is still teaching us). The beginning of this blog was to write about our experiences the past 3 years….experiences that only we can give the account of, but ones in hope that can be used in order to be a light to others. But to talk about the last 3 years, I have to take you on a trip with me starting before that. A trip that I will not retell every turn and bump along the way, but one that is important in developing our desires, our passions, and all the road in between.
To say the last 3 years has been difficult would be a vast understatement. 13 years ago, my husband had graduated with his Ph.D. from a well-known university and had moved across the country to take a Post-Doctoral fellowship in the SAME town as I had just moved. Unknowingly, we moved the same month to apartments that were 1 mile from each other, and choose to attend the same large church. Well, as the story usually goes, we met, dated, fell in love, and married within 2 years. I was in awe of my husband. I thought I had “hit the jackpot” with him. Not only was he intelligent and handsome, he had such a desire to know the Lord so intimately that it permeated every facet of his being. It was contagious! Little did I know, God was working miracles in his mind and soul. Miracles that would take 7 or 8 years to come to fruition.
Speed up and fast forward many years…..God placed us in a church with people who encouraged my husband and his desires, in particular one close friend. My husband desired to spend all his time studying the Bible and telling others about Christ and showing them in real, personal ways what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. At the same time, I was feeling pulled into that area as well, and I knew my husband was, without him even telling me. So, with humbled hearts and nervous stomachs, we stepped out in faith and accepted God’s call to be in full-time vocational ministry. Particularly since my husband did not know what area of ministry he was being called to, he felt led to pursue theological studies. He began that process through on-line courses, but eventually felt led to move our family.
3 years ago my husband and I prayerfully made the decision to leave EVERYTHING we knew and felt comfortable with to move across the United States to attend seminary. The decision was not one that we took lightly. We endured harsh criticism from Christians and church leaders whom we loved dearly. Encouraging words were spoken few and far between. My husband was told he would never be more than an administrator, or that he would only be an “intellectual” minister. Self-doubt and fear were the open doors to Satan’s continual attacks that followed us to seminary. But, despite all that, God was with us every mile of the way. He opened doors to get here that only can be explained supernaturally. He has provided for us in ways that can only be explained supernaturally. And, he has given my husband the strength, endurance, and His favor that can ONLY be explained supernaturally.
But, even with God’s blessings, life in seminary has been challenging. I have given up a life that we believe is biblical to do what we believe God has enabled me to do in order to provide for our family during this transition. Our children have given up extracurricular activities, extravagant birthday parties, best friends, and other opportunities in order to help contribute to and support our family. My husband has given up sleep,(yes, he only gets 4 hours a night most times), position, and space in order to follow God’s call.
But, the most important part to catch is here: my husband is a changed man, I am a changed woman, and my children are all changed and growing in the Lord’s ways. We are not who we were 13 years ago, 3 years ago, or even 1 year ago. God continues to bless us. He blesses my husband with boldness, with gifts and talents he thought were reserved for others, with an even deeper passion and desire for His people, with ministry opportunities to stretch and grow him, and with genuine friends who seek to build him up instead of tear him down. God has kept our children safe, protected from the evils of the world, and has given them a heart and spirit for those who still do not know the Lord. And God continually blesses me through my husband, my children, and my close friends.
This blog is about our journey. There will be times I will write about something from the past that God has laid on my heart to share. There will often be times I will write more than normal because I want you to feel you know me, us, our family, and to do so means explaining a bit. Mostly, I want to use this blog to bring glory and honor to my Creator. I pray you are able to find connection and resonation with something He says through me.
Matthew 6:25-26: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
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