Always a Monkey Wrench

It seems that in life every time we think we know something, that we're absolutely sure about it, something comes in and totally muddles it up.

As the days have gone by the reservations I had about moving have melted away one by one. I was finally on the same page as Seth. I was ecstatic about moving with no reservations, except for leaving my big giant beautiful kitchen...but I was getting over it. Then Tuesday came around and I received a phone call from Seth while I was at work. He told me that a branch of the bank he works at, which is located about 18 miles from where we live now, and in the opposite direction of the town we're moving to, had called and offered him a position there. The position involved a significant raise and a promotion. Since I was at work we didn't really have a chance to talk about it. He just asked me to pray.

Of course it was all I could think about for the rest of the day. I thought through a million things at once. Should Seth take the job? If he did, would we still move even though it would be an hour commute for him? Should we stay at the apartment? If we did, would the pay raise give us the same amount of savings as moving into the cabin? Was this an answer to prayer, that when we have kids we will have the financial stability for me to stay home, or would the extra money all get sucked into our loans? Would living so far from church plus the extra 30 minutes in the opposite direction be too overwhelming for us? Would it hinder us even more from ministry through the church? And round and round I went.

That night and the next day all we did was think, pray, and ask for prayer. I was struggling to even know what to pray, so I just asked that the Lord would make the decision we were supposed to make extremely clear to both of us. On Wednesday night, Seth called several people for wisdom and council. They all had different opinions about the various aspects of the decisions we were making. After hearing them talk through our situation, Seth and I came to the same conclusion. Seth was going to decline the position at the other branch and we were going to move ahead with our original plan of moving into town to care take for the church.

We both came to this conclusion for the same reasons. We felt that if Seth chose to take the job it might give us more financial stability in the future and it could possibly be a smart "career move". However it would also be a big sacrifice of Seth's time. Not only his time with me but also time spent with the Lord, and in ministry. Neither of us ever wanted to live a life where we were focused on careers or making more money. We want to serve Jesus. So why would we pursue something that is not where God has either of our hearts? Neither of us had peace about Seth taking the job even though it seemed like the smarter thing to do so we chose to walk the other way.

I still don't understand why all of these decisions came up for us all at once but I don't need to. I feel that we made the decision that the Lord would have us to, and if we are mistaken in some way, He is more than able to redeem it. Though I still have my moments of anxiety, where I wonder if we've made the wrong choice, I'm excited for this opportunity to trust God and see His provision in our lives.

Moving, Memories, and Mint Chip

The Lord has been answering a big prayer for us lately. Between the two of us, Seth and I have a large amount of debt through student loans. The Lord had been so faithful in providing for us to continue to make our minimum payments, but we just haven't been able to make any headway. Our desire is to be in full time ministry. What that means or looks like, I'm not quite sure but whatever it is, it's not a door that God has opened for us yet. Instead we are both working full time jobs to pay the bills.  Even though we know that all things are possible with God and we are so blessed to have work, I would be lying if I said that we didn't fear that we will be doing this for the rest of our lives in order to get out of debt. Lord teach us to trust!!

Recently God opened a door for us to move into a small cabin next to the church. We will save quite a bit of money by moving there. This will enable us to put what we save toward paying off our loans. The location is also a lot better for us. Even though our apartment is less than two miles away from my work, it's close to 15 miles outside of town which is not only where Seth works, but also where the church is, and where most of our friends and family live. So we will cut down a lot on travel time... not to mention gas. We don't know how long this door will stay open for us and we are praying that God will help us to manage our money wisely so that we can make the most of this time.

I am extremely blessed that God opened this door. However, as I tend to be overly sentimental, I am sad as well. I moved into the apartment that Seth and I are living in now a little over two years ago. A couple from our church had remodeled the bottom floor of their house and turned it into the cutest little living space. This couple was kind enough to allow me and my cousin to move in and it was my first real home, aside from a dorm room, away from my parents. When Seth and I got married my cousin moved out, Seth moved in, and we have been making it our home ever since. I have so many happy memories there and I'm finding it a little bit hard to leave. I also LOVE the couple that lives upstairs. They have been so good to us and I will miss them.

Although Seth likes the apartment and he will also be sad to leave our upstairs neighbors, he is struggling to understand my feelings. As sentimental as I am, Seth is the most unsentimental person I have ever met! He sees moving as the most logical thing we can do, which it is, and so he is completely ecstatic about it with no reservations whatsoever. This situation has been an opportunity for both of us to learn a little bit more about each other. Though Seth was taken off guard by my reaction to moving, he has been wonderfully understanding and sensitive. I appreciate his willingness to acknowledge my feelings, even if he doesn't understand them. I pray that I can learn how to do the same for him! Something I have realized as well is that I would go anywhere with him. He's going to be there, so no matter what, it's going to be home. This was a happy discovery for me to make. I think it made him happy too!


We will be moving within the first few weeks of April and as the days go by, despite my initial reservations, I am getting more and more excited. I am looking forward to moving into town. I think it will give us a lot more opportunities to minister, especially since we will be right next door to the church. It will also be nice to have a craving for mint chip ice cream and not have to drive to China to get some.

So this has been a fraction of the thoughts that have been running through my mind about this move and I feel better to have some of them out of my head. Thanks for listening!!

Thought for Today

Well we're half way through another week! I am so blessed to have a day off during the week, though it always seems to go by faster than any other day. I feel this way especially now that every other week Seth gets off early on my day off and we have an afternoon to spend together. I look forward to those days so much because after the weekend, by Wednesday we've only had a few precious hours together.

Snowy Saturday

This is the perfect day for my first post! Seth didn't have to work today and I was so excited I woke up at 6:30 this morning. I tried desperately to fall back to sleep but my bladder had other plans. My trip to the bathroom could have been fairly uneventful but our sweet kitty, Judah, has a habit of following me every where. I tried to be sneaky but to no avail. He followed me right into the restroom and then back to bed. This shouldn't have been a problem but now he was awake and decided that Seth needed be too. So my poor husband spend the rest of the morning throwing Judah off of his face. This went on for about an hour and a half before I finally gave up and decided to get out of bed. Seth is a lot more stubborn than I am and stayed for a bit longer.