Monday, April 28, 2014

Recharged and ready

The past few weeks we have just been going and going and going. Nonstop. Now don't get me wrong, I like being on the go, it means things are happening. However, every once in a while it is nice to just stop and take a breath...and maybe sleep in! Well, this weekend we did just that and it was WONDERFUL.



We didn't have anywhere to go, we could just stay home (if we wanted to). We did have things to do - it's finals week and we have to be out of our apartment by Wednesday - yikes! But instead, we just relaxed and caught up with friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. We may have been procrastinating a little, but come on, it's our last full weekend in Springfield. We cut ourselves some slack. Plus we still don't have any boxes, so packing may have been a tad difficult. We are getting those today though. And as today is my last day at my morning job, I'll have this afternoon and the next two days to pack up everything we own. Thankfully, we really don't have that much stuff (for living on our own for two years). - Like how I qualified that statement? Yeah, it makes me feel better too.

Well, today we are back to it. Like I said, today is my last day at my morning job and tomorrow is my last night at the gym. I have two finals to study for and take by Wednesday. Our apartment will be all packed up and in a trailer by Wednesday night. My family is all coming into town on Thursday morning. Graduation is on Friday (oh my goodness!) and we move to South Dakota on Sunday. So much is happening this week, and I am so excited for all of it! I say, BRING IT ON!

Happy Monday folks!


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

An announcement and a testimony

This past weekend, Adam and I traveled home to West Virginia for Easter. We got to visit family and spend some time at our home church. Since we've officially made the announcement to our families, I guess we can tell the big wide world.

We have accepted ministry positions at Family Worship Center in Watertown, South Dakota! 

Beginning in May, Adam will be serving as full time youth pastor and I will be acting as ministry assistant/office coordinator. I can not even begin to describe to you how excited we are! Throughout this whole process, we have seen God working, and it is completely by His hand that this opportunity was made available to us. It has simply been amazing to sit back and watch Him work. 

Now, if you had asked me a month ago how I was feeling about life after graduation/ministry opportunities/moving forward, I would have told you it was terrible. A month ago, we didn't know what we were going to do. We had a few leads, but all the doors we thought were open just kept closing. One after another, it seemed that I was watching my hopes die. Let me tell you, it was frustrating. And honestly, I was angry. I was angry that we had spent the last four years training for ministry only to find that God didn't have anything for us. I had been praying for so many agonizing months that God would lead us to the right church, but God just wasn't answering. I was trying not to lose hope, but let me tell you, it was hard.

You see, I thought I had been trusting the Lord to lead us the whole time, but really I was doing everything in my power to make a position happen. I kept trying to release control over the situation, but then I would turn around and grab the reins and have another go at it. It wasn't until the last connection we had fell through that I was done. That day was awful; I was angry and upset and I just didn't understand. The water works were on full blast all day (thankfully, I have a wonderfully understanding husband who puts up with me despite my periodic hysteria). There was absolutely nothing else that Adam or I could do. Nothing in our power had worked.

It was that very day, that an answer came. And we didn't even recognize it for what it was. I received an email from the Commuter Director at Evangel. He said that his cousin would be in town conducting interviews for a youth pastor position. If we were interested, we should email him for contact information. I told Adam about it and we decided to talk to the guy. Now, we weren't expecting anything to come of it. Seriously, we walked into that meeting thinking that it would be good interview practice for the future. We had already decided that after graduation we would just stay in Springfield and continue working our jobs until something came along. We did not expect God to move in that interview.

But boy, were we ever wrong! And I am so happy that we were. We sat down on Friday evening to chat with Wes and Cindy. That is what it was too, a "chat." It didn't feel at all like an interview. It just felt like we were talking to friends. An hour or so later, we all knew that God was up to something. We went home with plans to fly to South Dakota the next morning, and we were in Watertown by 3pm on Saturday. We spent that whole weekend with some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. Everyone was so welcoming, by the time we left on Monday morning, I felt as though I had known them for years. We fell in love with the staff and the church, with their vision and dreams for the future.

We left on Monday morning knowing where we were supposed to be. We continued to pray, but felt completely at peace. I have never experienced anything like it. By Wednesday we had been offered the positions, and we accepted on Thursday. In just one week, God had turned our world completely upside down. He provided more than we could have ever even hoped for. He answered prayers that we never prayed. I am still in awe of the ways in which he worked this all out. Of course, there is so much more to the story. So many things happened along the way, all we could do was just stand amazed.

Now I believe that there is power in a testimony. And this is mine. In the midst of what feels like a hopeless situation, God is at work. You might not see an end, but that is because He sees a beginning. His power is so much greater than our own. So, if you are finding yourself in a similar situation, I would like to encourage you. Keep pushing through, don't lose hope. Our God is faithful.

Psalm 43: 5
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? 
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Calling all standby passengers

Thanks to Adam’s dad, we have some spectacular flight benefits. You see, he works for an airline, so we have the privilege of flying standby with that airline for free - at least almost free. Sometime you have to pay taxes. I don’t really always understand the details. Anyway, as we currently live half way across the country and are moving a bit farther westward, this perk definitely comes in handy!

 {It’s okay, I think you can be slightly jealous. But only for a second. Okay, time to be done coveting. Move on. } 

Check out that beautiful carpet

So standby. It can be a blessing and a curse - well, not really a curse, it is free. Let’s say it comes with its challenges. You see, you book a ticket for a flight but you don’t have a guaranteed seat on that flight. You have to wait and see what happens. The challenge is that flights can fill up quickly and leave you stranded. This requires some quick thinking and creative maneuvering. I’m not the quick thinking, creative maneuver, but both Adam and his dad have the covered - thank goodness! However, sometimes you’re just out of luck and you get stuck.

 So was the case for Adam and I last night. We made it to Chicago from Sioux Falls, but due to the weather, we weren’t able to make it all the way back to Springfield. Instead we got to search for a cheap hotel (with a shuttle service), walk through all that brilliant weather that Chicago was having (seriously Chicago! Snow and ice!? It’s April, get it together!), and get up bright and early (5:30am!) to try again. Hey, at least we didn’t have to spend the night in the airport. Although a very nice lady did give us several blankets just in case.

Look at that. Just no. Gross.

 We finally made it back to the 417 around ten this morning, just in time for Adam to be late to work - awesome! But we had a great weekend! We flew up to South Dakota on Saturday morning to look for some housing. We had a few options to choose from, so we spent some time looking around and we got to know our new town a little bit better. We had a chance to sit down and chat with some new friends and even meet some more great people. Seriously, we’ve loved everyone! The people in South Dakota are just wonderful, at least everyone we’ve met so far. Adam’s mom, Dawn, was able to join us for the weekend as well, so we loved getting to introduce her to everyone. We just had a lovely weekend! We were even able to find ourselves a duplex to rent (we didn't really do any of the searching, we had some great help with that part)!

 We are now all set to move in a few weeks! Except for the whole packing part of course. We haven’t even started. Oh dear, I hate packing. But I’ll give you some more details about our move and the whole story/reason behind it later - possibly next week. It’s a good one, so stay tuned!

South Dakota is just gorgeous! 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Purposefulness

I am a strong believer in purposefulness. So, naturally, this blog will exist to serve a purpose. And if you're anything like me, you want to know the reason behind what you are reading, why it was written. So, I feel obligated to begin by sharing this blog's purpose with you.

I am a lover of adventure, travel being my favorite. Though I fully believe that adventures can be found each and every day, even in seemingly mundane tasks. They can be found in learning a new skill, meeting new people, even trying a new restaurant. As long as there is a desire for adventure, I think it can be found, even if you aren't traveling half way across the world [though I'll take any excuse to do so!]. As long as you are awake and alert, adventure awaits!

As college graduation is approaching, I know some great adventures are just around the corner. This may require moving away from family and friends, so this blog will serve a two-fold purpose.
1. To document all of the everyday adventures to look back on in the future
2. To keep family and friends in the know about what is happening in our lives

Sound simple enough?

I hope to keep things interesting and share pictures whenever possible. I'll also try to keep things short, I know you all live busy lives!

Enjoy!