Casting Crowns

Derek and I won tickets to see Casting Crowns in State College, PA last week. It was amazing, of course! A great birthday present for me. We also enjoyed hearing Caleb and Tenth Avenue North. Loved all three. Both Tenth Ave. North and Casting Crowns played my favorites so I decided to share one.

Casting Crowns never fails to come out with songs that are incredibly convicting and often exactly what I need to hear. I will never forget when I first heard "Slow Fade." I had been praying about a situation that seemed to rear its ugly head over night. Right then, Slow Fade came on the radio. It was literally like God was responding to my prayer of confusion, not only opening my eyes to the truth of the situation, but convicting me personally to constantly be on guard.


Everybody needs to watch this video and listen to the lyrics. While there is a specific story told in this video, it applies to every area in life. Ask God if there is a chain in your life leading you toward something horrible, and make sure to break that chain now before it's too late.

Blessings of being a parent

There are many sacrifices a person has to make when becoming a parent. But as I look back on the past couple of years I realize that those sacrifices have been replaced with blessings that make the "sacrifices" seem trivial.

I'm not just talking about the amazing blessing of getting to hold and love on and teach and adore my sweet, beautiful, precious child. That alone would be more than worth the "sacrifices," but God is also a parent and He loves to lavish on extra blessings just because.

Today I was thinking about where I would be if I wasn't a parent right now. My closest PA friend and I would probably not be nearly as close if we hadn't been pregnant together two years ago.

Another great friend of mine and I probably never would have met if we didn't both have baby girls in July. Those, I consider huge blessings.

 

Then there's the silly little things you would never think of before becoming a parent. Like how exciting it is to go to the zoo or the park. How suddenly an Easter egg hunt goes from simply traditional, to (a dozen pictures later) something Derek and I walked away from saying, "That was so fun!" I've never been a very social person, but now I get excited to bring Marie to the library or on a playdate. The blessing of watching her learn and grow is impossible to understand unless you are a parent.

And then when Derek and I get to go out on a date or I get to go out with the girls, something away from my little Goob, those things are so much more precious and appreciated. But of course I miss my baby girl the whole time and LOVE the huge hug I get when I return. It's all so worth it.

While life does change dramatically once you become a parent, nearly two years into parenthood I can't imagine life better than this.

Happy Easter!

What an amazing weekend full of family, celebration, and food!

We started out the weekend with a trip to Rickett's Glen, one of our favorite places on the planet.

We spent some time reading Isaiah 40. A must read and meditate on passage. It was a slightly different approach to Good Friday. It was because of our all-knowing, almighty, sovereign, compassionate, gracious God that we had something to celebrate this weekend. I highly recommend spending some time studying Isaiah 40.

Saturday we spend some time with family at the park. Marie loves to walk her cousin, Reese.

I love the toddler age! Okay, I always love whatever stage Marie is in. But Easter Egg hunting is a lot of fun at this stage! Marie loved it and we loved watching her on Easter Sunday.

After the fun little hunt we got our 2nd annual Easter family picture.

As if living, dying, and rising again wasn't enough, my Savior has blessed me beyond words. I love my life. I love my family. What an awesome God we serve!

Thankful for an all-knowing God.

This post is about the interview/visit we had this past friday in Elkhart. But first I need to take this opportunity to encourage fellow believers concerning this healthcare bill (biting my tongue in order to not call it what I would like to).

The bottom line is God knew Obama would be president. God knew this bill would pass. Did He orchestrate it or just allow it? I don't know what I believe there but I do believe that God knows exactly what He's doing. Whether or not He chooses to save our country by somehow stopping this bill, our true citizenship is not here on earth. It's in Heaven. And in heaven we won't need any healthcare! So let's not forget Who we represent. Let's not forget Who is really in charge. And, let's make sure to pray for our country and our elected officials!

(If you know me at all, you know that the previous paragraph was painful for me to write).

Now on to the purpose of this post: an update.

We drove out to my hometown this past Thursday to interview on Friday morning. We already knew that we really liked the idea of this job, but actually visiting it and hearing the details of every day life, and listening to the guy in charge share his passion, we can't imagine a better fit. It's as though God has been preparing both of us for this job for years now.

At the end of our time there, we were given a quick summary of pay and insurance costs. That was a serious downer. Then it only got worse when we got an information packet that was more detailed. By Saturday night we knew we could not afford to take this job. Since then we've gotten some clarification that was somewhat encouraging. As far as we can tell, Derek would be making as much as he does now at the Scranton Counseling Center. The negative about that is we can't live on what Derek makes at the Center. He would be forced once again to work at least one other job. Probably more. And the health insurance is incredibly expensive (and will only get worse very soon!).

So instead of leaving Elkhart with even an idea of a decision, we have left with more confusion. While we are still planning to pursue this job, Derek is back on the job search bandwagon. He's really beginning to hate that wagon.

There is a job opening down in Florida where we have a connection. To be honest, I'm having trouble being opposed to living in Florida. But I also struggle with how that would be a step toward Russia. Who knows. God works in very mysterious ways.

I feel awful for my poor husband who has to work so hard just to barely make ends meet. And here I am living my dream career - taking care of this little Goob full time.

 

A New Possibility

We are currently praying about a job opportunity for Derek in Indiana. He would be a tutor to kids who for one reason or another cannot go to a regular school. He is THRILLED about the prospect. For so many reasons it seems to be the absolutely perfect fit.

As I got more and more excited about the idea of the job and the positive report on the phone interview, I braced myself for a possible... no probable... down side. And it came almost like an afterthought. "They only have openings in Kokomo and Fort Wayne." For those who don't know much about the flat state of Indiana, this means that the closest location would be at least an hour and a half from where my family lives. I suddenly forgot all the reasons we want this job and nearly decided this would be a terrible idea.

This move that we are hoping to make is for the purpose of making a home base to come back to on furlough. We would like to own a house and have family close by so when we're home from the mission field, we don't have to live out of suitcases and we won't have to travel to see family. 2 hours is still traveling to me!

But I promised Derek that I would pray with an open heart, just in case God leads us somewhere I'm not thrilled about (or tells us to stay here). And seeing the light in Derek's eyes when he talks about this job... well God is working on me.

So right now I'm praying that God will provide an opening in either Elkhart, Goshen, or South Bend with the expectation that He will, but the realization that He might not.

Please pray with us while we go through this process. We're traveling to Indiana to check out the campus sometime in the next couple weeks. Hopefully we'll have some definite decisions made soon!