Sunday, November 25, 2012

Life Living at the Seminary

We are partially moved in on seminary campus! Have I mentioned how I HATE packing.unpacking. boxes.moving messes.etc?!?! You would think by now I'd be used to it!  I say this everytime we move but I am not sure how we end up with so much excess! I seriously get rid of TONS of STUFF everytime we move! This move was especially eye opening because God has us in a one bedroom apartment on campus! SO I knew prior to moving we were going to have to give away extras that were given to us!  We have been very blessed.  Some very sweet people have been very generous and gracious towards us on our WiLd RiDe of a FAITH journey! Most of everything we own  has been given to us (other than one couch and one recliner). That is how God has provided for us! I can honestly say God can decorate a house way better than I ever could have!!!... Even down to cute decorative items! Who says God doesn't care about the small things in life?!  "Seek first His kingdom and His rightousness and all of these things will be added unto you!"-Matthew 6:33

The beginning of this year...Mark D. -the youth pastor at my home church- challenged the church to pick a word for a year. So I went home and prayed and asked God to show me the word He wanted for me this year. The word simplistic kept popping in my head! Through out the year God has been teaching me simplicity. He has taught me the beauty of simplicity-I can't wait to share with you in future posts. Life living at the seminary in our one bedroom apartment is truly simplistic. It is peaceful.  We are excited to learn, grow, make forever friends, and to continue on in our WiLd RiDe of a FAITH journey. Coming here after being on staff at two different churches makes us appreciate our time here I believe more than we would have when we were younger! It is neat having various age groups here, all with the same goal of making disciples of all nations!!!

" Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

*sometime in the near future I will have to have a blog post and pictures of organizing a one bedroom apartment with a toddler! interesting!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Happy 4th Anniversary!!!! Our Love Story~


My hubby and I met at a Disciple Now at his home church! One of my friend's friend was the youth pastor at the time. At the last minute the youth pastor needed some D-Now leaders, if I remember correctly I think the ones that were supposed to lead couldn't make it or something like that. So I got asked to help. My hubby was the worship leader and I was the high school girls leader.

Funny story- The 1st night  they introduced the leaders (my hubby was in the gym during this time) and I guess after they introduced the leaders one of the high school boys that my hubby mentored came running up to him jumped on his lap informed my hubby that he just met his future wife, then jumped off his lap ran around the gym bouncing off the walls like usual! lol

One of the days that my hubby led worship I remember thinking there was something different about him! I thought he was really cute too!! :) But I was too shy to talk to him. He was too shy to talk to me as well! Infact, he was SO shy it took him a    WHOLE YEAR to even talk to me!

 Finally a year later and he asked me if I wanted to hang out. The 2nd time we hung out we watched a movie and played hang-man. When we played hang-man he asked me out on a date. The 1st time I didn't get it b/c I wasn't sure if it was just words he was using as part of the game or if he was really asking me out?!....so I didn't say anything!!! He asked me the same question for the SECOND time, and I said "OF COURSE"! He took me putt-putting on our first date and on our second date he took me to watch the Dark Knight! ( In Four years of marriage he has made me a comic nerd! I now look forward to when his favorite movies come out!)

With-in a month of our 1st date he asked me to marry him with a paper ring he made! ;) He later gave me a real ring during a candle lit dinner! With us having a fast engagement-we were nervous to tell some people! We were nervous to tell my home church Pastor b/c he was like another dad and we were also nervous to tell Pastor Don who was the pastor of the 1st church my hubby was on staff with! I wasn't nervous to tell Bob O though.. who is also like a spirtual parent to me..I knew he prayed so much for me that he would have peace! We weren't really nervous about telling our family or friends! We knew they would all be happy for us!

I remember us being SO nervous when we were on the way to tell Pastor Don we were engaged! I stayed in my hubby's truck and when he went in to tell him-Pastor Don was like Don't worry Brother I asked my wife to marry me the 1st week we started dating! (Apparently Pastor Don knew sweet Miss Beth was a keeper!) We were so relieved that Pastor Don was okay with our fast engagement!-My hubby especially  was b/c Pastor Don knew my hubby since he was little! My hubby has a lot of respect for him-he taught my hubby a lot about ministry!

When we told my home church Pastor, he was a little skeptical at 1st! He wasn't so sure about it!!! After his "Marraige Counseling Boot Camp" as I call it-He had peace! (Seriously though if you want great marriage counseling Pastor Bob is great at it! At the time I HATED DREADED it! Me and my hubby sat 5 feet apart on the couch in his office!!!! But we still use what he taught us in our marriage today!!!)

We got married on November 1, 2008 at my home church by Pastor Bob! My hubby even wrote a song for me and sang it as I walked down the aisle! We had our reception at the family life center at the church my hubby was on staff at!!! The day was very sweet!!!


Since day one we have been inseperable! God has truly blessed me with a sweeter love and marriage than I ever imagined! My hubby is truly the love of my life! He is precious to me!!! I love sharing this life with him!!!  I definitely do not deserve him, he is a gift from God! The gift that he is to me, is a constant reminder of God's love and grace!!! He daily shows me the love of our Father! We don't have a perfect marriage-we have our ups and downs like every couple!!! but we DO have a perfect God who we invite to be at the center of our marriage!!! I can honestly say after 4 years of marriage I love my hubby more today than when we got married!!!

I love this Scripture it was on our wedding invitations:

"Place me like a seal over your heart,like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.
~Song of Soloman 8:6-7