my husband is leaving soon. my best friend won't be here every day with me. And today, that is a little too much to deal with. I don't know why God picked this path for us, but it is hard. And I don't want to do it.
Psalm 30:11-12
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;you have loosed my sackclothand clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The calm before the storm
oh goodness...we move in 5 days. Our house is perfectly neat and organized. The floors are clean and the laundry is...not so done. But other than that life is good. The missing piece of the puzzle...oh ya...we haven't packed yet. At all. Not one thing.
In other news...the door has been stripped and the holes have been filled. All that is left to do is sand the putty and paint! You can clearly see where my priorities have been today. Yesterday we went on an all day date to Houston. I love being in the car with my husband. Ever since we started dating we have spent alot of time in the car talking. Lucky for me, TJ likes talking and driving :)
We have been talking in church about the importance of community. Nothing has seemed more real to me that the need for community as we prepare for TJ to leave on rotation. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to work for an oil company as a meteorologist. But God said no. I have been wondering why God said no, and I have been getting frustrated. Then it hit me. A job with the oil company would have put me in Houston starting soon. Which would be no community at all while my husband was gone. Now, granted we won't be hermits and will make new friends, there is something comforting about the pastor's wife coming up to you and saying " I have room at our house for you when TJ is gone." That is true community. People who are willing to step up to the plate and embrace the rough times we go through and help. The beauty of our family at living Hope is that we trust them to the point that TJ has walked up to people and said "I am leaving, and YOU will take care of my wife." Some of our sweet friends who have been gone for awhile, Landon and Ashley Carl found out Landon had to go do some training for a few months. Landon sat down our HOPE group and told us to take care of his wife and new son. So we did. That is what community looks like.
I was watching TJ at church praying over one of the men in our church family and I was so thankful God has blessed me with such a wonderful, godly man. The Lord has given me a man who loves me enough to tell me no. He loves me enough to leave me for a few weeks at a time to take care of us and provide for us. He humors my odd projects and spends a Sunday afternoon sanding a door in our living room because I decided it was too hot to go outside. So how can you pray for us? Pray that through TJ's rotation period, God would use TJ to win souls. This is a very lost industry. Money attempts to buy happiness for alot of people and we know that Jesus is the only thing that can bring joy. Of all the toys, and upgrades in this life, the greatest joy is to have a new brother or sister come to Christ. So pray for TJ's ministry in the field. Pray for me, that I will be diligent in serving and staying plugged into our church family while TJ is gone. Please pray for this next month as we prepare for him to leave. We. Are. So. Blessed. Over and over again God has provided in ways that we could NEVER have imagined. Praise the Lord!
In other news...the door has been stripped and the holes have been filled. All that is left to do is sand the putty and paint! You can clearly see where my priorities have been today. Yesterday we went on an all day date to Houston. I love being in the car with my husband. Ever since we started dating we have spent alot of time in the car talking. Lucky for me, TJ likes talking and driving :)
We have been talking in church about the importance of community. Nothing has seemed more real to me that the need for community as we prepare for TJ to leave on rotation. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to work for an oil company as a meteorologist. But God said no. I have been wondering why God said no, and I have been getting frustrated. Then it hit me. A job with the oil company would have put me in Houston starting soon. Which would be no community at all while my husband was gone. Now, granted we won't be hermits and will make new friends, there is something comforting about the pastor's wife coming up to you and saying " I have room at our house for you when TJ is gone." That is true community. People who are willing to step up to the plate and embrace the rough times we go through and help. The beauty of our family at living Hope is that we trust them to the point that TJ has walked up to people and said "I am leaving, and YOU will take care of my wife." Some of our sweet friends who have been gone for awhile, Landon and Ashley Carl found out Landon had to go do some training for a few months. Landon sat down our HOPE group and told us to take care of his wife and new son. So we did. That is what community looks like.
I was watching TJ at church praying over one of the men in our church family and I was so thankful God has blessed me with such a wonderful, godly man. The Lord has given me a man who loves me enough to tell me no. He loves me enough to leave me for a few weeks at a time to take care of us and provide for us. He humors my odd projects and spends a Sunday afternoon sanding a door in our living room because I decided it was too hot to go outside. So how can you pray for us? Pray that through TJ's rotation period, God would use TJ to win souls. This is a very lost industry. Money attempts to buy happiness for alot of people and we know that Jesus is the only thing that can bring joy. Of all the toys, and upgrades in this life, the greatest joy is to have a new brother or sister come to Christ. So pray for TJ's ministry in the field. Pray for me, that I will be diligent in serving and staying plugged into our church family while TJ is gone. Please pray for this next month as we prepare for him to leave. We. Are. So. Blessed. Over and over again God has provided in ways that we could NEVER have imagined. Praise the Lord!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Meal Planning Monday
Monday: Enchilladas
Tuesday: Tater Tot Casserole
Wednesday: Baked Ziti before the AWANA Grand Prix!!
Thursday: Sliders w/ sweet potato fries
Friday: Steaks & Corn on the cob
Saturday: Date Night in The Woodlands ;)
Sunday: Leftovers
Can't lie...pretty excited for this week
Tuesday: Tater Tot Casserole
Wednesday: Baked Ziti before the AWANA Grand Prix!!
Thursday: Sliders w/ sweet potato fries
Friday: Steaks & Corn on the cob
Saturday: Date Night in The Woodlands ;)
Sunday: Leftovers
Can't lie...pretty excited for this week
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Ode to Sally
Meet Sally. For those of you who don't know, she has been a huge part of our lives for the past six years. TJ and I met six years ago at age 16. He was the cool kid who drove a red sportscar with a manual transmission. He picked me up for our first date in this car. This car has seen a lot of life events.
- Finding out we got into A&M.
- First date
- Going off to college.
- Hours in Kids Kastle talking/falling in love
- Sitting in WCG talking.
- Teaching Amanda to drive stick
- On our wedding day TJ picked me up and we sat in sally talking before the big day.
meet oliver. Oliver will be here for this new phase of life. He has air conditioning, power windows and an auxillary jack. We are spoiled. I was nervous before buying a new car and TJ texted me "Come with me. Lets do life together" Welcome to the family Oliver! We are so thankful God provided. He IS SO FAITHFUL! Signing the paperwork and joining the car payment club was like a punch in the gut, but at the end of the day, God is so faithful.
Oliver White
Born 7/7/2009
Adopted 5/17/2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Chapter 2
Well, i am officially done with college as of 10 AM this morning, WHOOP! So it is on to the next chapter in our marriage. Being a student and a husband has been a challenge that took some getting used to but I have already had a glimpse into the next chapter, here i must be careful that, though i have more time to spend with my beautiful bride, i do not get lazy and waste that time just sitting and watching tv together or other non creative activities. quanity time is a desirable thing, but it is not a substitute or replacement for quality time. So in this next chapter i will get to learn how to love amanda well with an excess of free time. And i am glad that i get this time to learn how to do that for a month before i start work because then i will begin bouncing between the two extremes, while i'm in the field i will be loving her with nothing but conversation, and while im home i will have a week of "down time" and love her actively when i have an excess of time. i am thinking about this actively because this weekend i realized (with the help of my wonderful wife) that i have apparently forgotten how to be creative, and that is simply unacceptable from the guy that covered the walls of her room with post-it notes of reasons i love her. well those are my thoughts for the moment, and now i will go relish not being a student and try to rekindle that creativity.
Shalom
TJ
Shalom
TJ
Monday, April 25, 2011
life update.
Life is stressful. I feel like I could end the post at that. Life. is. stressful. Amanda is working 50+ hours a week. TJ has 4 projects due + finals. Amanda has AWANA. TJ has Wesley. Bills need to be paid. Friendships need to be maintained. A marriage needs time. Expenses are rising. Feels like we are drowning. How is it possible to live on amanda's salary...but not TJ + Amanda's salary? How does one afford a house? What will Amanda do when TJ moves to Houston? No one seems to be hiring, no one wants a meteorologist. It is an odd feeling. After working for 10+ years to be facing a future without a job...its scary. Saying "The Lord will provide" and then really trusting it...is hard. I know the God we serve is Faithful. Always. On one hand its exciting to watch God show up. Watch Him deliver us from the mediocre life society has for us.
Rotation is nearly here. Two months. No lie...marriage is hard. It. Is. HARD. There are evenings we sit on the couch and stare at each other saying "how in the world do we do this?!" There are so many things that we have no idea how to do. I feel like everything we talk and dream about is being put to the test. Are we willing to trust that the Lord has a plan. And right now, I can honestly say I have no idea what that looks like. Faced with the reality that in 2 months my husband will be gone on an oil rig somewhere and I will be at home by myself. I am blessed to have the family at Living Hope Baptist Church to take care of me. What a phenomenal blessing they are. I am blessed with a great job. The future is scary and unknown. But I guess if we knew what was coming, we wouldn't need God. Please be in prayer for our family. We are facing lots of changes in a very short period of time. It is overwhelming at times. pray that we will do what Revelation 2:3
says, " You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. "
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, " Jeremiah 29:11-14
Ask us whats going on. Tell us what is going on with you. Please
Rotation is nearly here. Two months. No lie...marriage is hard. It. Is. HARD. There are evenings we sit on the couch and stare at each other saying "how in the world do we do this?!" There are so many things that we have no idea how to do. I feel like everything we talk and dream about is being put to the test. Are we willing to trust that the Lord has a plan. And right now, I can honestly say I have no idea what that looks like. Faced with the reality that in 2 months my husband will be gone on an oil rig somewhere and I will be at home by myself. I am blessed to have the family at Living Hope Baptist Church to take care of me. What a phenomenal blessing they are. I am blessed with a great job. The future is scary and unknown. But I guess if we knew what was coming, we wouldn't need God. Please be in prayer for our family. We are facing lots of changes in a very short period of time. It is overwhelming at times. pray that we will do what Revelation 2:3
says, " You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. "
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, " Jeremiah 29:11-14
Ask us whats going on. Tell us what is going on with you. Please
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Wait....two of us live in this house?
45 Hours of work a week
2 tests
1 PETE 400 project
1 Full time senior engineering student
1 Full time employee
AWANA
Wesley
Welcome to our lives.
We don't see each other much. But the Lord has blessed us in that we have gotten to spend the weekends together. Typically I don't see TJ Mon-Thur because of work and school but Friday-Sunday I have been able to spend so much time with him. Life has been hectic to say the least but we can tell God is preparing us for rotation which is quickly approaching. TJ graduates in a month, we move in 2 months...life has never moved so quickly. We enjoy the brief quiet time we have together. The biggest blessing is that even though school is ridiculous right now for TJ and work is in the busy season for me, TJ is so excited to start work with BP. He cannot wait to apply all the things he has learned. Watching how excited he is encourages me every day.
We have been talking about buying a house, buying new cars, how life will work post- school. It is incredible what happens when you get paid for working instead of paying TAMU to work. We have different opinions on some things, but God has given me a very vocal husband who has learned to tell me "no". Not always a pleasant sensation but it has been good. Sometimes I skip steps and miss the present looking towards what is coming. In my mind we are buying new furniture for our new house and parking our new car out front. Which means I need to stress about a mortgage and car payments. In my mind we already live here:
Thankfully I have a husband who keeps my feet on the ground.
2 tests
1 PETE 400 project
1 Full time senior engineering student
1 Full time employee
AWANA
Wesley
Welcome to our lives.
We don't see each other much. But the Lord has blessed us in that we have gotten to spend the weekends together. Typically I don't see TJ Mon-Thur because of work and school but Friday-Sunday I have been able to spend so much time with him. Life has been hectic to say the least but we can tell God is preparing us for rotation which is quickly approaching. TJ graduates in a month, we move in 2 months...life has never moved so quickly. We enjoy the brief quiet time we have together. The biggest blessing is that even though school is ridiculous right now for TJ and work is in the busy season for me, TJ is so excited to start work with BP. He cannot wait to apply all the things he has learned. Watching how excited he is encourages me every day.
We have been talking about buying a house, buying new cars, how life will work post- school. It is incredible what happens when you get paid for working instead of paying TAMU to work. We have different opinions on some things, but God has given me a very vocal husband who has learned to tell me "no". Not always a pleasant sensation but it has been good. Sometimes I skip steps and miss the present looking towards what is coming. In my mind we are buying new furniture for our new house and parking our new car out front. Which means I need to stress about a mortgage and car payments. In my mind we already live here:
Thankfully I have a husband who keeps my feet on the ground.
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