One Year Later...

Blogging is hard. Especially when you forget you have one.

One year later and look where God has brought us:



Yep, good bye renting, hello life time of debt called a mortgage. Our new house is beautiful and little by little we are making it our own. So far we have ripped out carpet and put down wood floors:



We bought this enormous microwave by accident/on purpose that is now nicely mounted in the cabinets. When you buy a house built in 1970, nothing is as easy as you think it should be:



We have continued to get more involved with HFBC and have actually made friends in the last year. Strangely enough, Houston is starting to feel like home (but we will never pull for Houston sports teams)

Houstonians

We are officially Houstonians and loving it! We have found such great community at Houston's First Baptist and love the church. TJ has finished all this travelling for work and now stays in Houston most of the time. Our lives have been hectic this summer adjusting to the move plus traveling almost every weekend. We are adjusting to actually living together, something we haven't done very much in a year and a half. Our 2 year anniversary trip is booked and we are going to Antigua!!


Still 5 months away, but may as well get excited now. 


e continue to pray that God gives us community here. We are also praying that God helps us focus on the here and now rather than things that come down the road. It is so easy to get swept up in a new house, new car, kids, dogs.....the "American Dream". We constantly, daily, have to remind ourselves "No change of job, no increased income, no 

new home, no new electronic device, or no new hobby is going to make things better 

inside of you. Only Jesus can - Matt Chandler"

Experiencing God

We always say we want to experience God. We want to know Him and walk in a way that represents Him. But every time I say that, I am never ready for what will come next. I guess I should be used to it by now, but I guess stubbornness doesn't help my case. God has been reminding me that He has us where we are for a reason, and that He invites us to join Him where He is working.

I have started as the Operations Specialist for ACH. It has been a whirlwind of a month where we got a phone call I got the job, drove to Houston, found an apartment, and began to plan a move. Trying to schedule a move between 2 week rotations  for BP and 12+ hour work days has been an adventure to say the least. But I am so thankful because I love my job and have really enjoyed getting to meet new people. I would so much rather work long days doing something I love, than 8 hour days being bored.

TJ only has two more rotations until he is done being gone so much. No lie, it is going to be weird living with him. We haven't really done that yet, but I am looking forward to it. The more I learn about him, the more I realize God has a sense of humor in putting the two of us together. Looking back a year ago and seeing how nervous and anxious we were about TJ starting work for BP, again I am reminded of how much God has provided for us. Every time TJ is home I am so thankful for the time together. It has been a learning curve, trying to figure out how to be on our own for two weeks a month and married two weeks a month, but God has grown us so much in this year. I can't really believe that rotations are almost done. I am so excited to start a new phase of life together with him in Houston. Even last night we were noticing how God has gone before us in Houston. A few people from Living Hope live in the area we are moving to and are already plugged into a church and small group, so hopefully that helps us fit in quickly too.


We are going to Haiti in June. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate to travel, expecially when I don't know where we are going, or what conditions will be like when we get there. But God has really shown me that no matter where I go, His heart is broken for those who don't know Him, and if those are God's passions, they need to be mine as well. So, I am pretty much terrified to get on a plane to Haiti, but if that is where God want us to go, then to Haiti it is!

Update

Well it has been a while since I posted last (so long in fact I had to facebook stalk Amanda to remember the name of this blog to sign in, but shhh don’t tell her) so here is an update on life. So after reaching the half-way point on these rotations, we took a one year anniversary trip to California, and it was awesome. We drank so delicious local wine, and basically just relaxed for a week. Better than the trip though was it marked the start of an extended stay at home. Because of training at work I got to spend almost 10 full weeks in a row at home. While this seems miniscule as I type it, I can assure you, it was fantastic, getting to come home every day and spend every evening and weekend with Amanda, not to mention sleeping in my own bed, and not living out of a suitcase. For just a brief period there, we got to experience what it is like to actually live with your spouse, and after we readjusted to living with another person, it was amazing as we realized that after a year of marriage and 5 years of dating, we are still absolutely best friends. We got to make future life decisions, and catch a glimpse of what the future may hold for us. One of which was that we both separately felt God calling us to go to Haiti in June so we will be going there this summer on mission. Now that I am back to rotating it has also become obvious that God used that time that I was home to take what we had learned on my first 5 hitches and use it to build our relationship stronger, to the point that when I left last week it felt like leaving the first time all over again. Well, that about sums up the past few months of our life, please pray for us as we begin to prepare to go to Haiti and as we finish up this stage where I am gone. I love you Amanda.
Shalom,
TJ

Sometimes I feel like it is really hard not to compare our lives to our friends' lives. Example....most of our married friends have babies or are pregnant. Let's just clear up any rumors....we are not pregnant. Most of our married friends live with their spouse 365 days a year.....we get 180 days this year. And we wont event talk about the puppy issue. Yesterday was TJ's birthday. While sitting with him at dinner, he looked at me and said "I'm so glad I'm home so I can spend time with you. " melt. my. heart. This man is incredible. Wakes up at 4am to go to work, got home to me at 9pm, and drank an energy drink on the way home so he could sit up and talk to me. Our life right now is a little unconventional, but it is what God has for us. We are unsure what will happen in the next 12 months, but we trust the Lord has a plan. We are so thankful for the time we get to spend together and God has made it so sweet. He has given us strength to be apart. He has confirmed over and over that this is the right place for us right now. My husband LOVES his job. I LOVE my job. Can you ask for anything else?!

We have booked our 1 year anniversary trip
http://www.thesanctuarybeachresort.com/photo_gallery.html
SO PUMPED!!!!!!!!! only  68 days until we leave. But a bigger deal than the 1 year anniversary, this marks the half way mark of rotation, AND our best friends will be married, AND teej get to spend 8 weeks at home :) In all seriousness, we are facing a lot of important decisions about our move to Houston. It seems like it is far away, but some things have to be decided within the next two months. We beg for your prayers.


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- Jeremiah 29:11-13

Hard Times

Maybe we will look back on this year and see why we had to be apart all the time, but maybe we won't. I don't think I am at peace with that fact yet. All I know is it is hard. It is hard to go through half the month without my best friend here. It is hard to maintain a relationship 500 miles apart. It's just hard. I get so lonely without my sweet husband here. I have a HUGE respect for military families. I honestly don't know how you do it.  I'm stuck between not wanting to bother other people by letting me hang out at their house, and not wanting to be alone.

God has proved over and over that this is clearly the path we are supposed to be on, and that it is supposed to be hard. But I don't understand. And maybe I'm not supposed to. Our timing is not God's timing. Our plans apparently are not God's plans. I'm reminded of that as I watch other people in the Body suffering as well. I don't understand it, but I know God is good

First Success!

I have decided i LOVE not being in school. I get off work and have nothing else to do. TJ spend our weekends with friends, screaming at the TV during the football game, and like many Aggie fans, having our heart broken weekly. BUT all that aside, I have developed a small addiction to Pinterest. I spend all this time looking at all these creative women and how beautiful their homes are. *Reality check, most of them probably don't work 45 hours a week, I try to keep that in mind* But this weekend I made a wreath for our front door. I was so excited. TJ tried to share in my enthusiasm, but alas, boys just don't get amped up over a wreath. He tried though :)