Just a week ago, it seems like my life completely changed course. If you are a military wife, then you would know exactly what I am talking about. My husband joined the Marines. I grew up in a military town (mostly Navy pilots) so I'm not a stranger to the military but I will tell you this: it's a totally different ballgame when you are part of it. I do consider myself to be a part of the military as well because my husband and I are one (Mark 10:8 "and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh") and that means we both joined. Trust me, I went through enough paperwork to have joined myself! We get to go through a lot of it all over again when the baby comes...whew, I'm tired just thinking about it. Right now, he won't be leaving for anything until after the baby comes but that all could change.
I feel like all my life God has been teaching me two specific lessons over and over. The first one is trusting Him. (2 Samuel 22:31 " As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.") We had been in the process of my husband trying to join for a couple months now and it finally went through. It was a long and very frustrating process! The Lord planted the idea of being in the military in Ryan's mind in college and since then the Lord has been working on both of us to trust Him when He moved us in that direction. Up until this year, there was never a time that we both agreed that it was a good idea since my Junior year of college (about 3 years ago). The last time we talked about it, we both agreed that maybe the Lord was pushing us toward that goal. We are both very excited about how the Lord will use this in our lives and the life of our family. We both have had a burden for awhile now for small churches and church plants and this looks like a great opportunity to serve in MANY different churches! Our kids will be able to live in different places that might not have been possible with another job. Of course, we haven't committed to a career in the military...we are waiting on the Lord for that decision until we have been in that lifestyle for awhile.
The second lesson is flexibility. (Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. ~Anonymous) This one will come in very handy with the military. I'm the planner of the family so we have Plan A-Z mapped out for how all this could "go down" in the next couple (or several!) months but we could totally scrap all those and finish with a plan we hadn't even imagined! I truly believe that God has a sense of humor and every time I worry about something or how it will turn out God laughs and says "Look, I had a plan for you and you weren't trusting me again. My plan was much better than you could ever have thought!" So I guess these two lessons go hand in hand with each other. But the major lesson here is that I have my plans, God has His, and I know He sees the big picture when I don't. (Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.")
Right now, I see the changes and I am choosing to look forward to all the lessons that we could possibly learn between now and when everything starts to happen. It helps that I can see how excited my husband is about it and how calm he stays about everything. I am so thankful for him and how God uses him in my life.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
New Beginnings, New Baby
My husband and I went to the doctor this morning for the first official pictures of our little one. Of course, I was very excited and he was trying not to show it.
My only exposure to having a baby thus far has been my Mom's last pregnancy 11 years ago. (She was a very private person about such things and I tend to be the same way!) The only appointment I was able to go with her to was the one where we saw the baby on the ultrasound. Other than that, I was old enough to stay in the waiting room with my brothers and watch them while Mom had her appointments. So, I had no idea what to expect today other than what I had seen on a few shows with pregnant women on them. In them, they show the mom and dad looking at a monitor and seeing the baby for the first time and oooooooing and ahhhhing over the little one. I have to say that after today, I know those shows are no longer accurate in that respect. They neglect to show you that the process is about an hour long in a semi-uncomfortable position for people whose stomachs are larger than they normally should be. About halfway through my appointment I started getting very uncomfortable and hot. Being the "silent sufferer" that I am in those situations, I kept my mouth shut and tried to move on. Thankfully, the doctor performing the ultrasound noticed my discomfort and asked if I needed to stop for a minute. I told her that would be great and she advised me to roll over on my side in order to get blood flowing back through my body like it should be. As I think back to that situation, I realized all I had to do was ask for a minute to take a break and feel better because this is a common problem among women having their first anatomical ultrasound. I then realized how applicable this is to other areas of life as well. I don't have to "suffer" alone in this life. I have a loving Heavenly Father to whom I can go at any time and ask whatever I need. He promises to "never leave us, nor forsake us". He knows my needs before I voice them but He wants me to come to Him with my wants, needs, and desires. I know that the correlation is kind of funny but so very true. Of course, I want to be constantly in touch with my Father even when I don't "need" anything. Personally, I hate only talking to people when I need something from them and I'm not the biggest fan of it when people do it to me. Why then do I do it to my Heavenly Father?
I love drawing analogies from every day life and seeing how the Lord is teaching and growing me. I just wish I was better at it...
My only exposure to having a baby thus far has been my Mom's last pregnancy 11 years ago. (She was a very private person about such things and I tend to be the same way!) The only appointment I was able to go with her to was the one where we saw the baby on the ultrasound. Other than that, I was old enough to stay in the waiting room with my brothers and watch them while Mom had her appointments. So, I had no idea what to expect today other than what I had seen on a few shows with pregnant women on them. In them, they show the mom and dad looking at a monitor and seeing the baby for the first time and oooooooing and ahhhhing over the little one. I have to say that after today, I know those shows are no longer accurate in that respect. They neglect to show you that the process is about an hour long in a semi-uncomfortable position for people whose stomachs are larger than they normally should be. About halfway through my appointment I started getting very uncomfortable and hot. Being the "silent sufferer" that I am in those situations, I kept my mouth shut and tried to move on. Thankfully, the doctor performing the ultrasound noticed my discomfort and asked if I needed to stop for a minute. I told her that would be great and she advised me to roll over on my side in order to get blood flowing back through my body like it should be. As I think back to that situation, I realized all I had to do was ask for a minute to take a break and feel better because this is a common problem among women having their first anatomical ultrasound. I then realized how applicable this is to other areas of life as well. I don't have to "suffer" alone in this life. I have a loving Heavenly Father to whom I can go at any time and ask whatever I need. He promises to "never leave us, nor forsake us". He knows my needs before I voice them but He wants me to come to Him with my wants, needs, and desires. I know that the correlation is kind of funny but so very true. Of course, I want to be constantly in touch with my Father even when I don't "need" anything. Personally, I hate only talking to people when I need something from them and I'm not the biggest fan of it when people do it to me. Why then do I do it to my Heavenly Father?
I love drawing analogies from every day life and seeing how the Lord is teaching and growing me. I just wish I was better at it...
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
My First Blog
Well, I have never done a blog before and I wasn't really sure about starting. After several friends of mine started their own, I decided it was time to share my thoughts as well. I am a young, homemaker (almost Mommy in January 2013!!) who is just trying to do what the Lord has for her.
My husband and I got married in October of last year and are expecting our first little one in January of 2013. We were not really planning on being parents this early on in our marriage but God had different plans and we are continuing to see that His plans are always best. We are not going to find out what our baby is until it arrives so we will be as surprised as everyone else at what "it" is. Right now, we call the baby "Baby Borg" but normally it gets referred to as a he. Mostly my husband's doing as he is very hopeful that it will be a boy!
I want to share my thoughts with other young moms/homemakers about living here in Texas and sharing the love of Christ with others. Hope you enjoy!
Leah
My husband and I got married in October of last year and are expecting our first little one in January of 2013. We were not really planning on being parents this early on in our marriage but God had different plans and we are continuing to see that His plans are always best. We are not going to find out what our baby is until it arrives so we will be as surprised as everyone else at what "it" is. Right now, we call the baby "Baby Borg" but normally it gets referred to as a he. Mostly my husband's doing as he is very hopeful that it will be a boy!
I want to share my thoughts with other young moms/homemakers about living here in Texas and sharing the love of Christ with others. Hope you enjoy!
Leah
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