Knock Knock

Knock knock! "Hi, it's me, Mr. Opportunity knocking at your door. Aren't you gonna open the door and let me in?"

Lately Adam and I have been discussing where God's leading us. We're not exactly sure. Due to our financial situation, it would be such a relief if I could get in a job in what the Southside Tobacco Forgivenss Loan considers to be "southside" Virginia. If we moved to one of the 24 localities it considers, then the money I borrowed against for three and a half years, to help pay for school, would be forgiven for the same amount of time put back into the system. It's really a great opportunity: borrow money from people who are willing to give it to you and then go back to help encourage and build up that region/area. However, due to the economy and budget cuts, schools aren't exactly hiring because teachers are staying put so they have an income, and I can't say I blame 'em! However.....

My experience at Charles City High School has been a bumpy ride. I've grown a lot and have learned ten times what I thought I knew. However, I'm ready for a change. I feel that my time here is coming to a close. I feel that God is leading Adam and I somewhere else. The only problem is, where? You see, Adam graduated from high school, but never enrolled in a college/university. He did enroll in an electrician apprenticeship but discovered that that was not for him. When I met him he had just left the apprenticeship and was offered a job at a local hardware store that paid him decently and offered benefits - no complaints there. When we married though, he moved to be with me and had to leave that job behind, which brings me to the present. After job hunting for 9 months, he finally got a job working for a small business...can you guess what in......yep! electricity! I thought, huh it's funny that this is the opportunity God brought to you.

I call electricity an opportunity because literally you are turning on the lights for people. Remember what Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." What an opportunity it is that we get to serve the Lord, that He so loved us to go die on a cross and we can live out His precious will for our lives today?! Never ever take that opportunity for granted!

So to sum it all up, we're not sure where we're headed....maybe I'll be teaching in another district, maybe I won't. Maybe Adam will stay in electricity, or maybe he'll enroll in a college or serve his country in the AirForce....those are just some of the possibilities we're entertaining. Whatever we end up doing, we know it's because that's where God wants us to be, and He'll keep and place you right where you're meant to be, until knock knock, Mr. Opportunity is at your door!

Love: Relationships

Lately I have been discussing love. Now grant it is five days after Valentine's Day, but LOVE really does matter all year long. I realized that I had never written how Adam and I met. We met in the Fall of 2007 when Adam and his family came to visit Luke for his birthday at Bluefield College. Adam and his family were hanging out in one of the cottages and Luke asked me, Jennifer, and Hazel to come meet his family. Neither one of us remember much about that first meeting, other than the fact that we were playing games and had a good time.

It wasn't until graduation in May of 2008 that we saw each other again. There was a graduation party at the Clarke house and we first caught up there, but didn't really hang. It wasn't until after graduation that we went to Bellacino's together with some other people for lunch. After lunch Adam went back to Mathews and went back to the college because I was the summer RA for the girl's dorm that year.

Because Luke and I were such good friends we kept in touch via Facebook and AOL instant messenger. Throughout that summer (and the previous one) Luke kept asking me to come down to visit him and his family in Mathews. Well as the Lord would have it I was asked to go to YEC that summer in Richmond to help represent the school and speak last minute. After YEC ended Luke invited me, Jacob, and Marcus back to his house to hang out for the weekend.So of course we went! Our short weekend in Mathews was amazing! We rode the jet ski, met the grandparents, strolled around the farm, swam, sang hymns/played hymns on the piano, played lots of games and hung out on the dock.

After we left I went back to Bluefield with  Jacob and Marcus. However, a week later, Marcus was called back for an interview with Harmony Grove Baptist Church so I ended up tagging along for the ride and got to hang out with the Davis family for a few days. At the end of that trip Adam decided to come back with Marcus & I to Bluefield. He ended up posing as a college student for a little over a week and when he left to go back to Mathews he kept in touch with me and the rest is history!

I have left a lot of details out, but that is the long and short of it. Adam is an incredible man and I could not imagine my life without him! He truly is my better half and I love that he's the first person I see when I wake up in the mornings and the last I look at at night. He treats me the way every woman should be treated. I often look back and can't believe that God truly gave me the desires of my heart. He is so good and I do not deserve any of this, heck none of us do! So whether you're married, in a relationship, or single just remember to remain patient and know that His plan is better than any of us could plan or imagine and remember, all you need is love!

Love: Family

I apologize that this is a day late, and that tomorrow's post will be two day's late. It seems that Sunday got away from me, what with the Lord saying to rest on the seventh day and all. This week has been fairly busy as well, what with yesterday being Valentine's Day and today involving the end of a professional development class, a vet appointment, and running errands with Adam this evening.

However, despite my busyness, today, or rather this evening, I'd like to reflect on the blessing and love of a family. I cannot say that all have been blessed to have the amazing families that Adam and I have, but I can say that God has a purpose for each. For whatever reason, He allowed us to share the closest connection possible with these people that according to Webster's dictionary are (a) a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head and/or (b) a group of persons of common ancestry. I feel my own definition would read family--a group of people whose lives have been so woven as to share love, heartache, pain, joy, and fellowship. Yeah, that sounds about right.

None know us better than our families do. Families seem to make or break us. After all, they know the good and the bad. Families work through the good and bad. They remember to pick one another up and dust the dirt off our feet and clothes. Our families are usually the only group of people lucky enough to stand back and say yes, I'll walk through this life with you and am willing to share in the memories we'll make along the way. What better time than Valentine's Day (or the day after) to tell your loved ones what they mean to you?! So to my immediate, extended, and church family, I love you all dearly and I am grateful that God has orchestrated my life that I am blessed to know each of you.

Love: Friendship

When February rolls around we all think about Valentine's Day and love. Over the next few days I'd like to look at love from different angles. The first being that of friendship.  I have been truly blessed to have some of the best friends anyone could ask for. I hope to blog about each and every one of them as the year goes on. I simply decided to choose my friend Kelly whom I just got off the phone with about an hour ago.

I first met Kelly in the fall of 2005 when I started my freshman year at Bluefield College. She was the RHD of my dorm. I remember my father (being too friendly) and sharing the story of how he hurt his back (as well as proceeding to show her his scar--sorry Kel) and would she help us with whatever it was we were doing or putting together. And being Kelly, she jumped right in and offered to help. Kelly is the kind of friend that when you really need someone to be there for you, there she'll be. She's quick to offer advice and especially a listening ear.  She'll watch endless hours of a TV show on DVD just to catch you up, she'll let you wear her apron and run around shooting water guns at each other, she'll help you pull pranks on guys,she'll pray for you at a moment's notice, she'll forgive you for being late, she'll endure a bike ride session with a Jewish boy pushing you to your last ounce of patience, but she'll keep you encouraged and will live room for you if you're in the neighborhood. Kelly has truly been a light in my life and I am so thankful that God allowed her to be in mine.

So this Valentine's Day, remember to be thankful for the love of friendship and remember: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

2:49 in the Morning and a New Year's Update

Here it is, 2:49 in the morning and I can't sleep. It seems that sleep is taunting me. I know I need it. My body knows I need the rest, and yet I am not tired enough to let my head hit the pillow. I have spent the past hour to hour and a half simply piddling and learning all there is to fixing up my blog. I think it looks ten times better than before, and I'm sure when I have my next fit and cannot sleep, it'll be in for another change.

I began another sewing project. It's actually a present for a friend of mine. I bought some baby material and am in the LONG process of making a onesie. Maybe I was too adventurous for this one. You would think that something so small and tiny wouldn't be too difficult. All I'm saying is dream big but keep the small stuff realistic and never ever be too proud to ask for help. I could surely enjoy the company and help of my mother for this one.

As for school, we are more than halfway through the year. In fact we have approximately 4 more months and then we're free to enjoy our summer! January was a tough month, I'm not exactly sure how I made it. God is soooo good though. I have joined a Bible study on Wednesday nights. The ladies are all older than me, by at least 20+ years, but I enjoy the company and wisdom of these ladies. This Bible study has also helped me get out of the complacent routine Adam and I have been stuck in. 

Oh and I do have an update to those New Year's Resolutions I made....
1. (I am continually) growing closer to God; though we all know when we make a resolution like this sometimes thereafter it seems harder....

2. (The only way I've been incorporating this is to visualize how my students see me and hear me throughout the day) To be conscious of the way I handle and represent myself so that others may always see Christ and never second guess where I stand


3. (Yes, in keeping with being honest, this has been a weak spot of mine and seriously needs to go into immediate affect!) To spend 10% of my time = 2 hours 40 minutes daily with the Lord and another 5% of my time = 1 hour 20 minutes of my time with my husband in devotion as well


4. (Have started re-memorizing and tapping into my memory of those verses once learned) Adam and I are going to start memorizing scripture (waaaaaay back in high school I was a part of a ministry and we found encouragement weekly by memorizing scripture and then sharing that with others as a tool for witnessing)


5.(I've been more active spiritually but have a long ways to go and physically, don't laugh, but yes I've been using the Wii much more and even discovered I had lost 1 1/2 lbs....definitely nothing to brag about but you gotta start somewhere, right?! I believe if I were to blog everyday and would truly "document" this journey I think it would help me be more accountable and work harder at becoming more healthy) Be active 1) spiritually ---refer to resolutions #1-4 and 2) physically --- I plan to start documenting weekly my progress in becoming healthier. I've noticed women who have blogs in which they document themselves growing throughout the course of their pregnancies, so I'd like to do something to that extent except with the idea of getting smaller and not grow a child within me.


6. (Woohoo! Adam got a raise and we've been able to pay off some more bills. Frugality is questionable....definitely need to work on it!) Financially I'd like to save up and have 10% as part of a down payment on a house -- this will mean living more frugally than we have been. (For those of you who are homeowners, what is a good ball park figure to save?)


7. (No finished products yet...haven't had time since time has been devoted to school) Finish projects! I am a pretty creative person (I love to knit, sew, scrapbook, paint, cook/bake, etc.) and I tend to start a lot of projects, but usually fail to complete them (minus baking/cooking endeavors) so this year I aim to be more productive.


8. (Praise the Lord!!! We prayed and prayed and prayed and finally decided that God's will for us was to go back to Redeeming Grace and it's been wonderful!) Find a church to attend regularly


9. (This is a work in progress....don't judge me) Take more photographs!


10. (Ok I set out to read not just the Bible but more literary works...I started Gulliver's Travels, but haven't got past Chapter 2) Read more! I have a huge collection of books sitting on a shelf that I've specifically set out so I'll make a point to read them!

It seems I've built a good appetite for sleep now that I've gone through and updated where I stand with my resolutions. Sweet dreams!


11. (Still a work in progress...) Blog more regularly!