It was a God thing...

Today marks the 6 year anniversary of Michael and I meeting. I always love a good story and hoped that one day I would have a story of my own to tell. God, in his faithfulness, gave me not just a good story, but a great story to tell over and over again of his providence in our lives in bringing us together.

We met in New Mexico at a Boy Scout camp (Philmont for any Boy Scouts out there who may recognize the name). The first question people always ask is, "What were YOU doing at a Boy Scout camp?" Well, for as long as I can remember my parents have talked about taking a trip "out west." When my mom was in high school her oldest sister lived in Utah so her family drove from Atlanta to Utah and saw all the sights in between. Because of the nostalgia of that trip and wanting us to experience it as well, she had always talked about us taking a trip out west as well. But my dad only had two weeks vacation, so to try to drive from Florida wouldn't be feasible since most of the time would be spent getting there and better back. So when the opportunity came up for my dad to go to Philmont for a Boy Scout training week, he arranged for us to go with him. Ironically, it was just the girls (Alison, Caroline and I) who ended up going as the boys had other things they were doing and pretty much hated family vacations anyway. We had the best time! We flew into Denver, drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park, saw Red Rock Canyon, Buffalo Bill's grave, Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and other sites on the way down to Cimmaron, New Mexico. We then spent a week at the camp where we got to go hiking, horseback riding and a ropes course while my dad sat in boring classes. After the camp we went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion and Las Vegas. I hadn't been on family vacation in nearly ten years since i had been in college and teaching in Japan. I actually had a mandatory training at school the week of the trip, but I skipped it to go.

So, that's a lot of background information on why I ended up at the Boy Scout camp. Michael was working for the Boy Scouts at the time and had been to Philmont as a scout and loved it. So when he found out about the opportunity to go to the same training my dad was going to, he jumped at the chance. He took along with him his two top volunteers. One of those volunteers took his family with him as well.

So, during the week while we (Mom, Alison, Caroline and I) were doing fun stuff I became friends with the wife of one of Michael's volunteers. We ended up signing up for almost the exact same activities and enjoyed the same things. On the last day of camp she sidled up next to me and said, "Do you have a boyfriend?" Now, I was no spring chicken and I had had many well meaning ladies in the past try to hook me up with their sons who were not the least bit interested. So, I thought, "Oh great! Here we go again. Please don't do me any favors." She told me that there was a really nice guy who was about my age who I really needed to meet. In fact, she said her husband was having a little mini birthday party at lunch that day and I should come so that I could meet this guy.

At lunch she came and found me and nearly dragged me across the dining hall to sing happy birthday to her husband. Funny thing is that when I got to the table there were two guys with her family, one was Michael (who I had actually noticed earlier in the week because I thought he was cute) and the other was a guy in his 40's with a thick mustache. The first thought that went through my head was, "Oh crap! She's trying to set me up with the old guy." Thankfully for me, it wasn't him :)

Michael and I didn't really get a chance to talk because it was kinda awkward with everyone staring at us wondering what we thought of each other. Later that evening we had the closing ceremony around a campfire (except it was raining, so we didn't have a fire). Michael and his friends were all sitting on the back row so I went over and sat with them. This was completely out of character for me, but I figured if I didn't take the opportunity to talk to him, I'd never get the chance again. As soon as I sat down they all stood up and rearranged seats so that Michael could sit next to me (They tried to be sly about it saying something about spreading out the tarp so I could have a dry place to sit, but it wasn't too subtle). We hit it off and talked for a little while, but when the program was over several people came over to talk to Michael and I started to leave. Julie (our matchmaker) tracked me down and wanted to know what I thought and if I'd give him my number.

I wasn't sure if he was interested or if she was just being persistent, so I gave her my email address instead. Also, I was moving when I got home, so my phone number was going to be changing. While we were talking Michael came over and talked some more. We ended up talking for three or four hours that night at the pavilion and he met my mom, dad and sisters. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but there was definitely something there that I had never felt before and I knew I wanted to see him again. Strangely enough, even though we met in New Mexico, he lived in Brooksville and I lived in Orlando which was only about an hour and a half away.

When we got home we emailed and talked on the phone. We had our first date at Epcot where we spent over 12 hours together. My friends thought we were crazy to spend so much time together on a first date, but I figured if we weren't sick of each other after that, then that was probably a good sign. Michael drove to Orlando nearly every weekend after that, we fell in love and the rest is history.

Now, that's just my side of the story. Michael will have to chime in with his because I can't speak for him.

Every time I tell the story I have to say it was a God thing. Who would have thought we'd meet hundreds of miles from home at a Boy Scout camp. God, in his providence, was arranging all the details. We are so thankful for his care in our lives and for giving us each other. Michael's my favorite gift! (although Clark is a very close second)

Next rollercoaster stop.....Vicksburg!

So the rollercoaster continues, but this time we like the direction it's going. Michael accepted the job in Vicksburg, Mississippi so we have switched gears from looking for a job to looking for a place to live and packing up all our belongings. We're driving out this weekend to find a place and then leaving our car and flying home. This way we don't have to drive separate cars or pull one of them with the moving truck.

For all of our smaller moves we've just rented a U-haul and gotten friends and family to come help us load and unload the truck. Michael is completely competent to drive the truck, but with this move being so much farther I've been looking into moving companies so that Michael doesn't have to drive the truck. It's pretty exciting to think about moving without having to load and unload all our big heavy furniture. We'll still be packing everything, but it'll be so much easier to just drive out and meet our stuff while someone else unloads it than to have to take it ourselves. All three estimates I've gotten are very reasonable, so we're encouraged.

I'm especially excited about this weekend. Mom and Dad are keeping Clark (so he doesn't have to be in the car so much and so that they can have some time with him before we move). Michael and I are going to be busy the weekend of our 5th anniversary in October, so we're doing a mini early anniversary trip. This Friday is the 6th anniversary of when we met, so we're substituting it for our wedding anniversary. We're driving to Ft Walton Beach and staying a night to just enjoy the beach and eachother's company. Then we'll drive the rest of the way to Vicksburg on Sunday. We haven't taken any trips just for fun anytime that I can remember, so I'm super excited to get some time alone. I haven't left Clark for more than a night before though, so five days is a long time. We're going to miss our little guy!

We're preparing to say our goodbyes to Jacksonville, Orlando and all our friends and family in both locations. We are so thankful for this job and God's provision for us, but the reality of leaving is starting to set in. This year we've been close enough to go to Orlando anytime we wanted. Thankfully Vicksburg is within driving distance and there are reasonable non-stop flights on Southwest, but it's not a weekend trip. We're realizing that we may never live in Florida again, which for this Florida girl is a strange thought.

We're also excited to get to Vicksburg, start building relationships and jump into youth ministry. It's almost surreal that this actually happening. We've prayed for so long and had so many near opportunities that it doesn't seem like this is actually happening. We praise God for his faithfulness to us over the last year (and our whole lives as well) and for this new opportunity. I'll try to blog when I can as we get settled. We're hoping for a 3 bedroom so we'll be set up for company. There are over a million visitors to the Battlefield Park every year, so come see us and we'll show you around.

Rollercoaster Ride

When I was little I loved rollercoasters. One of my favorite memories with my dad was when we went to Six Flags and he and I went and rode all the rollercoasters we could before the park closed (I think we rode all except one...of course Mom was grateful not to have to ride them with us.) As an adult I'm not a fan of rollercoasters. Somewhere around my 16th birthday I started getting motion sickness. I'm not sure what changed, but I remember numerous times of sleeping in the back of the van because if I was awake I was sick. Yuck! I hate the feeling. Rollercoasters weren't fun anymore when they gave me a headache for the rest of the day.

Since the end of April we feel like we've been riding a rollercoast. Obviously it's not a literal rollercoaster, but life has been CRAZY and filled with so many unexpected twists and turns we're trying to figure out which way is up. I can't elaborate on all the craziness, but it has included three funerals, numerous trips out of town (we have been home without visitors only one weekend since the end of April), a weekend church interview and waiting to hear if we're moving, a week in Ft. Myers keeping my nephews, Michael preaching, and Clark figuring out how to climb out of the crib so naptime and bedtime have been a fight when they used to be simple. The whole moving thing of course has been the biggest question mark. Both of our birthdays are in the summer so I have to renew our license plates. If we're moving out of state I don't want to pay to renew my tag if I'm going to move before my birthday. Our lease is up the end of July. If we're moving we have to give 30 days notice to our landlords, but since we still don't know what we're doing we can't give notice or let the know for sure we'll be around. These are just a few of the relatively minor, yet not completely insignificant things running through my head ad we wait.

We're praying for God to open doors and provide clear direction. We're learning to wait on him and be patient (neither waiting or patience are my strengths). My mom said we're never going to forget this time and I have to agree with her. There are certain times in life I remember vividly. These last few months I won't be forgetting anytime soon. We're ready to be off the rollercoaster, but it's also a good reminder for us that our God doesn't change regardless of the craziness in life and knowing we can depend on him has given us peace.