[three years later]

So I've discovered that I am not a writer - I cannot keep a journal...case in point this blog. I've started several other blogs in hope that having a focused topic would help me write more regularly but alas all have failed. So I am going to stop being so hard on myself and just post when I have something to post or feel the urge. After all - this blog is more for me than anyone else anyway.

So - three years in a LONG time to not post. So much has changed in my life that I'm sure I could never get it all down here (or this would be the world's longest post - even longer than that last one).

So here is a synopsis as I can remember it of the past three years:

Ryan graduated from Murray State in May of 2009 - immediately after we hit the road and moved to Scottsville, Kentucky. My parents had just gotten a job at Scottsville Church of Christ and had bought a house but hadn't moved in yet - so we moved in. We looked for work - anywhere...everywhere....anything. We were unsuccessful. We even considered Ryan going into the military. But God was scheming as he often does and had other plans in mind for our family.

Meanwhile we still owned our home in Hazel, KY and were sinking deeper and deeper in debt by the month.

Eventually my parents moved in and we were one big happy family. During this time Ryan had thoughts rattling in his head of a passion long forgotten - ministry - but he still needed convincing. We made a trip to visit his family and look for jobs in that area. Ryan's dad had a temporary job replacing a roof on a shed at Ryan's childhood minister's house. Mr. Alvis (the minister) was an older gentleman who couldn't do the work himself because of health issues so he would often sit and talk to Ryan and his dad while they worked. Ryan was asked what type of work he was looking for and he casually mentioned that he would like to get into ministry.

We went back home to Kentucky and heard the news that the youth minister at my grandparents congregation was possible leaving and that there would soon be a search for a replacement. Ryan and I were hesitant to even submit a resume because Ryan had never had an official position in ministry and thought we were unqualified. My father gave us a pep talk and so we decided to visit Alvaton and give our resume to the elders there.

We visited on a Wednesday night and passed on the resumes. That same night we had a phone call from Mr. Alvis telling us that Ryan's childhood congregation would like us to come and work as the part-time youth minister. We were shocked - Ryan had merely mentioned his interest and now they were giving us a job on the spot. We were also very concerned because we knew that part-time meant part-time pay and we knew it wouldn't help our situation like we had hoped. However, it was a start and that was what we needed. We made sure to tell the elders in Rockmart that we had submitted another resume for a full-time position and that we were really looking for full-time work; if a job was offered, we were likely to accept it. The elders were very understanding and encouraging and so we began our first work in youth ministry in Rockmart, Georgia.

A few months later we got the call that we were on the short list of candidates for the youth minister position at Alvaton. Really? Whoohoo! We were told that they would like us to come up to Kentucky for a weekend and have a "try-out" of sorts. We were thrilled! We told our elders and they were happy for us as well.

That weekend was very exhausting but awesome. One thing that I loved about this weekend was that Ryan had prepared lessons for a devo and for a class on Sunday morning but he liked one and not the other. I could tell he was very stressed about it and so I was stressed as well. The night before the devo I couldn't sleep - I had an idea in my head for a lesson. I had the lesson in my head word-for-word and I finally gave up trying to sleep and got my iphone and typed the entire thing on a note on my phone. I showed it to Ryan in the morning and he ended up using it for his devo that night.

Our try-out went very well. We had to wait several weeks before we would know anything. Then we got the call - we got the job and we could start whenever we wanted! We told the elders at Rockmart who gave us their blessing and sent us on our way. We started at Alvaton right around New Years of 2010.

Since then we have loved working in youth ministry and working at Alvaton. We really feel like we have a family at Alvaton and we have been so blessed.

I literally fell into a position at a Christian elementary school in Bowling Green as an Administrative Assistant which has been an awesome blessing. I also have had several clients for my freelance web designing.

So much has happened since we have been in Bowling Green and we have grown a lot but the most important blessing that has happened in our lives is that we are expecting a child in July of this year! We finally decided we would start trying in October and found out we were pregnant the weekend after Thanksgiving.

I guess that is the main reason I started this post - I want to start posting to keep a record of our lives as our family grows. I want to always remember how much God is blessing our lives everyday.