Just a little sidetracked, that's all

Hello Bloggers!

Don't we all love getting letters in the mail? Or even multiple-page emails from a dear friend, for that matter? Yet, we aren't very consistent, are we? At least I'm not. Facebook has filled that void, sadly. However, with my brother at boot camp in Parris Island, SC, I will be forced to write letters if I'm to let him know of anything important going on in our lives over the next three months. Those Marines like to make your life their own--so no cell phones. no calls of any kind. The only exception was when the recruits arrived, they were allowed to call home and let their family know they arrived safely. The recipient of that call could not talk back to their recruit, and the recruit had to read off a specific script that was given to him. Wow. Talk about breaking the will. So, yes, I will be spending more time chronicling the in's and out's of life.

Stephen and I have been a bit sidetracked lately. Six months ago, we were sitting in Chick-fil-a on a Saturday night. One of those rare instances when we were going to go grocery shopping together (gasp!) and come home with way more junk food than is necessary. But before that, we were trying to curb our appetites (and thus our Walmart bill) by eating a few chicken nuggets and waffle fries. This turned into that, and we ended up having one of those deep, life changing, God conversations. Marriage is kinda like that. The two are one, and moments like those, you really feel the oneness. I had been recently researching a grad school in Columbia, SC. I had filled out my application, visited the department head, and signed up for the GRE test. Yet, this conversation changed all of that. We decided to move home sooner rather than later. This was a vague concept, and I thought that meant we'd be home within six months or so so that I could go to school in the fall.

Well, there's only so many times you can email your contacts and spread around your resume. March and April rolled around, and I was painting up a storm, so I quit my job! Stephen was looking in to getting his MBA in Augusta that his company would help pay for. Which would also mean that we'd be here for a couple more years. Then, we got to thinking, maybe we should look for a house! Aiken's not so bad! I went and met with a Realtor broker about getting in the business. We were making very different plans in May compared to January. Yes, indeed. The day before I met with the Realtor, our perspective changed. Stephen told me that he felt like we needed to get back on track and pursue moving back home. Ok. He was very clear that this is the direction we needed to go in, and it was what was spoken to us several months ago. We just got a little sidetracked.

So, I went to the meeting with the Realtor the next day. It lasted two hours. It was pretty much an orientation to the company I could possibly be working at. What a relief, right? To find a career possibility that I could commit to, and that people actually want me to work in? Well, I got out of the interview, and I immediately got a text from Stephen saying that he had a phone interview with Entergy on that Friday. This is not just a company that is near his family, it's one that he's been interested in for a long time. Ok, God. Now that we are pursuing this very tenuous plan, here's an interview saying, "Here's a little encouragement"

That's that. We're putting this job hunting process in the Lord's hands. Most of the time, I view the hardest choice as the right choice. Reaching out of my comfort zone has always been the plan of choice. The harder it is, the more I'm in the will of God, right? I have used this approach to many things in my life: the friends I make, joining Chi Alpha, keeping my head high during Stephen's cancer, moving to SC. (Yes, Chi Alpha was outside my comfort zone. Everyone was like, "you should be at the Wesley" But I felt the Lord calling otherwise... long story) So, moving home, where we actually want to be, and where our family is can't POSSIBLY be what the Lord is wanting us to do, right?! It's too easy! Maybe so, but the Lord has spoken as far as Stephen and I are concerned, and we're ready.