Six months of marriage: One more answered prayer

one of our wedding photos by fyrefly photography

Today, Michael and I celebrate six months of being married.

Though it admittedly isn’t all that long in the grand scheme of things, it is pretty incredible to look back and see how far we’ve come: A year and a half ago, I was single and living in Cincinnati. At the time, there were two prayers on my heart: 1. To meet the godly man I would marry, and 2. Find a job in Grand Rapids and start the next chapter of my life.

I had only been praying adamantly and intentionally about both of those for a few months when I penned this journal entry titled, "things are happening… i can see it," that reflects on God working in these two prayers:

July 15, 2008

All I can say is that I feel like I’m at a point where I’m really able to watch God work. It used to be that God would do stuff without me realizing it and I wasn’t aware that the steps I was taking would lead here or there. But now, I feel like I’m finally able to see it and perceive in, in real, live time.

It kind of reminds me of the part in Fantasia where the magic just starts to kick in, and it’s happening little by little. But after awhile it swells into this huge symphony of magic coming together. Right now, it’s that beginning. Where the buckets are teetering and brooms are waking up and they’re starting that little dance, just now stirring. And to think i’m able to watch it as it happens to me and those around me. It’s so awesome.

“If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it…”

It’s interesting to note that when I wrote that, I had no word about a job in Grand Rapids and no men on the horizon. I knew Michael, but was convinced he had no interest in me so I had no expectation that anything would happen there at all.

Yet, there was a feeling in my bones that God was at work with these prayers. What do you know? Within weeks, I had my first date with Michael and a job offer in a city with one of the country's most depressed employment rates. A year later,  I was already a married woman and planning my next cross-country move. Miracles wrought, revealing that God can make the impossible possible, the loftiest of prayers come true, faster than we ever anticipated.

It has been so amazing to look back and see how God laid those prayers so heavily on my heart and then--why am I surprised?--answered them in such an incredible and powerful manner. A year and a half later, I'm still in awe and ever-so thankful, as both of them have indelibly changed my life and my heart!

Happy anniversary, Michael. I love you!

Related Posts
Welcome to 2010: Looking forward to the year ahead
Telling my husband I love him, in three words
Why we moved to Atlanta--and left a well-paying job, in this economy

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Some of the everyday miracles God has blessed us with lately

I’ve found that it’s important for me to marvel over the incredible, albeit everyday, miracles God has blessed me with. I’ve also found that hearing about other people’s everyday miracles can be quite an encouragement to my own faith, particularly in those times when doubt begins to set in or when I start to grow impatient with my own prayers as God seems nowhere to be found. Hearing testimonies from other people who I actually know, encourages me to press on and continue to wait and hold the cry of Psalm 27 dear: "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

So here are just a couple recent examples of how God has answered our prayers, worked through us or provided for us when circumstances looked otherwise:

A critter in the night: Our unwelcome houseguest
We live in an old apartment building from the 1920s. Despite the fact that we're on the second floor, we've occasionally woken up in the middle of the night to a scratching in our bedroom wall. The first time was about 2 months ago, but by banging on the wall whenever the scratching started (I was going for a Pavlovian scare-tactic effect), the critter soon gave up and abandoned its post in our wall. This past week though, we awoke in the middle of the night to a new noise. This scratching wouldn't stop and we could hear it moving in the wall. It went on for two nights, waking us up. I'd bang on the wall to see if that would be another easy answer, but no such luck with this persistent fellow: He just kept on scampering and scratching. Finally, Michael got the bright idea: To pray about it. He prayed for the animal to leave and immediately the noise stopped...and has not come again since. We shouldn't be surprised that when we pray for something, that God would answer us--we should be more surprised when we pray and nothing happens. And yet we were.

Perfect timing for a belated $25 check
Michael and I tithe, but we like to give depending on where needs lie--whether it's to a new cause we've discovered or a friend in need as well as to our church. Last month, Michael wanted to send some money to one of his friends who is interning at a church in California. By the time Michael got around to writing the check, we only had $25 left of our tithe for the month, but he went ahead and wrote the check anyway, hoping it would be helpful even though it wasn't very substantial at all. Within days, we received a phone call from his friend who was freaking out: Evidently one of his bills had been raised by $25 that month and because he was living month-to-month, he had not allotted money to cover the increase. He wasn't sure what to do, but then our check arrived that day--the exact amount he needed. We were afraid it wouldn't really be useful and yet God aligned the timing and amount to provide for exactly what was needed and when it was needed--no more, no less. What beautiful providence.

Filling our cupboards when our grocery budget was spent
Michael and I keep a monthly budget that we still fight and wrestle against to stay within its limits. We had reached every dollar limit for every category and still had a week to go. Our fridge was lacking and our pantry bare, but we really wanted to try to stick to our month-to-month budget and make do with what we did happen to have.  It wasn’t even something I thought to pray about, but just as soon as we were trying to figure out what our next meal might consist of (pasta and veggie burger? peanut butter and jelly sandwich?), we received a $50 Trader Joe’s gift card for Michael as a belated birthday gift. It could not have been more perfect timing for us and we were able to get everything on our shopping list--even a new kind of beer to try, in celebration. Just as God feeds the birds in the air, he keeps our bellies full, too. We are indeed worth more to him than the little birds.

Through all of these, God again and again reminds me that he “already knows all [my] needs and he will give [me] all [I] need from day to day if [I] live for him and make the kingdom of God [my] primary concern.” (Matthew 6:32) I’m still learning (and praying) to make him my primary concern--I would not say that I’ve reached that maturity in my faith yet by any means. Still he remains faithful, even now, as I learn.

P.S. To stay updated, you can have all my future blog posts sent directly to you via email or RSS feed by clicking on those links. (Let me know if they don't work.) Thanks for reading! 

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The many blessings I have to be thankful for this year

original photo by talon.k

Looking over the past year, there is much--very much--for me to be thankful for. Seeing as it is Thanksgiving, it only seems fitting to pause to look back and reminisce over all that has been given to me, all that has painted the story of my life this past year.

I am thankful for...

GRAND RAPIDS
...making it in Grand Rapids--moving to a new city, knowing one soul and taking on a new job in a position I knew little about.
...meeting incredible people and friends and spiritual mentors during this short season of time in my life
...the grace and strength God gave me while living there, as I learned to appreciate solitude and turn to him when days seemed too hard to handle.

LOVE
...the long-distance relationship I was able to nurture over this past year and for the dozens of plane tickets that allowed it to flourish.
...Michael's unending grace and forgiveness toward me, as I learned how to cherish another person's heart.
...his commitment to take me as I am, countless imperfections and all, and propose to me with marriage, on a dark Friday night as the rain poured down around us in his driveway.

MARRIAGE
...being able to plan our wedding in 10 weeks, with detail after detail falling into place to create the wedding I'd always hoped for in a budget that my parents could happily afford inspite of our impossible-seeming timeline. (Many of my prayers during this time revolved around begging God to be my wedding planner to get everything done in time. He truly wears many titles and answers many prayers!)
...the shower of kindness we received from friends and family with wedding gift after wedding gift so that we hardly lack a thing.
...finding a reasonable apartment to live in during our one-month stint in Grand Rapids as newlyweds.

ATLANTA
...moving to Atlanta and locating a beautiful apartment to call "home sweet home."
...having an income to support us, even after quitting my full-time job for the move.
...getting to work from home as a freelancer and make up my own schedule, so that I can hang out with Michael while he's home, and work while he's at school or studying. It has been such a great opportunity to start off our marriage this way, rather than rushing past each other on my way here or his way there. We actually get to spend time together.

NEW LIFE
...living down the street from a lovely, sprawling park perfect for people-watching and spending time in nature on a slow and sunny afternoon.
...finding a new church, only blocks away from our home. It is here where I am learning to appreciate liturgy and search out community.
...learning to become a helpmeet and a homemaker. Even in this season where I have a job and we're not yet starting our family, I'm becoming aware of what my future holds and the virtues and needs that it will require. So I begin to take tiny steps to prepare. One today, one tomorrow. Soon I will be ready for the future when it's time has come.

LOVED ONES
...my family, the one I was born with and the one I've been given through marriage. As is the case for many newlyweds, times have financially been tight. Whether it's receiving our honeymoon as a gift from an in-law or my cousin offering to fix my persnickity laptop for free or Michael's grandma sending us "in-case-of-emergency" money, we have yet to feel the burden of our situation alone.
...my friends, who are only a phone call or an email (or a Facebook message) away, and always willing to respond to my random queries and make "home" feel a little less far away.
...my husband, who continues to be my very best friend who makes me laugh more than I ever have and always encourages me, even when I come to him with my tail between my legs, apologizing yet again. I've learned that one of my Love Languages must be gifts because nothing gets me as excited as when he brings me an unrequested cup of coffee (just the way I like it) and a dark chocolate candy bar. He knows me all too well :)
...my God, who never gives up on me, never kicks me to the curb, even when I deserve it. Even when I abandon him, he does not abandon me, but takes me back when I take a tiny step back toward his direction. He provides for me even during those times, proving to me again and again that I am his beloved, the apple of his eye, that he is ever good and ever faithful and ever merciful. Time and time again.

For all this and much, much more, I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Why we moved to Atlanta--and left a well-paying job, in this economy

photo by chany14

I thought I’d share a little bit about the decision-making that went into our decision to move to Atlanta as newlyweds.

As most of you know, my husband and I met and dated long-distance for the first 10 months of our courtship. My husband had long-intended to spend his summer in Grand Rapids with me, but when we got engaged and decided to get married over the summer, we had a decision to make: Stay in Michigan or move to Atlanta?

While some people encouraged us to consider a long-distance marriage (seriously), we knew that was out of the question. There were benefits and drawbacks to each option:

In Michigan, I had a well-paying, full-time job with good benefits. In this economy, that is not to be taken lightly. However, it would mean having to figure out an alternative for my husband finishing up college. Ultimately, our goal is that when we start our family, he will be the breadwinner so that I can stay home and raise our kids (which is the way both of us were raised and has been my heart’s desire for raising my own family). So it was very important that we not delay him finishing up his degree and getting a job, plus he is studying to be a teacher and the teaching market is pretty nonexistent in Michigan, so we guessed that eventually we’d have to move anyway for him to find a job.

Moving to Atlanta, though, was full of question marks. My husband would be able to finish up his last year in college, uninterrupted. He has a scholarship that covers his entire tuition, which we both consider a great perk because we want to keep our debt to a minimum--even if it is “good debt.” Georgia’s teaching market is more favorable than that in Michigan or Ohio. However, it would mean me leaving my job and us not knowing what we would do for income or how we would get by.

Once he moved to Grand Rapids, we spent the first month praying about this decision until we ultimately decided to make the decision in favor of our future rather than our current circumstances: We would move to Atlanta.

Now, at the time, as I was praying through it, I didn’t feel that we had to move to Atlanta. I really felt like God impressed upon me that both decisions were good decisions and either one would be okay. However, the Atlanta decision was a greater leap of faith while staying in Grand Rapids would mostly be made out of fear of the unknown. With that on my heart, we decided in favor of moving to Atlanta.

And I have to say it was a great decision. Time after time, God has awed me with his provision and blessing during this move, from a steady (albeit impermanent) income to enough wedding money to pay for our entire ($1500+) move down here, and then some. We continue to thank God for each day he has given us, our manna that provides us with our daily bread. Though we still don’t know what awaits us or how this will all work out, we continue to trust that he will be faithful to his Word and his name: Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider.

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Post-Job Interview Update: Praising God for his everyday miracles

Praise. the. Lord.

So today I had my first job interview since moving down to Atlanta. I was getting pretty nervous yesterday and last night, so when Michael and I did a drive-by of the location so that I'd know exactly how to get there in the morning,  I told him I needed a pep talk. He reminded me of verses he recalls if he gets nervous or scared and when we got home, he prayed for me.

For the rest of the evening, I felt a greater sense of peace regarding the looming deadline. I knew that I'd give it my best and that my best would have to be good enough.

So this morning, I woke up at 6:15 sharp. Got up, showered and began to blow dry my hair. Not sure if anyone else has wrestling matches with their blowdryer, brush and flat iron to get their hair looking the way they like, but typically it's a battle for me. This morning though, it blew dry almost perfectly into shape so that I barely had to straighten it. I was astounded and realized, "Wow, I didn't even pray for this, and you blessed me with a 'good hair day.'" Praise the Lord.

The outfit I decided to wear included a cute but short-sleeve button-up jacket. There was frost on the grass so I started praying that, for one day in my life, God would make me warm-blooded today during my interview. (At Baker, it was not uncommon for me to show up to meetings with my bright yellow Linus blanket or even my winter coat at times because I was always freezing.)

Also, I've been fighting off a cold and having to drink tons of fluid and fight coughing fits pretty regularly. I prayed that God would keep my throat "well watered" and that he would soothe my throat so that I didn't hack all over my interviewer and dry my nose so I didn't have to resort to a forearm wipe, mid-interview.

When all was said and done, God did not disappoint on any of my requests: I stayed comfortably warm, my throat was perfect and I didn't cough or get a runny nose at all. Can you say it with me? Praise the Lord.

And I love that, how these were the most trivial of requests in the grand scheme of things (world peace? feeding children? curing cancer? etc.), and yet they mattered to me. And rather than chastise me, God met me in that place and was generous, as a good Father is.

So I know that whatever comes next, whether it's a job or a polite "no thank you," I can trust that God was with me this step of the way and that he's guiding whatever comes next. Praise the Lord!

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