Living in the present

Now that all the wedding fuss is over and things have pretty much returned to normal, Michael and I find ourselves thinking, "ok, what's next?"

For the first time in eight years, I now find myself without full time employment. I felt it was time to leave my job in politics earlier this summer and honestly I haven't regretted that decision one single time. Michael is also pretty desperate to leave the job he's been at for the last three years.

In a way, it's a very exciting time. With no kids and no mortgage, we don't really have anything holding us down. We could literally move anywhere in the world. We have both been talking about what it would be like to live and work overseas for quite some time (pretty much since we met). I had a drink with a friend yesterday and she said, "What are you waiting for? You guys should just do it."

What are we waiting for? We have been advised that it's not smart for newly-married couples to move to a foreign country. It's best to wait at least a year. I can definitely see the wisdom in that. Being married is a huge lifestyle adjustment and I can see how living in a foreign culture could make it even harder.

I think the hardest thing is just not knowing exactly what we are working toward. We would both love to do full-time ministry but we don't have a clear idea of what that looks like. I know that God is definitely teaching us a lot in this time, just showing us what it looks like to work together. He is definitely refining us. Maybe right now He just wants us to be patient and trust Him. And to really surrender the areas of our lives where we aren't trusting Him.

I am trying to just live each day in the present, focusing on the tasks that he has given me - putting on a fall banquet, reading the Bible with a friend, leading a missional community, being a good wife (not in that order). I don't want to become so obsessed with the future that I forget to appreciate all the amazing opportunities right in front of me.

James 4:13-17
¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

New name, new life!

So much has happened in the last three months!!!

First off, I got married! Woohoo! It was an amazing, perfect, beautiful day. Here's a photo.

After the wedding, we were off on a jetplane to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Couples Swept Away resort in Negril, Jamaica. I HIGHLY recommend it! Our first day there we were swimming in the clear blue water of the ocean and suddenly a violinist who was sitting on the beach starting playing, "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. I was like, "is this place for real?" Turns out there was a wedding ceremony about to take place. We watched the whole thing from the water. :)

We returned to Austin and I came back to a new home and a new life! After about 8 years working in politics, I decided it was time for a change and so I quit my job. I'm now working for an Austin ministry called River City Hope Street (www.hopestreetaustin.org) I am helping with administration, communications and fundraising. My big project now is planning a fall fundraising banquet. It's going to be a lot of fun.

People keep asking me, "how's married life?" Well, it's great! We just celebrated our two month anniversary last week. :) The last two months have been a transitional period. (That's the under statement of the year.) It's been a period of moving, selling a lot of our stuff, buying all new furniture, organizing and decorating, learning how to live together, finding our routine. I'm really starting to just now feel settled.

I really like our little townhouse. It is cute and cozy. We have two pets, a dog named Phoenix and a cat named Ginger. (We had a very sad time last month when my beloved cat Freddy passed away.) We live in a nice, quiet neighborhood. We've been going on a lot of walks, jogs and bike rides.

Now that I'm settled again, I really want to start blogging again! Honestly the first six months of this year were kind of a blur. I'm hoping to have a little more downtime now and start writing more. So, stay tuned!