On my 19^th birthday, my boyfriend took me horseback riding, then for a picnic, before dropping to one knee and asking me to be his bride.  I had no idea that when I said “yes,” I was to experience the most difficult and stressful year of my life.
A few weeks after our engagement, he left to attend seminary in Redding, California, leaving me behind to finish my Associates Degree in English and Journalism.  Those nine months were grueling.  I attended school full-time, worked on a road-construction crew full-time, all while juggling a long-distance relationship, packing for my future move, and planning a big wedding.  I was exhausted, burnt-out, lonely, and upset at God and my parents, feeling as though God had sent Brian away and my parents were keeping me away from him.

However, a year later, on July 9^th, 2016, Brian and I said “I do.”  Immediately following our honeymoon, we moved to northern Ohio.  I adjusted easily to married life and moving to Ohio from where I grew up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I juggled online marketing and virtual assistant jobs while Brian came to own his own company as a contractor for a window replacement company.  I began to mend my relationship with Christ as time went on and my wounded heart began to heal.  I still struggled to trust God with finances as our vehicles broke down, unseen bills kept coming in the mail, and Brian’s start-up costs for his business were far more than we had imagined.  Over time, I learned to let go of my fears, and hand them over to God.  When I did that, I was surprised at the peace I had despite the negative dollar amount in our bank account and I could actually sleep at night for the first time in months.

Things began looking up for us around Christmas time.  We were able to pay off all of our debt, and looking at our bank account was finally not something I dreaded.  Brian’s business began thriving as he hired an employee and won approval from the company.  Things were finally going very well.

After countless hours of long, deep, conversations, we reached the conclusion that we wanted to go back to seminary in California.  Brian had completed his first year of classes at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry while we were engaged, and we both felt that I was to attend school there now.  After much prayer and discussion, I applied in the spring, and was accepted within a few weeks.  This is stretching us again because this will require us to move across the country, find an apartment, I will be going back to school, and Brian will be selling his business here and will be taking up a new full-time job in another capacity.

We are excited about this new adventure, however, it brings with it concerns and obstacles of its own.  Since we are selling his work truck, we will need another vehicle once we arrive in California.  We will need a place to live when we get out there.  I will also need to learn how to daily juggle school, homework, and the mandatory mission work required, in addition to my two online jobs, and being a full-time wife and homemaker.  This excites me, yet stretches me at the same time.
(We will, however, be taking a U-Haul out to California and will be towing our car so we will have at least some sort of transportation.  Of course, my dog, Myah, will be coming with us.)

Our moving date is August 21^st.  We are still ironing out details regarding an apartment or rental property so we will have a place to move into once we arrive – having a pet does complicate this a little, but we can work around it.  I have applied for my exact class schedule and am waiting to hear back what time of day my classes will be.  Between jobs, I am currently in the process of packing things into boxes to make the moving process less chaotic.

We have also decided that since we will be living in California and attending Bethel for about 3 years, we want to buy a house there.  Instead of shucking out $1,000+ a month to rent an apartment, we may as well be sowing that money into a mortgage so that when we eventually sell the home, we will get back what we put into it, instead of coming out in debt with an apartment.  We have been approved for a home loan and have a realtor on the lookout for a place within our budget that needs a little TLC.  We have a passion for fixing up poor little homes and we want to update and clean our house so the resell value will increase.  Our plan as of now, is to rent for 3-6 months as we search for a house, then move into our new home once the paperwork goes through.

This is pretty much where everything stands, as of now.  I plan to post weekly or bi-weekly updates here on my blog so that all of our friends and family can keep up with us.  I will be posting news, stories, adventures, prayer requests, praise reports and much more, so stay tuned and watch as the next chapter of our story unfolds!

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom, in general, and as we decide on an apartment and where to live
2. Favor as we decide on an apartment, that it’s in our desired area, within our budget
3. Peace as we plan to move across the country and leave everything we are familiar with, behind
4. Strength/unity for both Brian and I as we function as a team and make major decisions together
5. That we hear God’s voice clearly so we can accurately make decisions

Praise reports:

1. We have already made several friends in CA who are ready and willing to help us
2. We have been blessed with inexpensive or free furniture for our new home