The Waiting...

Hello bloggy friends...it's been a while, hasn't it! I have debated back and forth whether or not to even mention this, but I think that sometimes, you just need to get things off of your chest and once you have said them, you feel huge weight lifted and now have the support and encouragement from the dear friends you've entrusted with your most intimate thoughts.

So here goes: We were not telling ANYONE, but I had gotten off the pill and was taking prenatals and were so hoping to have great news to share very soon with friends and family. We agreed to pray for God's timing together for a week and then we would continue, but after a week, Joe came to me with a heavy heart and said "I think we need to talk."I love my husband and his wisdom- I really do respect his opinions and the man of God that he is, so when he has reservations, I know that he has thought and prayed long and hard. Joe explained that he had taken a very close look at finances and that we could be totally debt free(besides the mortgage) in less than two years, but if we added another large expense, like a baby, now, it could take us five or more years with the interest that would build up. Even though it was the farthest thing from what i wanted to hear,I knew his heart and respected where he was coming from as the provider. He wants me to be able to stay home once we have kiddos and that puts even more pressure on him to provide. So, we prayed, and cried and decided that we could wait two more years.... God will be faithful.

As hard as it is now to put hopes on hold, I believe He will bless our hearts and our faithfulness and help these two years to be some of the greatest and most fruitful years of our marriage so far.

"While I'm Waiting" By John Waller
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Drawing Near...

God has been very present in my life this week. I shouldn't say that. He is ALWAYS present- sometimes I just am so caught up in the things of the world to realize how much distance I have put between us. But this week, I can FEEL Him, and that, my friends, is something I truly love!

I have been praying and praying for a job- we have been here two months now and the stir-crazy feeling is setting in- I need to get out and be around real people again- you know the feeling? Some people like to be quiet and to themselves, but I feel like I thrive when I am around people... that said, I was offered a job this past week and I jumped on it.

Yes, I prayed first... but God wanted to teach me something- clearly.

I worked there only two days and knew right off the bat that I did not agree with their business ethics. I really struggled with it. I know that we are called to be lights in dark places, but they were asking me to tell bold-faced lies to customers and do very dishonest things that no one else seemed to have a problem with but me. I told God honestly that NO job is worth compromising my morals for and that even though i need a job right now, I am going to trust Him and I know that He will honor my heart and integrity. They might be able to sleep easy at night knowing they did dishonest things to make sales, but at the end of the day, I am accountable to God and will have to answer to Him for everything I say and do.

So, this week, I am committing every morning to spend time with Him and draw near to His heart as I seek to find the path that He has for me here. He WILL show me and I am confident that soon I will be able to tell you how He provided!

Hope you have a great weekend and know that God will reward you for standing up for the truth and being a light to those around you by not compromising!

Philippians 4:8 NIV
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."


Looking for a great book to read? I am not usually a reader, but can't put down "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George...very encouraging and challenging-I would highly recommend it!

Cherry Blossom Festival...A+!

Sweet hubby and I got a chance to spend some time together and since he got a few days off work for Easter, we decided to be adventurous and go explore! We had heard about the "Cherry Blossom Festival" in DC and the news kept saying the blooms were in "peak bloom," so we decided to book the dog in the doggy hotel for the weekend and took off Saturday to DC to see what it was all about. Originally, we were going to spend the weekend there, but one day was plenty. The drive was less than two hours and then we found parking close to a metro station for only a dollar( no, neither of us had ever done public transit), bought our passes to the train, and thirty minutes later, we were in downtown DC!

I think our mouths hung open catching flies all day- it was amazing to see all the monuments and statues and symbols of freedom that we have seen on tv and in history books all of our lives, but to see them in PERSON is an entirely different thing altogether! Midway through the day our camera battery died and without a store in sight we gave up on taking any more pictures (our camera only takes a special lithium-ion battery, so it wasn't as easy as dropping into a walgreens to grab some AA's). But, while the camera was working, we got some great pictures!
Washington Monument






Jefferson Memorial...if you look really close, you can see hundreds of cherry blossom trees in the background- there were over three thousand of them in total! We later learned that the National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual two-week event that celebrates springtime in Washington, DC as well as the 1912 gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan.









I'm not going to lie, the subway was quite...unnerving to say the least! I was literally almost in tears the first few stops- it goes SO fast and we sat in a place where we were moving backwards, so looking out made me nauseous. Joe was gracious enough to hold onto me and calm me down, but be prepared- they take awhile to get used to! By the end of the day, I was an old pro:) and very proud of us for finding our way around in a whole new city AND mastering the public transit! Quite an accomplishment if you ask me! We will definitely go back soon to see more with charged batteries in hand! The amount of people was INSANE...it felt like we fought with crowds of thousands of people all day long and walked probably ten miles or more, so maybe next time we will have to go when there's not a national festival going on! So much we still wanted to see!

Lessons learned:
1)Get ready for 45 miute lines to porta-potties that have no toilet paper or sanitizer- BRING YOUR OWN in your purse!!!
2)Hold on to the subway rails for dear life...the train comes to very sudden stops and will catapult you towards the front of the car. On a similar note: stand back from the platforms when the trains are coming in...the wind from them feels like it will knock you over!
3)Listen to the warnings on the intercom in the subway "CAUTION:If you are riding with us for the first time, you should know that our metro doors are not like elevator doors...if an arm or a leg is caught in the door, the door will not reopen like an elevator!"
4)Wear VERY comfy shoes-- i wanted to go hug the girls that looked so cute in their heels and say "God bless you honey, because your feet are going to KILL you later on!"
5)Buy a map...pronto!
6)Heed traffic cops and their whistles...people drive CRAZY and you dont want to be in the street at the wrong time!

All in all, a wonderful time, perfect weather, great day and quality time spent together, which is always a plus! If you are in the area this time next year, I would HIGHLY recommend it- pictures just do not do it justice...it's truly breathtaking to see!

Hope you had a great weekend!