Friday, March 15, 2013

I love to tell His story... part 2

God has such a perfect way of doing things in our lives, even when everything looks so messy or displaced.

It's not.
It's just God writing His story.
In perfect detail.
With perfect sovereignty and glory.

I waited so long {or so it felt} for my "dream man" to come along.  I thought so many guys could have been just that.  But they were not.  And if I had been honest with myself, I would have known that before I ever developed a crush! Hindsight is always 20/20 -- and waiting was worth it.

Had I not gone to Venezuela for the summer, I wouldn't have changed the way I did.  Had I not changed, I wouldn't have had a renewed perspective on what I was doing with my life.  When I came back, I got a new and more secure job.  I started hanging out with friends more my age and eventually started looking for a new bible study.

And then there was this guy at church.
Out of no where!
He played piano.
He was really cute.
And I loved him.
I didn't know him, though :)

I met him at this new bible study and when I shook his hand -- I just knew it was him.  We started hanging out almost immediately and I knew that he was the one.  After two months of a lot of fun and exploring and talking we were engaged and five months later {after a long distance engagement} we were married and living in Texas. Whew!

That was the short version.

But everything in my life changed drastically and beautifully over the course of a week -- which turned into seven months.  And I wouldn't change a thing!  Patrick was just the man I was praying for and waiting for.  He was all things I hoped to have in a husband, and all things I never expected in my husband.  He's my exact and perfect opposite.  And he's my best friend.

This whirlwind adventure was just the beginning of my journey with Patrick! We were living in Texas without many friends, just the two of us!  Over time we found a great church and wonderful friends.  We traveled a lot and ate out a lot.  We watched movies and TV shows and talked and explored.  We were just -- newlyweds!  But to say our first year was hard would be an understatement.  We did, mind you, only know each other for seven months before saying "I do"!

There was so much to learn and a lot of ways to change.  We were practically alone and while it was hard to be away from family -- it was one of the biggest blessings we may ever know.  We just had each other and it formed such an incredible foundation for us.  And from that foundation we learned more about one another and grew together.  Our faith was refined and reformed.  Our desires molded together more and our expectations started to escape.

If being married wasn't hard enough we experienced things young couples don't always have to endure.  We found out that we couldn't get pregnant and began our infertility journey to babies just three months after we were married. I was so sad that getting pregnant would be so hard. Little did I know the journey it would take me on.

My dad died, suddenly, just a year and half into our marriage.  I was alone and hurt and sad and depressed. It brought out so much hurt in my life, and so many issues that needed to be worked on. Patrick and I went to counseling to work through it together. So much was happening -- and by God's grace, we worked through it together.  And in God's sovereignty, I studied Hosea just weeks before my dad died -- and it prepared me for this dark and hard time.

And then...we prepared to move to Indiana, PA.  Just two and half years into our time in Texas {and our marriage}.  God was moving our story and our adventure back to the North East.  And we were ready...




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