Marriage In Its Proper Place

It feels so great to begin working on our list of things that has to be done for us to move. We are praying for a Fall 2011 start date at seminary.  In thinking about being prepared to make these major changes in our lives, God placed upon our hearts to be better prepared in some most important areas first. Our personal times with God every day, our devotion times as a family, our times with God as a couple, and our marriage (not necessarily in that order).


We attended a FamilyLife Marriage weekend this past Friday through Sunday and it was fabulous. We felt it was really important to have our focus on our marriage back in its proper place before Gus starts seminary and gets pulled in so many different directions. It will not glorify God for our marriage to suffer while Gus is doing other things to glorify God.  Like most couples with children, we are not that great at putting our marriage first before other areas. The needs of the children, their activities, our individual volunteer and service projects, our family service projects, and various other things tend to come before our commitment to each other.  We received a nice refresher this weekend on putting each other before the long list of other things needing our attention. We have occasional date nights, but how nice it was to be away and it was easier to just focus on each other, be reminded of God's plan for marriage, and that our marriage should glorify Him in every way.  


At the end of the weekend, we renewed our vows to each other and it was a wonderful moment in our marriage.  I'm sure Satan will not miss the opportunity to attack our marriage even more than usual while we take on this new challenge.  But God gave us to each other and with Him holding us in His hands, I say "BRING IT ON!"

Taking the steps

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase."  So as we step out in faith on this journey, we have started by making a list of some of those steps. We ask for prayer as we will need God's guidance and His wisdom as we do in everything we do every day!  But feel like we will be on our knees more than usual for a few of these - like selling our house in the current market!

1. Apply to Southern Seminary
2. Find a job for Gus in Louisville.
3. Repairs to our home here and put our house on the market.
4. Find a place to live in Louisville.
5. Going through all the stuff we have accumulated over 20 years in this house.
6. Packing and moving to another state.

There will be many smaller steps underneath all these larger ones. I look forward to sharing how God is moving us in all these steps. We cannot see the whole staircase, but we will take the steps and God is the banister we hold on to as we climb.

Southern Seminary - Louisville, Kentucky

Pictures from our fall trip to Southern Seminary.  God confirmed his calling to us that weekend.  So we begin....