Rerun: Formal Introductions

This post was originally written in May 2008, but I decided to update it and give you a rerun. I've noticed some new followers and email subscribers lately and this might help you understand more of our story....

Hey ya'll! (I feel like Paula Deen when I say that!... don't you just love her? Pass the butter, baby!) I've had a lot of new friends stopping by lately so I thought I'd give some formal introductions. I don't want any of my new buddies to think that I'm just a drama queen, and I want Jesus to get full glory and credit for this journey He is bringing us through. You've inevitably read a lot about walking through life's storms on my blog, so let me share a bit more about who I am and what my story is. Here goes...

I am 26 years old. I've had my fair share of rainy days over the past couple of years, but overall I am incredibly blessed. I was born into a Christian home. My dad is a pastor. My brother is a pastor. My husband is a pastor. My cousin's husband is a pastor. Pretty much every man in my family is a pastor. So I've learned about Jesus from day one. And I am so thankful for that!

I accepted Christ as my Savior at age 6. A lot of people raise their eyebrows when I reveal that. After all, what can a girl know about sin and her need for Jesus at the ripe old age of 6? Well, I knew enough that I wanted Jesus in my heart. I'll never forget that Sunday night when I accepted Christ. I felt all cleaned up inside... like Jesus had scrubbed up my insides and I was good as new. That was the best day of my life.

As I grew up, I was always in church. But being in church doesn't mean that you always make great decisions. My poor parents lived with the queen of attitude problems during my teenage years. I knew it all... or at least I thought I knew it all. Now I realize I knew nothing. And I still know very little. Daily, I am thankful to God for a wonderful mom and mom-in-law to guide me!

When I was 16, God really began to move my heart to seek Him more. I remember getting inside my closet one night with my Bible and just crying out to God. I just prayed for God to show me what He wanted from me. He spoke clearly that night and told me that He didn't just want my heart, but He wanted my life. I surrendered fully to Him that night and I committed to serve Him until the day I die. That's where things got interesting!

Shortly after that, I was on a plane to China. I spent 15 days on a mission trip that changed my perspective completely. I fell in love with serving Jesus and others. It just so happened that my future husband-to-be was holding my hand when the plane took off. God called him into the ministry during that same trip.

Fast forward a few years and the picture looks a little different. Josh fought his call into ministry and lived a season of rebellion. I also found myself looking for love in the all the wrong places (yes, just like the country song) and got my heart broken in a big way. As Jesus put the pieces back together, He brought Josh back to my door. I knew the first night we went out that I would marry him.

We got married when we were 20 years old. Most people thought we were insane, but we loved each other and didn't care. We are both kind of "old souls" anyway. My wedding day was the second best day of my life. Josh is the sweetest man I've ever met. He is so real. If I could describe him in one word, it would be "authentic". What you see is what you get with Josh and I love that about him! You never have to wonder what is on his mind.

We have been married for almost seven years. Here is a quick summary of our marriage so far:

2003: We got married and enjoyed the life of honeymooners.

2004: We lost our first baby, went through fertility treatments, and got pregnant with baby #2, Ally Grace.

2005: Ally was born, we moved to Taylorsville, and Josh accepted a call to Three Forks Baptist Church. Our marriage had the strain of a new baby and a new ministry. These were difficult days, and at times we both wanted to give up. Yet we remembered the covenant we made to God and our families and kept working at it. God blessed us immensely and we were much stronger after that period in our marriage.

2006: We got pregnant and immediately lost baby #3, bought a house, went through 5 rounds of fertility treatments, and finally got pregnant with Walker.

2007: Pregnancy complications put me on bed rest for five whole months. I was in the hospital multiple times before giving birth to a tiny premature Walker in May. He spent some time in the NICU, but came home healthy and whole. Four months later, I had to have an unexpected emergency hysterectomy. Our senior pastor left Three Forks and soon after, Josh's ministry began to get increasingly difficult as trouble surfaced.

2008: We rung in New Years by checking Walker into the hospital for RSV. He stayed for 3 days. Soon after, Ally got colitis and was deathly sick for weeks. Things at Three Forks continued to grow more pensive, but we prayed and trusted the Lord for wisdom. In May of 2008, Josh resigned from Three Forks as things spiraled out of control. God led him to walk away and it was a huge step of faith. Josh was sure God was calling him to pastor so we had to wait and watch as God worked. The summer was spent on little to no income. I literally sold my collection of books and cd's on ebay to make money to buy diapers and groceries. God provided in some miraculous ways and we survived 6 entire months of simply waiting. In November, Josh brought our family to HCBC where we now serve. We love it here!

2009: This year has been all about changes! I started my own business as a content writer. We got settled into the parsonage and learned more about the people in our new church. We got used to a new town and a new way of life. Ally started preschool. And God asked us to trust Him once again and step out on faith to pursue adoption.

To answer some questions...

How many more kids do you want?
We want a house full! Did you see that movie "Cheaper by the Dozen"? That is my dream life! Josh is thinking more along the lines of 4 or 5, but he knows I would so be a Duggar if I could! For now, we are in the process of adopting one baby and have told the agency we are willing (and very excited about the prospect) to adopt twins or multiples.

Do you like your new church?

Oh yes! It is the perfect fit for our family and it was so worth the excruciating wait last summer to get here. God's timing was flawless!!

What kind of writing do I do?

I write a lot of different things. Press releases, marketing ads, pharmaceutical brochures, and content for a variety of websites. It's an interesting job because I write something new daily. I have 9 writers who work for my company and we provide articles and content to periodicals and online publications. I write and edit during nap time and at night.

How do you get everything done with church, 2 toddlers, and a business?
You would be surprised what you can do in 10 minutes. Seriously, I break my day up into small intervals and just work on different things. I take 10 minutes to fold laundry, 10 minutes to edit an article, 10 minutes to read a story to Walker, 10 minutes to take a shower, 10 minutes to marinate chicken for dinner, etc.

Where are you adopting from?
We are doing a semi-open domestic infant adoption right now. We are still young for the international adoption programs and the fact that we have 2 biological children disqualifies us in a few cases. We just felt God leading us to adopt from home to begin. We will most likely adopt through the foster care system.

What's with all the fundraisers lately?
Ya'll, I hope you don't hate me for posting all my Etsy stuff on here. We're just doing lots of creative things to raise money for our adoption because to be totally honest, we can't afford it! God is asking us to do it and we are saving every dime to pay for it. But if you've done much research, you know that adoption is pretty expensive. So we are trying to find creative ways to raise money. Plus, true confession here... I love painting and making crafty things. So this gives me a good excuse. :)


Any other questions?

Ya'll are so fun. I love blogging. have I mentioned that lately?