Married to the Ministry

When I pictured my life as a kid and a teenager, even as a college student until Marcus and I started dating, I never imagined I would marry someone in the ministry. I'm not sure why, it just never occurred to me that that might happen.

Yet here I am, nearly two years into a marriage to the love of my life and wouldn't you know it? My husband is preparing to go into full-time ministry.  If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that God always has a way of changing your dreams for the better.

Being married to a seminary student is one of the hardest things I've done. But everyday, I'm so very proud of my husband and the commitment he has made to the Lord. It is not fun to deal with his ever-changing schedule and his late hours at the library, but I am constantly reminded that this is just for a season and soon enough (December!!) he will be done.  And then we'll continue the odd hours of weeknight church activities and the seemingly never-ending process of ordination in the United Methodist Church. ;)

Despite the trials of being married to a minister, there have been just as many blessings.  Marcus has a great job as a youth ministry intern that has not only provided scholarships for seminary, but wonderful friends and invaluable experience.

The life of a minister (and his wife) can be uncertain.  We're not sure where God will send us when Marcus graduates. But I know that I wouldn't change a thing about the life God has chosen for me. He continues to amaze, surprise, teach, and provide for me, and that is all I could ever ask for in marriage and in life.

Marcus and me after he preached at our church.

Today I'm linking up with other ministry wives at Kelly's Korner. If you're a minister or married to one, you should join us!

Marcus Writes

My wonderful hubby did a guest post for the blog of the Youth Worker Movement yesterday. If you've ever worked in youth ministry, it might be of interest to you. The Youth Worker Movement is a great resource for anyone working with youth.

Here is the link to his post: Confessions of a Youth Worker.

I hope you enjoy! Maybe some day I'll get him to "guest" post on here! :)

40 Days

As a kid growing up in a United Methodist church, Lent was the time of year where you spent Sunday evenings making crafts to get ready for Easter. As an adolescent, teenager, and college student attending a Baptist church, Lent was all but non-existent to me.  Now that I'm the wife of a soon-to-be Methodist minister, I am learning what Lent really is.

For the past two years, I participated in Blood:Water Mission's 40 Days of Water campaign.  I drank only water for 40 days and it was a challenge, but I felt like my main motivation for participating was guilt. I figured if I worked for Blood:Water, I should probably take part, and then I didn't have to come up with something else to sacrifice.  *Disclaimer: 40 Days is an awesome, life-changing thing. It made a difference in my life and makes a huge impact on the lives of those in Africa. If you have never observed Lent before, or are still thinking about a way to participate, 40 Days of Water is a great way to start.

This year, however, I wanted to give up something that was truly a sacrifice for me, because the Easter season is about the sacrifice God made for my life.  So, I've given up TV.  Now, I have to be honest.  There are a few shows that are "in season" right now and I'm going to watch them weekly on my iPad. So to clarify, I'm giving up EXCESS TV.  This means no more Today Show in the morning, no more cooking shows at lunch, no more "whatever is on is better than anything else I could be doing when I get home from work," and no more Saturday marathons of "Real Housewives of Wherever They're From." I'd estimate that I spend at least 20 hours every week actively and non-actively watching the tube.  For at least 40 days, I'll only watch 4-5 hours each week. In the mornings, I'll be actually getting ready and making it to work on time. I'll spend my lunch break taking Max to the dog park and reading my Lenten devotional. My evenings will be full of spending quality time with Marcus, reading, quilting, and blogging! I'm looking forward to cutting out the mindless laziness and spending more time with God and doing really productive things.

I'm sorry if this post is a little boring, but I needed to write this for my own accountability. Feel free to ask me how it's going, or if you're observing Lent, I'd love to hear what you're giving up/taking on.  And stay tuned for updates- I'll hopefully be blogging more regularly now that I won't be watching any more Tabitha's Salon Takeover...man I'm gonna miss that show!