The road not taken

In the words of the great Jiminy Cricket...
"When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are.
Anything your heart desires,
Will come to you."


GB & I are about to start our lives together as a real, honest to goodness couple! How exciting, & nerve-racking at the same time. Since the beginning of our relationship we've expressed that one thing we have in common is our love to travel & see the world. We spent a month apart this past summer, we were both in Africa but in different parts of Africa. He in the southeast & me in the west, we both went for a month to share the love of God with people. In that month a fire was lit under both of us, we knew that we would spend the rest of our lives together & serve as missionaries...

How glamorous it all sounds, I thought it would be that easy. Now we come to our first BIG roadblock as a soon-to-be married couple, do we stay or do we go?

GB used to be a sales representative for a few different companies. He would drive to stores & sell the products. This job caused him to be on the road a lot, on the phone a lot, & emailing a lot, he was away from his church and family a lot, & he was alone a lot. GB was good at his job but knew he wanted more than a life on the road. So he quit & went to Africa. Now, he has been offered a job in southern California...

Overseas missions runs in both our blood. So this fire we share is nothing new to our families.

GB never finished college, I struggle to stay motivated in school. In order to move overseas & be financially taken care of, one of us has to have a college degree & one semester of seminary under our belt. We have neither... I am the closest to a college degree. Ergo, the school portion of our problem is in my hands. So if we move, I get set back about a semester of school & I find a new school. If we stay here, I try and finish as fast as I can to get us overseas. Meanwhile, we both work jobs that just a means to get by, nothing we enjoy. So...

Move to beautiful Cali for more money & set back in school, or stay strong here & finish school a little early...

Give us discernment Papa, let Your ways be our ways.

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment."
Philippians 1:9

What makes us smile...

I've loved this illustration for a while.
I think it a wonderful thought, a simply wonderful thought.
Happiness is a blessing, but not a state of mind.
It is something we as humans, being the sinful and fallen creatures that we are, look for above all else.
We've been taught that through money, sex, success, or just plain "own", we can achieve the ultimate happiness...
Don't we all wish it was that easy.
For the money, we work jobs that ruin our spirit, interrupt our relationships, and cause us depression.
For the sex, we sleep with those who do not belong to us, we steal innocence, and we hurt our brothers and sisters.
For success, we do what it takes to make it on top in this world.
For the "own", we steal, we want, and we idolize.
I am guilty of them all.
How sad to be in a world that is full of "happiness" but struggles so much the pure joy.
Happiness is fleeting... Joy is from our Papa.
"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 35:10