The Journey to the Windy City

The journey was magical, exciting, exhilarating!

The journey was…rough.

But the journey was worth it.

Mike & I decided to move for various reasons. 

And I was ready.  I liked change.

Or so I thought.

The actual process of moving was not so bad, I had 4 boys helping load and unload the truck, so that was easy. The drive from the east coast to Chicago was fine. We stopped plenty of times to let Marley go to the bathroom (and ourselves). We stopped a few hours away from Chicago, in Michigan to get some rest. We woke up the next day and drove into the city and got the keys to our new apartment.

An apartment that I wasn’t sure I could make a home.

An apartment that I didn’t pick out. That Mike choose while he was in Chicago for a month before he came back and got me.

An apartment that didn’t have any of our things in it. Our stuff that makes our house feel like a home.

And that’s when it hit me.

The tears.

The tears came when I realized that there wasn’t a drawer for my silverware in the whole kitchen.

“We have no jobs.”

“I can’t believe I left my amazing job for this”

“What was Mike thinking leading us into this?!”

“There is NO way our bed will fit in this bedroom!?”

“This can’t be our home”

I panicked.

I let fear get the best of me.

I forgot who was in control. Who my solid ground is.

And then guilt.

“Why am I not walking in faith, trusting that God is in control of our lives?”

Fear robbed me of the excitement of a new place, and the moment to embrace the new adventure God has sent us on. Not to mention, made Mike feel terrible about the apartment he chose for us, thinking he made the wrong choice.

God does not want us to have a spirit of fear. Fear robs us of joy.

Mike prayed for me, I calmed down, God gave me eyes to see His goodness in this, and He reminded me of the excitement I felt earlier about this adventure.

I am so thankful that even though I am not always faithful, He always is and He has a plan.

It might not be the plan we expect or currently want, but it is what we need.

And in my experience, His plans are always greater than the ones I have thought of myself.

A week later, God has surpassed all expectations we had and He has confirmed that we are where we are supposed to be.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.” 

Proverbs 3: 6-7

"And They're Off!"

Off to where?

Off to The Windy City!

Chicago.

Mike & I have moved to Chicago.

The journey was exhausting, but exciting.

AND worth it. But that’s another post.

THIS is now HOME.

Check back here to hear more about our adventure!

XO Stephanie

Friday Night Fun

Mike got a new MacBook and we checked out photo booth. They have added some new effects since the last time we used it!

LOVE

FROG

FROG

FROG

BUGOUT

CHIPMUNK

ALIEN

ALIEN

BLOCKHEAD

I laughed until I cried at some of these. 

I don't remember the last time I did that.

It's the simple things.

Kale Chips

Today I made kale chips for Mike and me to snack on. 

And they are delicious!

They are easy to make. 

Just buy a bag of pre-chopped kale, put some kale on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with olive oil and salt, bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees!

YUM. 

Healthy little snack.

Good Friday

It is hard as I sit here, this Good Friday, trying to possibly imagine what was going on so many years ago.



http://www.turnbacktogod.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cross-of-christ-0104.jpg



Jesus on this day was suffering…for me…for you.  

Jesus died today…for me…for you.

Jesus thought about me… you… and said “You are worth it”.

I don’t know about you, but this becomes a little overwhelming.

How could someone believe that I am worth dying for?

Jesus loves me…you… more than I could ever understand. 

Not because of something we did, or because we deserve it.

Just because He loves us and did not want us to spend eternity away from Him.

Thank you Lord, for your relentless love.

“Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.”

Romans 3: 23-26 The Message

Boys will be...

What happened at the WyldLife Boy's Night you ask? I'll show you what I know... 

Lots of TV's for lots of video games

More TV's

A 5 pound bag of candy...GONE.

It looks like they put candy in the blender...

They fought over who had to go to the bathroom the most?

NOPE. Someone threw up the candy concoction... (and this is their idea of "fun"?!)

Looks like someone got the spare bed... there had to have been a battle for that....

            

Perhaps it was a 'NERDS' battle, cause these things are everywhere...

"Don't ask me what happened..."

"I dont know anything and I swear I didn't get ANY candy...none at all...not one piece..."

I don't think I'll ever know what happened...

Boys will be....

I'll let you finish that one.

God, what is your plan for us?

I have been struggling lately, thinking about how I thought we would be out of Northern Virginia by now, and living in an orphanage in Arkansas, showing children the love of God.  Since that hasn’t happened, we have been asking “God, what is your plan for us?” 

Last night, while reading John 1, God really spoke a truth that I needed to hear at that specific moment.  After Mike and I had been talking about what the future held and what would be the right direction for us to take, I opened the Bible and decided that I would read the book of John over the next few days. 

I started reading and came to John 1:22-23

Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’”

I paused here for a moment and read the study part of my Bible that explains things a little more and it says… “The leaders kept pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the Messiah to come. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but John wanted to prepare them to recognize who Jesus was. 

After reading, God was saying to me, “Stephanie, you are on this earth to make a way for me, to show others me”. 

Simple as that. 

I am here, to show people Jesus, to make a way for Him. It does not matter where I am or what I am doing. 

He also reminded me how important the WyldLife kids are to Him. He reminded me that the kids here in northern Virginia, that do not know their heavenly Father, are orphans.

I still hope that someday we will be working in an orphanage or something along those lines, but I trust the Lord and know that He has the plan for our lives.

He is in control.