Who Thought It Would Look Like This...?

Not to sound corny or simple, but sometimes you just never know what God is doing until He does it...

I say this because Laura and I have been home from our adventure to find ourselves in a place that looks very little like we thought it would. What we have found, instead, is God fulfilling dreams He gave us nearly 4 years ago that we thought were only a vision to change our path at the time.

What i mean is this; 4 years ago, i was working a Staples job that was promising to get me none of the things that i have ever wanted in life. Because of this, we stepped out in faith and i went back to school to get an IT degree so i could get that nice job that would let us buy a house, and we could eventually work on having a family of our own. A satisfying dream at the time until God derailed it, pleasantly, and lead us both to focusing on our community and revealed to us our true heart's passion -- people.

When He did this, we assumed God only pointed us in the job/house/family direction to give us the strength and vision to get us out of post-college stagnation. Since then He has done amazing things in our hearts, in our church, in our family, and in our communities. We have built some of the best and most lasting relationships we have ever been a part of. We have been involved in the lives of a number of wonderful college students, and we even went halfway across the world to see what God had for us in South Africa. What we find now, as we try to continue to follow God's direction, is that God wasn't using smoke and mirrors to "trick us" along the right path, but He is just delivering His promises on a different time table.

As of my birthday, Oct 13th, we find ourselves in an odd position. I have accepted a new full time position within in the city that promises a nice pay raise, and the ability to provide (financially) more fully for my family. We are planning on closing on our first house on Nov 13th as well, which is incredibly exciting. We definitely did not think that we would be putting ourselves in a situation to be stationary, but it has all worked out so well.

We continue to wrestle with what our lives will look like with these new happenings. But continue to pray that we can invite people in to our new place and that it will feel like a home for them as well. Thanks to all of you who are praying for us as we try to continue to live lives that reflect the beauty, love, and creativity of our Creator...

Mikey