Walk by Faith- my mantra.

2 Corinthians 5:7 -For we walk by faith, not by sight.

          This verse has led me through life, through the good, through the bad, through the unknown. When I began college, I had my life planned out...so I thought. That plan drastically changed as I experienced my first (real) heart break. I thought my world was over-literally (I was 19, what did I know!?). I prayed so many nights that the Lord would heal me and lead me to where I needed to be. I was then told by a friend about Armstrong, a university in Savannah. I had never been to Savannah, but as I applied, everything fell into place. Savannah became my second home. I loved Savannah, still do. It will always have a special place in my heart. A place where I earned my first degree, a place where my heart healed, a place where I met friends that will always be in my life, a place where I grew closer to the Lord- closer than I'd ever been, a place where I found a church where I could thrive, a place where I had my first "big girl job", a place where I experienced the ups and downs that made me who I am, and the place where I met and fell in love with my soulmate- my husband. 

          I excitedly said "yes" to him on the top of the Eiffel Tower in Vegas. We had both discussed that although Savannah was amazing, we felt our time had expired, and we both ready for new adventures. I prayed and prayed for God to take us where we needed to go, and two short weeks later he accepted a job as the Head Athletic Trainer in Alva, OK. Our lives were about to change, drastically, and we had no idea how. He moved to Alva while I stayed with my parents. A month later, I accepted a minimum wage job at NWOSU, I'm not going to lie, when I rode into town, I thought that God had (maaayyybe) made a mistake (I know, I know... He doesn't make mistakes...), but as I looked at this small town, with a 2000 person population, I thought, "I can not do this." 

          Four and a half years later, we are on the move again (well, Steve is... I'm again... walking by faith). If you follow my blog, which I'm terrible at keeping up, you probably read how miserable I was, how I thought I couldn't make it in this town, and how I didn't know why God has chosen Alva for us. I now know that there is no place that would have given me exactly what I needed. See, in these past four and a half years I have earned a master's degree, tuition free. I have been the head coach of a collegiate cheerleading squad, I have assisted in coaching a college soccer team, I have been a photographer for the athletics program, I have written for the local newspaper, as well as assisting as a wedding photographer, I have moved into a director position of a federal grant, advising students, and I have experience teaching in a face-to-face and online college classroom. I've worked for a wonderful university that has shown me how much I truly enjoy working in higher ed. I have made contacts with fellow faculty and staff, and I have met some of the most amazing people- again, more friends for life. 

          Now, here I am again. My husband has an amazing job opportunity, and I'm waiting for God to place me where He thinks I should be. Is this easy? Um...NO, it's incredibly hard. As each door is closed, or each "no" is said, I will be crushed. I will be wondering what I'm going to do, and by default of being a human, I'm going to be stressed. However, as I sit here typing this, I see that God provided exactly what I needed, when I needed it, even though (at the time) I didn't know I needed it. Taking a minimum wage job after having a nicely paid teaching position was hard, but that job allowed me time to coach, and wedding plan, and go to school, and write for the paper, and take pictures for the school. Yes, I did all of that within my first two years. God knew I needed to "plug in", and once I accepted His plan, He never let me down. I KNOW God will give me the job that I need (and I'm selfishly hoping it's also the job I want), but for now, I will continue to walk by faith because I have learned that there's no better way to walk than with the Lord. Please pray for my husband and me as we embark on this exciting, new journey!