I should probably tell you how I got here. I grew up on the beautiful Emerald Coast of Florida, just north of Destin. Both of my parents are from KY originally, my Mom from a small town in western KY and my Dad from Lexington. My Dad played college football at the University of Kentucky (go Cats) and then became a football coach. After he and my Mom got married, they moved to sunny Florida where the weather was warm and the football was a big deal (unlike in KY). They had my brother, then a few years later I came along, and we settled in Crestview when I was 2. I LOVE where I'm from. I appreciate it very much, but I have always wanted to move to Kentucky. As a child, Ryan (my brother) and I spent a couple of weeks each summer in Kentucky with my Mom's mom, Gram in Todd County, and my Dad's parents, Nanny and Da in Lexington. Something about the air, the fell of the grass and the lightning bugs made me fall in love with the state. I dreamed of going to college at UK and meeting an incredibly good looking Kentucky boy to marry. Yay me! I did it!
High school was a blast. I had great friends and we had good, clean fun. We made embarrassing home videos (praise God YouTube had not been invented) of ourselves dancing to the Spice Girls and N'Sync and ate our weight in cookie dough. They all had boyfriends come and go, I never had any boyfriends. We went on band trips all over the country and my senior year our girl's basketball team won the District Championship! After a year and a half of knee injury, I was proud to play in that game and be on that team. My family flies airplanes (I'll post more on this later) and at 17, I soloed my family's Piper J-3 Cub for the first time. It's in my blood and I'm grateful for the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. Still, I knew I was called to go. I loved my friends, my church, my parents, my airplane and my home. But I had to go. So, at 18 years old I packed my bags and went off to college 650 miles away from home.
It took me a while to figure out who I was. I suppose I'm still figuring that out. I changed my major twice and had many different friends. By my junior year I was loving life. I was a manager for the women's basketball team and got to travel all over with them all while getting my education paid for, and I was very involved with FCA and bible study. I made some life-long friends that year. Two of them were from a little town called Beaver Dam. On Easter weekend, I went home to Beaver Dam for the weekend with Bailey. That Saturday afternoon we went to her church to play basketball with her younger brother (who was in high school) and some of his friends. One of those friends was really cute! His name was Seth, he was nice and had good hair and muscles, and even came back to Bailey's after we played to have some BBQ with us. He was more than 3 years my younger, so thinking he was cute was the extent of my interest, but luckily God's plans are bigger than mine. It would only be 2 1/2 years before we began dating, got engaged and got married. We've been married 2 1/2 years now and he is still way cute! He is one of the best presents I have ever received!
After we got engaged we decided to move from Lexington back to western KY so that he could finish up college at WKU and I would look for a job. We lived in Bowling Green our 1st year of marriage in a cute 1-bedroom apartment that we loved. I was a teacher's assistant at an elementary school and we were dirt poor. But we made it! Soon Seth got a part time job at a pharmacy and was going to school full time (pre-med) and working 4 days a week. We had plans. But God did too. As we were celebrating out first year anniversary, we moved into an apartment out of desperation. I was desperate for more space and change. Seth was unhappy in school and his job, so we moved. It was awful. We stayed there a month and a half before we finally decided to move back to Beaver Dam and live with Seth's Papaw. His Granny had just been put in the nursing home (she had severe alzheimer's) and Papaw was very lonely. It was a good move for everyone. We were warm and safe and Papaw had company. He gave us the master bedroom/bathroom so we could have our privacy. It was a great present for all of us!
We've been here about 16 months now, and I'll be honest, there are times when I just want my own house. But this last year was so critical. Seth's Granny went to be with Jesus and it was great that we were here for Papaw and Seth's mom, Becky. I got a new job that was very unplanned but that I love very much (a huge present!) and Seth had to have back surgery... for the 2nd time in as many years. There was and is a reason we are here. God has not called us to move yet and He is stretching my faith by asking us to stay for a while. I have no idea how long, and I pray every day for discernment to hear His voice. When He calls us, we will go, even if we're not ready. Seth has a job he loves now at the local hardware store and will be going back to WKU in the fall majoring in Accounting. I can't wait to see what presents will come from that and what kind of presents we will be able to give to others! That's what it's all about anyways. God gives us presents so that we can give others presents, too.
So there you have it. If you are still reading this post, thank you for taking the time to hear about my life and hopefully you will understand some of the things I reference in future posts. Until then, look around... God has presents to send you. :-)
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