Saturday, December 27, 2008

La la la la la la means "I love you"

Last year, Justin and I celebrated Christmas in my college apartment a few days before I made the 8-hour drive back to my parents home, knowing I would see Justin in a few days when he flew into Houston to meet my parents for the first time and to celebrate New Years Eve with me.

Spending the holidays in Oklahoma this year was wonderful, tiring, and sad all at the same time. It was the first Christmas I had truly spent without my family. I spent one Christmas in Brazil during my junior year of high school, but I pretend as though that Christmas away from my family didn't actually occur because, well, Christmas with my family didn't mean as much to me then as it does now. As hard as it was to be away from my family and my traditions, I had a wonderful, though exhausting, Christmas with Justin's family, my new family.

Many of Justin's relatives had asked his mother if I was there for Christmas 2007, and my sister in law remarked that it was hard to remember a Christmas without me there. In some ways, it is the same way for me. Since meeting Justin, my life has changed in a million exciting ways, and I struggle with how the heck I survived without him for so long.

Our big Christmas present of 2008 is the house we are working towards purchasing. There are so many things we have to coordinate and purchase and figure out with this house, and it's overwhelming. At least, it's overwhelming for me as I am the sort of person who wants to have everything lined out perfectly and planned early. Of course, after looking at the price tags of the items we need to purchase, I am beginning to understand that there is no way everything will be lined out perfectly and planned early.

Justin and I are still waiting to hear back from the realtor regarding the exact date we will be closing on. There's a large part of us that wants to close and then move as soon as possible, but there is another part of us that is willing to wait until January 16th to close, simply because then we will not have a mortgage payment until March 1st. Either way, I know the closing date will occur when it is meant to because I can't believe this opportunity to purchase the house is from anyone other than God.

Justin and I are well-aware of the fact that we would not be where we currently are without God and His plan for our lives.

It doesn't make any sense that less than four months after getting married we can purchase a house, especially with the debt we have and the fact that neither of us make a ton of money. It doesn't make sense that we've been blessed enough to find a house within our price range in the area of town we like. There are things wrong with the house, and its a house that will require love and work while we live in it. We are both well aware of this. Still, its a house that is opening huge doors for us. Its a house that will provide so much for us and in turn provide so much for others. And I can only think of that as the reason for our being able to purchase it right now.

The church Justin and I attend is one we want to serve in. But not only do we want to serve in the church, we want to serve the population that the church serves, the population of Oklahoma City. With this house, we'll be able to entertain people, to open our doors to people and invite them it, and we'll have the chance to truly plant roots in Oklahoma City, something that I don't think either of us ever truly expected to do.

We planned on moving to Fort Worth or possibly somewhere else. We never really planned to remain in Oklahoma City, and while it is still strange to think of remaining in Oklahoma City for quite some time, we're both certain that this is God's current plan for us. We just hope that we don't fully screw it up.

Watching: The Family Man

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