I used to think being married to a man with a master's degree would be the coolest thing ever. I could say "I am married to a master!" Only a Jedi-Master would be cooler.... okay, not really. But now, I'm thinking that being married to a doctor would be greatest! Not a medical doctor. No, sir. A doctor of science in earth and mineral engineering.

Stop.
Be Amazed.
My husband is a genius.
I hope you're laughing. Actually, I am not really talking about how amazing my husband is (although I tell him that all the time, because I am his wife and his biggest fan and best friend and my love compels me to be honest and tell him all those wonderful words). I am really writing this blog entry to talk about how awesome God is and how He is working in our lives.

Our plans took a major shift in the last two weeks. We arrived home resigned to the idea that we would have one more year of college (technically, only eight months) and then a piece of paper stating that Brandon had his bachelor's & master's degrees in petroleum & natural gas engineering. And then we would go out into the wide world of the oil industry. And Brandon would pursue his Ph.D. in his spare time wherever we were living.

Then our anticipated job was not happening.
But within 48 hours of one particular job not happening, Brandon had a random conversation with his advisor about research topics for his master's thesis that just happened to open the door for him doing some serious post-doctorate level research... and here's the amazing part: GETTING PAID FOR IT. I believe the words used about this opportunity were "extremely rare." I have heard several times over the last few years that getting an assistantship (i.e. being paid to do your research for master's degree) is nigh impossible in that department. There were just too many coincidences to be coincidences... In looking back over our four year marriage, we often say that "God hasn't failed us yet" and it is so true. God has always been faithful to lead us through the winding path of life, while providing for our needs in truly unique ways.

In this provision of an assistantship -- that starts right now, not even next year when Brandon technically begins Phd work, our minds are blown.

So we have been busy adjusting. Walking around our Victorian town and adjusting.. adjusting our minds to at least three (maybe five to seven) years in education for doctorate and post-doctorate research. Adjusting our budget to living on an assistantship income (think: very, very, very, very frugal). Adjusting our time expectations to be able to build our life together as a family, and to live well in this season.

This is craziness, but we are so thankful.
PS - We are also super-happy to be back in our own little house. One does not appreciate a tiny three-bedroom OLD house until one lives in a one bedroom condo for three months. Now I am thankful every time I turn around. I love our front porch! I love that we don't have neighbors in our walls! I love my kitchen! I love my backyard! I love everything!

And I love Pennsylvania. Even though Texas was really great, too. ;)

The teapot whistled on the stove while I moved around the kitchen throwing dishes into their places and wiping up spills. We get home from work late because of Brandon’s school and work schedule and I always spend the first hour or two doing housework, cooking and packing lunches.

It’s herbal tea for me and Earl Grey for Brandon. He likes the tea sweet and I prefer mine sweet, but not as overpoweringly sweet as my coffee. I drink half the cup and then drip a few hot drops on my leg as I run up the stairs holding a mug in one hand and a computer power cord in the other. My pants will dry, right? Then I get distracted by carrying two loads of laundry upstairs to be dumped unceremoniously onto our bed for folding. The tea is forgotten and it’s okay, because I amuse myself during laundry folding by attempting to do squats between sock-matching. Exercise is a great idea. My legs hurt. It was also a bad idea, because remember that half cup of tea? It’s now all jumbled up in my stomach.

I think about things that jumble up my stomach and it’s always the things that jumble up life. Things that I can’t control and yet insist up worrying about. I told my sis that I should write a blog post about “Learning to Live in Times of Transition,” but really, I can’t. Because I’m not an expert and I haven’t yet attained. I do know that it feels as if the last three years of my life have been constant transition. They have been the greatest tests of my ability to trust in God. Now I do believe that God prepared me for years and developed my heart and showed His faithfulness over and over again, so that when I got to marriage and was faced with so many life changes and possibilities (jobs! school! internships! ohmygoshwhatwillourlifelooklikeintenyears?!?), He would make me able to live at peace.

Our newest transition is something we’ve been thinking about for months. It must have been the first week of the fall semester 2013 when Brandon learned that summer engineering internships in his department (Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering) were paid. And paid well. For some reason, we had always thrown that possibility out the window and understood that it would be more difficult for him to get a job out of college without an internship because he was working and going to school, because ya know, he has a wife and family (i.e. cat) to support. We just thought, this is one of those sacrifices we make. God will work it out. Well, God did work things out and continues to do that… though not in the way that we expected. In even better ways!

There were resume-passing out days and evenings when Brandon had to go to a few ‘information sessions,’ where he would talk impressively to recruiters—yeah, I think my husband is pretty impressive so I’m always happy when I notice other people noticing how impressive he is. Hehe. There were interviews. I don’t even remember how many. But I do know that by the end of recruiting week—actually about ten minutes after the recruiting time had closed—Brandon got a call from a large natural gas company recruiter with a summer internship offer.

It’s official, y’all--- we’re going south for the summer. Granted, it took moooonths for details to get hammered out and things are still being finalized (like where we’re gonna live!), but it’s official as it could be. We’re leaving after finals week in early May and will be back before the fall semester begins in late August. We are headed for Conway, Arkansas. We’re going to the middle of nowhere and that suits me fine. And yes, of course, I’m going with him. There was really no question in our minds about that; he talked about it in the interview. Where he goes, I go, cause that’s the way marriage works for us. And God’s hand is always working to be in our place of need before we even get there. I’ll be leaving my job that I’ve been at since I was 19 (it’s true!) to go with my husband hundreds of miles from the place I’ve called home for most of my life. Basically, I’m retiring or changing careers or becoming a domestic engineer or stay-at-home wife or something. We call it many different words, but always with wide smiles and happy hearts. Oh, I’ll surely be working… on something or at something. But we’re not sure what yet! And honestly, after being a full-time office worker + evening-and-weekend wedding photographer for years, I am ready for change.

I’m convinced that God always prepares us for times of transition. It may be just a feeling on the inside, a pressure of the Spirit, the gentle winds of change, the thoughts that turn to new pursuits, the heart that longs for new things. God is always working in our hearts. He is always guiding us through the maze of life, looking at the future which we can’t see. I feel like I have been prepared for this---this crazy idea of spending the summer in a new place. I feel like God is taking us there for a reason, that He is putting our feet in the path that He has carefully and perfectly laid out before us. I know that we are just discovering the treasures of His plans for us. We revel in the intricacies of His provision for us in this season so often. Things that could not have happened if we knocked on every door. Provision that couldn’t have happened without God’s oversight and us responding to His gentle instructions from even before our marriage. I could tell stories upon stories about things that we felt strongly about and so we did them, and they impacted our future. We couldn’t have known that simple actions would reap such harvests but they did.

So Arkansas. Yeah. We’re going to Arkansas.

It will be The Great Arkansas Adventure.


* My parents are the ever-supportive folks and also my dad has passed on his love of maps to me. They gave Brandon an Arkansas map for Christmas. Yay! I hate getting lost! I love maps!