As I write this I sit in the living room of Little Cottage in Thomasville, NC. Our first day of training with the Baptist Children's Home of North Carolina halfway done. My babies are sleeping, Josh is out shopping with some new friends and fellow house parents while I have a rare moment of quiet to share the events of the last few weeks, months...really the past few years.
I will try my best not to draw it out as long for you as it has been for us...you might not come back to read more!
For new readers sake I will give a little history...for friends and family this will be a reminder of where God has led us over the past few years to bring us to this moment of fulfilling the call on our lives.
I firmly believe that from the day we are born, we begin the journey God has planned for our life. Each lesson, mistake, victory, challenge overcome, joy experienced, blessing received, and dream fulfilled are all a part of the tapestry He creates with each day we live.
For Josh, the path began very differently than mine. I will ask him to share his full story at a later time, but to sum it up, although he accepted Christ as a child and heard God calling his heart, he followed a path of destruction and trouble.
How thankful I am for a merciful, forgiving God who gives us as many chances as we need to follow Him! I am thankful Josh listened to that still, small voice calling him from his former life into a life of service to HIM!
Through teaching math, FCA and full time youth ministry Josh has served faithfully no matter how hard the task before him. I have truly never met another living soul (except my own dad!) who is as loyal and dedicated as my husband. Times when I wanted him to give up...he just kept on.
While my journey did not include alcohol and bad choices it was far from easy. I grew up as the second oldest of nine children, homeschooled from beginning to end and living with Type 1 diabetes from the age of 12 ( Pardon me if I don't confess how many years ago that diagnosis was...😆) many of the circumstances I found myself in required a life of dedication to God and trusting that there was a plan beyond what I could see...beyond the circumstances of every day life.
Josh and I met in 2001 through mutal friends. I don't remember meeting him...my only proof that is when we met is a picture taken that night! He remembers meeting me quite well..."Boy, do I feel sorry for whomever marries her...she is so full of herself!" The memorable thoughts my HUSBAND had about meeting me for the first time, the lucky guy!
Our friendship developed over the next 7 years, then over the span of six months, we began courting (a story for another day), were engaged and married on June 14, 2008!
In 2010, Josh was ordained as a minister and we accepted a full time Youth Pastor postion in Farmington, NM where we lived and served for four years. During that time, Josh and I grew and were stretched beyond what we could ever have imagined.
We dealt with the accidental burning of one of our boys, who survived and recovered then passed away suddenly a year later. The suicide of a precious girl who was handed more than anyone should ever have to experience in life.
During this time we had the privilege of preaching a funeral on Apache Tribal Burial grounds. We became parents to Katie Carolina, June 21, 2011 born in Durango, CO and Elisha James October 26, 2013 in Farmington, NM.
We had some amazing adventures including getting to see the Grand Canyon, the Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Silverton and Ouray Colorado and the great sights in and around the Four Corners area...
All that mixed with the joy of working with and serving some wonderful people we came to love as family!
As God moved us from New Mexico, we sought a season of rest. Josh went back to the classroom teaching math at an amazing early college in Murphy, NC then later in public school at Ashland, MS closer to home.
I'm not sure how much rest we actually got but we did spend a lot of time in prayer about the direction God would have us go. Josh was able to enroll in Seminary to begin working toward his Masters degree full time and I joined the workforce again in Janitorial work in the great town of Oxford, MS!
As we continued to seek the Lord, we felt the door to full time church ministry closing. Unable to ignore that we did indeed have a call to serve in ministry full time we continued to seek what that looked like for our family.
That's when we revisited an idea we had discussed years ago and at that time had pursued and found a dead end. As we were doing a ministry job search, a listing for our current position here in Thomasville was posted, and after much prayer over the next weeks and months we applied for, interviewed and accepted the job we were offered and moved!
I look forward to sharing this journey with you and ask that you keep us in your prayers as our family walks this road.
Karen
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