Life Update - 6.2.19

Heyy everybody!

As I had mentioned, a lot has been going on in the Whittaker household so I wanted to do a quick update post about our life and the goings on! The only problem is...I don't know where to start!

How about with the future? In T-6 days, (June 9, did I do the math right? Is that my actual wedding date? I 100% have a number disability) is my anniversary! It's been a long, eventful, and wonderful year of marriage and I just want to take a moment and acknowledge how GOOD God has been to both of us throughout this year. Marriage is something I always wanted and God willing, I never ever want to go back to singleness because I LOVE it. It's been hard (as you'll read) and stressful at times and it takes a lot of work and surrendering but I can honestly say I have never in my life had something that makes me feel so thankful and fulfilled and honestly just rich. I feel so, so rich and satisfied in the role God has given me as Nate's wife.

That said, there are going to be a few changes for us this year!

Jobs

As some of you may know, I've been the one working since Nate has been finishing up his degree. That's a bit of a stressful situation, especially if you are stressy like me but that time is over because Nate graduated this May and God blessed him with a music teaching position at a great district which is a huge answer to prayer. We are so ready to switch roles and so thankful for God providing in this area!

Another thing that you may or may not know is that I have been working for the past 2 years as a 6th grade teacher in a district that I can only describe as difficult and riddled with problems. Honestly, the whole job has been a huge trial in my life through which God has taught me countless things about trusting Him when things are completely out of my control or out of control in general. I sincerely loved working with my kiddos and hope to continue to work with behavioral or at-risk children in the future but unfortunately, I did not feel the school I worked at really supported the teachers in doing that. I also experienced a big amount of stress from dealing with the situations I was dealing with which I felt took away a lot from how supportive I could be of Nate or even how well I did at taking care of things around the house. I consider being a wife my top priority right now so after thought and prayer, we decided it was time for me to move on! Thursday was the end of a grueling school year and my last day on the job! I'm excited to be moving on to better things.

Hopefully, I'll be working part-time at Logos Christian Academy as a kindergarten teacher. HUGE change, right? I'm so excited to be part-time for the first time (never had a schedule with a free day in college!) because I'm excited to get good at managing our household and just slowing down to be able to be more supportive of Nate and invest more time with God. I've been so convicted of being a Martha and not a Mary, of trying to do things instead of be with God, of treasuring passing things instead of heavenly things and though I don't know what the future holds, I want to take this year and really sort through my life and organize it in such a way that I can experience closeness to God and also just be responsible for what I have been given to do.

Moving

Yep, we're moving. Let me rephrase that. We were supposed to be moving. It all started with a decision to not renew our lease which ended in May. We felt we were ready to start looking around for a condo, found one and were well into the closing process when circumstances beyond our control forced us to move the closing date not once, but twice. Eventually the deal fell through, June 1 rolled around and we were out a house! So we are currently homeless, very well-taken care of at my sister's house and still shopping! It's been kind of stressful at times but honestly God has taught me so much in just a few days about surrendering my will to His, taking things one day at a time, and treating all of this as a huge adventure. I'm always tempted to feel like God is bullying me when He allows "bad" things to happen, but the one big lesson I've learned in all this to never, ever allow anything that happens to allow me to even start to think that God might not be good. He is. Nothing my feelings say, nothing circumstances seem like, nothing, nothing, nothing should ever make me doubt that He is my good, good Father. I've had many "trials" in my life that ended up with my being bitter at God but I'm so, so thankful that this was not one of those times. I have felt a breakthrough in my life this time around where I am sincerely convinced God is good and all His plans for us are good. I'm practicing resting peacefully, a day at a time, in Him and in my confidence that He is bringing good things around for us. I'm honestly so thankful for this trial and though our stuff is at a friend's house, our car looks like a moving van, and we are living in someone else's attic, I'm so happy! God is so good and I'm so glad for summer vacation and time with my husband!

Blog

Thankfully, I'm not working this summer and I'm so excited to dive deeper into my side things (writing, art, etc.). As you know, I've started this blog and I'm hoping it can be a place where both I and my readers can constantly bring ourselves back. I honestly believe that both I and all God's children have a deep desire to please our Father. It's just that life happens and we get distracted, tempted, bogged down. I hope this can be a place where we stop being Marthas and remember to be Marys, where we can remember to stop trading in our treasure, Christ, for passing trash. Where we can stop wasting and start seizing the day. I want this to be a place where I share things I'm struggling with, not because I'm anybody important or my struggles are really important, but because we are all on the same journey and our temptations are the same and our goal is the same. I pray this becomes a place where you as readers feel safe enough to open up about yourselves and find support. As the body of Christ we need community and fellowship and I hope this can be a place where we can find a little bit of that.

I'm also really artsy and I have big dreams, like starting a ministry and being part of a small business. We'll see what Father wants and where life takes me but I hope to share whatever happens with you! Please pray for me that I seek God's will this summer as to what I should be doing with the talents and passions He has given me and that He illuminates my path going forward.

What's new with you? How can I pray for you? Leave a comment below to share! I'm excited to hear from you!

Fondly,

Mars.

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