New beginnings

Today is Mother's Day. I find it funny that at 28 years old this is the first year I had people hug me and say to me, "happy pre Mother's Day!" ( it's like they want me to have kids or something, haha). Talk about a new step in life! Although kids are in the plans it will be a bit, however, Ryan and I are taking the first big step in our marriage.

For the last 4 1/2 years I have embarked on a path that I was all too ready to take. Yes, I met Ryan on Eharmony, but I am convinced that God would have connected us in some way at some point because we are meant for each other. I have chosen to follow the path that as a child I knew I would take and as a young woman strayed from often. God, in his infinite love and patience for me, kept leading me back to the truth.

My third date with Ryan he took me to band practice with him. I sat in what is now a four year old thriving church in Mayes County in a metal chair and watched my future husband and my future friends and basically family praise God. The sound booth was a tiny box fit for one, about forty metal chairs, and about ten people who walked and talked with a passion and intensity I hadn't experienced in a very long time. I knew I was starting on a new path that very moment. The Holy Spirit, a very still small voice in my heart at the time started to speak at a volume I hadn't experienced since I was a child. I was being pulled by every limb of my body, every thought in my mind, and every song in my heart by my God. It was so refreshing. Prodigal daughter meeting daddy for the first time, In a long time. These people would watch me literally grow into a young woman. These people, these laborers, have breathed life back into this woman.
 Darian and Tyra Rains have been an unwavering example of true to the core husband and wife in love with each other and in love with God. They continually show what a marriage and parenting and leadership can fully be when you choose to include God in your life. Stephanie and Jerry Webster have been a quiet and constant pillar for Ryan and I to look to and depend on. Becky and Mike Orange have been in the trenches learning and caring for each of us young families growing in the church. Annie Ledoux is the closest thing to an idol I could have, her voice, her passion, her mothering is a true statement of how God can change a person from the inside out and catapult them to serving and loving people the way they need to be loved. Zac and April Orange and Shaw and Laura Montgomery I have felt have been in our shoes every step of the way and I can't tell you how proud I am to be experiencing life with these couples. I feel as though Hunter and Katie Dillard need a whole blog just of their own because of the mark they have left on our life. Hunter has truly been the best friend a person can have in every way imaginable, he is a perfect example of a Godly man. To one of the most wonderful friends a girl could have, Katie Dillard showed me what a woman of God who doesn't settle or waver in any way can be. Lastly, Rachel and Drew Strange, I can't begin to describe what this woman has meant to me. My best friend, my rock, my sounding board.... She has more wisdom and passion than I could wish for and I hope to be half the woman she is. There are so many people in this life, I can't even count. God has been very good to us.

As we take this next step in our lives, I know we will find the next set of " family" to lean into and grow with. My life is exponentially better having these people and God working in it. My prayer for these amazing people is that they continue to bless other young couples and be blessed for their hearts and minds. If I can display even a portion of this love and generosity that they have shown Ryan and I, we will be truly grateful and blessed because of it.

We plan to pray hard and pray through with and for the people currently in our lives and the people God has planned for us to meet. New beginnings are to be had.... It is a bittersweet excitement, one that I plan on enjoying and learning from. There's no looking back now!