As history becomes our future

I am so excited to be starting our family blog off with a fun little surprise.  So you can either scroll to the bottom and get the spoiler or start from the top and go through the journey...

Over the past few years Paul has:

• graduated with his B.S. in Secondary Education from Grace
• taught fours years of Social Studies at Millard North
• become certified in teaching IB and AP classes 
• got an article published in the Chronicles of Oklahoma
• presented at the Missouri Valley History Conference
• received a grant from the Nebraska Historical Society to research
• graduated with his M.A. in History from UNO
• read more books/articles/blogs/anything with words involving history/religion/sports than I can count
• applied to and received offers from several PhD History programs 

First of all, thank you for indulging in my shameless bragging.  I am so proud of my husband, and not afraid to say it!  Second of all, did you catch the theme?  Paul is very interested in history.  Very.  Interested.  Millard North has been such a great provision for our family.  Paul has made great friends, been given great opportunities, and provided well for our family.  But ultimately, he would like to be in a position where he could read, write, and research and get paid.  So that means it is time to move on.

What does this mean for our family?



This means we are moving.  We have just decided where we are going to go, and we are overwhelmed with lots of different emotions.  This is definitely bitter sweet.

The Bitter.

For our entire marriage our lives have been in transition mode.  We have moved into 3 different places in less than 5 years.  We have never been able to really settle down anywhere because we have known that we would be leaving soon anyway.  We will know absolutely nobody where we are going.  We will be completely out of our comfort zone as we meet new people, learn a new city, and find a new church.  Both Paul and I REALLY like our comfort zone.  We will also be taking a major cut in pay.

The Sweet.

We will be together and will share a new experience together.  We will make new friends and find a new church, together.  Paul will get to do what he loves AND will be learning from some well-known and respected historians.  I will also get to do what I love, being a mommy!  I will still have to do a little part-time work, but that is good for my soul too.

Soooooooo...are you ready for me to spill the beans???

Paul has been given an offer that we have accepted to attend the beautiful Baylor University.  We are moving to Texas, y'all!  Wow.  Here are some of the details that are not all set in stone but will give you all an idea of what it will look like for us.  Also, these are things you can be praying for/with us about.

• Moving
• We will probably be heading down there at the end of July or beginning of August.
• Pray that we can get out of our current lease a month early and not have to pay extra.
• Pray for us that the actual packing process and move would have minimal stress (We will have a 16 month old at the time and it is a minimum of a 12 hour drive...Yikes!).
• Moving is expensive!  Pray that we can have wisdom in keeping the costs as minimal as possible.
• Housing and Amenities
• For at least our first year we will be trying to get into graduate student housing.  Pray that we could get in.
• While I am anxious for us to finally be in our own little house to make a home, we just can't pass up the opportunity for such a great deal.
• We would be living in a two level two bedroom townhome type thing.  It has awesome rent and is just a couple of blocks from campus.
• Last year there were around 20 kids under the age of 3 living in the Quadrangle.  All the moms get together and have playdates and plan community activities.  Pray for our new friendships and the community that we will get to experience there.
• Leighton and I will get to have access to some fun stuff on campus too!  We can go to the rec center and swim, or play at the children's museum, or visit the live bears.  Plus, the weather should be pretty decent and we can spend a lot of time outside.
• Work and Childcare
• I will be working on changing my license from Nebraska to Texas.  Pray that this would be an easy and affordable task.
• Pray that I will be able to find a part-time job that is close to Baylor and is something that I would enjoy.  If I'm going to be away from my baby, I at least want to enjoy what I am doing!!
• With Paul's schedule, we may be able to get away with minimal childcare.  Pray that this would be possible.
• Family and Friends
• This is causing us our biggest heartache.  This makes us most sad for Leighton.  While we will still get to see grandparents and cousins, it won't be nearly as often.  We have also developed friendships that we are beyond sad to leave.  Please pray that we can continue to reconcile this decision with leaving the people we love most.

Thank you.

Thank you for listening and sharing in this journey with us.  We hope that while you are praying for us, you can also celebrate with us!!  We have been given an amazing opportunity and want to remain thankful for it.  We have a lot of unknowns ahead of us.  However, what we do know is that we have family and friends praying for us, celebrating with us, crying with us, and loving us.  We have a beautiful, hilarious, talkative, hard-headed daughter that helps motivate us to take risks and become better people as we prepare for her future.  We have a God that loves us, comforts us, and that is leading us on this beautiful journey.   That is all we really need to know.