a thousand mile journey began with one step of faith

So it has been quite a while since I have posted and so much has happened since March! I was doing really well at keeping up our blog one a week-ish and then life happened! :) Since March, Tony has been leading worship at Covenant UMC in Dothan, he has finished his semester at Troy Dothan, my business has taken a significant turn in dynamic, Fred has grown seemingly a foot, Tony has accepted a job in Pennsylvania and my sweet grandmother has gone to be with the Lord. WHEW, what a couple of months it has been but this is not a post to gripe or complain about busyness or even to lament about my grandmother or leaving Dothan, but a great thought about a single step of faith!

Tony won his age in a 5k in Headland in April

My and Tony's lives have been joined in marriage since the 17th of December in 2005. Since that day we have been on many a journey as a couple, spiritually as a couple, personally, and in our personal spiritual walks. These journeys have, by no means, all been pleasant, pretty, fun, or even cordial, but the Lord saw so fit to bring us through them to another place in our lives, transform our lives, and create in us new hearts and minds.

Through these journeys, though, we find ourselves as completely different people from when we married. *GASP* I know that it is not the politically correct thing to say that I am a totally different person than the person that Tony met and married back in college, but it is true. The Lord saw it as a blessing to change me. He has changed my heart, changed my mind, changed my attitude and changed my perspective on things in such a way that it has changed me. I believe the same, too, for Tony in this; and we both believe that the Lord has done a good work in us that he has not yet finished-but what a makeover he has done in 6 1/2 years!

The last 18 months or so of our lives and marriage has been spent making changes, challenging our individual faith walks, and committing our lives and our family to the Lord - COMPLETELY. That task has been all but easy and all but quick. As a matter of fact, we are still not finished, nor will we ever be, but praise the Lord we aren't where we were! In the last 18 months Tony has been diligently pursuing an accounting degree, all the while been leading worship and following that call on his life. Back in January he began debating whether or not to put his resume out for a full time worship leader position. In March, he took that step of faith and put his resume on a popular church resume website and we agreed that we would give it to the Lord and that we were willing to go wherever the Lord had for us to go.

no caption necessary! just beautiful

He got quite a few bites, people contacted him, checked out his resume, asked for video of him leading worship and he had 'first interviews' with quite a few churches, but nothing panned out. We were at complete peace about it all when at the beginning of April he got an email from a church in Pennsylvania. "That is a really long way!" and "Do we really feel like that is what the Lord has for us?" were just a few of the thoughts running rampant in our heads the further along the process went. Prayers immediately began and a peace that passes all understanding AND logic came over us both. Through ways that would take me weeks to share and explain, we also received so many confirmations that this is what the Lord had for us - distance or not! Well, cutting to the chase, the interview process lasted approximately two months and the job offer came in.

Starting July 5, 2012, Tony will be the Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Faith United Methodist Church in Montoursville, PA. We will be pulling out of Dothan for a 2 day, 1000 mile journey, on July 2. This journey will be one based on faith, hope, and love - for God and for each other. The Alabama chapter in our lives is closing for now. Who knows if we will write another one down the road or not, but for now, LOOK OUT PENNSYLVANIA!!! The Sharps are coming your way!

..........................................and this is how our 1,000 mile journey all began with a single step of faith.