It's easy to accept the good stuff.
I love to write blogs that say "We're so blessed" when we find a new job that is even better than we were looking for. It's not a challenge for us to say "God is too good to us" when two newlywed seminary students are better off financially than either of us could've imagined. I'm excited to say "God has rained his mercy on us" since we'll be celebrating our first anniversary next week (a milestone many couples don't ever make it to).
It's a little bit more difficult when months like June happen. June was not a month of sorrow and suffering, but it sure was a month of inconvenience and frustration.
It's harder to say "We're so blessed" after a constant stream of headaches, jaw aches, toothaches and stomachaches due to widsom tooth removal and relentless colds/allergies.
It's a challenge to say "God is too good to us" when our perfectly good Toyota Corolla (which gets EXCELLENT gas mileage, by the way) is totaled in a car and now we have to use money we weren't planning on spending to purchase a car we weren't planning on buying. On top of that are the doctor's visits to fix a neck that was perfectly aligned two weeks ago.
We're finding it a little bit more difficult to say "God is raining down his mercy on us" when we discover at 5:15 AM that the window of our other car has been smashed into pieces (nothing was stolen, someone broke it just to break it).
See, it's easy to accept the good stuff. We like the good stuff. I like having a good job. I like having money in the bank. I like being married for a year.
But I don't like pain, I don't like car accidents, I don't like random acts of stupidness. The question is, how do we handle it?
We have been amazed at how God has taken care of us since our wedding day. We have received blessing upon blessing and been all too eager to accept them from God (as we should). But, as Job rightly asks, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" I hope that we can receive this trouble as readily as we did the good, in order that God may find us faithful, not just fair weather friends.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Since the wedding...
I'm sure that the three of you who ever check this blog have noticed that the posting has been sparse. It's not because Nate and I don't live incredibly tantillizing lives, nor is it because I have found myself unable to articulate the fascinating experiences we have been living through. No, it is merely because I haven't had any time to download any pictures of our life, and I feel like this kind of blog is not read to be read, but it is read to be gawked at. Well, "Nathan and Abby Hoff" is not for a gawking audience. It's for a reading audience. Or maybe a blind audience who wouldn't appreciate pictures anyway. Somebody read my blog to a blind person for me, okay?
Anyway...here's a quick breakdown of our life since we've been married.
Our life as Mr. and Mrs. Hoff began July 14, 2007 (9 months ago TODAY!) at Centreville Baptist Church. Best day of my life...and I actually remember the wedding!
[a wedding picture would be here]
We spent 4 days hiking in West Virginia, then loaded up a U-haul and u-hauled our tooshies back to Dallas in time for Nate to start school again and me to assemble our apartment and start the job hunt.
Nate is finishing up his 3rd year at Dallas Theological Seminary working toward a ThM (Master's in Theology) concentrating in Bible Exposition. He is currently taking his fourth and final semester of Hebrew (praise the Lord!), History and Philosophy of Christian Education, Teaching in Higher Education, and Soteriology. He is continuing his part-time job in a lab at Baylor Hospital monitoring bacteria growth and pretty much saving lives. Nate is also halfway through teaching the adult Sunday School class taking us through the book of Romans. On top of that he plays in the worship band and is generally revered in the church. However, only a few people openly refer to him as "sensai".
[a picture of us (maybe our Christmas picture) would be here]
Abby has been working for 8 months at Santa Fe Auto Insurance as an administrative assistant, but as of last week has accepted a summer job as a nanny. After that is entirely a mystery to us and entirely known by the Lord. She is one class and an internship away from earning her MA in Christian Education concentrating on Family Life Ministry. She has been working with the youth at church for 1 1/2 years, and last semester began leading a small group of first year women students at DTS. She just finished playing in the newly-developed intramural league at DTS where her co-ed ultimate frisbee team came in second (ironically, their only loss all season was the championship game *sigh*).
God has been faithful in providing for our needs in every aspect of our lives, and he has surrounded us with wonderful friends down here who faithfully walk beside us as we start this journey of marriage together.
[we would have put a picture of us with our friends here]
It has been a wonderful and truly awesome journey so far, and we are asking the Lord to continue to grow us and sharpen us through each other so that we’ll look more and more like Christ. To think that our relationship with each other is a picture of our relationship with the Lord! This is a truth that is becoming more real and more precious every day.
Our current prayer requests are:
- that God would give Nate the wisdom and words as he teaches the book of Romans
- that Abby will be able to minister well to the girls in the youth group and in her SF group (small group)
- that Abby will be able to find a job that will start in the fall
- that God will continue to provide for us financially, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
- that God will continue to work in our marriage and keep us humble before Him and before each other
[here would be a picture of a sonogram]
[underneath the sonogram would be a caption that read "just kidding"]
Anyway...here's a quick breakdown of our life since we've been married.
Our life as Mr. and Mrs. Hoff began July 14, 2007 (9 months ago TODAY!) at Centreville Baptist Church. Best day of my life...and I actually remember the wedding!
[a wedding picture would be here]
We spent 4 days hiking in West Virginia, then loaded up a U-haul and u-hauled our tooshies back to Dallas in time for Nate to start school again and me to assemble our apartment and start the job hunt.
Nate is finishing up his 3rd year at Dallas Theological Seminary working toward a ThM (Master's in Theology) concentrating in Bible Exposition. He is currently taking his fourth and final semester of Hebrew (praise the Lord!), History and Philosophy of Christian Education, Teaching in Higher Education, and Soteriology. He is continuing his part-time job in a lab at Baylor Hospital monitoring bacteria growth and pretty much saving lives. Nate is also halfway through teaching the adult Sunday School class taking us through the book of Romans. On top of that he plays in the worship band and is generally revered in the church. However, only a few people openly refer to him as "sensai".
[a picture of us (maybe our Christmas picture) would be here]
Abby has been working for 8 months at Santa Fe Auto Insurance as an administrative assistant, but as of last week has accepted a summer job as a nanny. After that is entirely a mystery to us and entirely known by the Lord. She is one class and an internship away from earning her MA in Christian Education concentrating on Family Life Ministry. She has been working with the youth at church for 1 1/2 years, and last semester began leading a small group of first year women students at DTS. She just finished playing in the newly-developed intramural league at DTS where her co-ed ultimate frisbee team came in second (ironically, their only loss all season was the championship game *sigh*).
God has been faithful in providing for our needs in every aspect of our lives, and he has surrounded us with wonderful friends down here who faithfully walk beside us as we start this journey of marriage together.
[we would have put a picture of us with our friends here]
It has been a wonderful and truly awesome journey so far, and we are asking the Lord to continue to grow us and sharpen us through each other so that we’ll look more and more like Christ. To think that our relationship with each other is a picture of our relationship with the Lord! This is a truth that is becoming more real and more precious every day.
Our current prayer requests are:
- that God would give Nate the wisdom and words as he teaches the book of Romans
- that Abby will be able to minister well to the girls in the youth group and in her SF group (small group)
- that Abby will be able to find a job that will start in the fall
- that God will continue to provide for us financially, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
- that God will continue to work in our marriage and keep us humble before Him and before each other
[here would be a picture of a sonogram]
[underneath the sonogram would be a caption that read "just kidding"]
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Our first big decision
Through much prayerful consideration and after seeking wisdom from the incredible friends and family that the Lord has provided for us, we have decided that Nate will no longer be pursuing a career as a Navy Chaplain. We are now gearing up for what promises to be at LEAST 4 more years of school for Nate during which he hopes to earn his doctorate in Bible Exposition.
We are both very relieved to have finally made a decision, excited and confident in the decision that we have made, and a little bit nervous about what the future is going to bring for us. One can imagine that the life of a military man and his military family is significantly more predictable than a ministry man and his ministry family...at least as much as any life can be "predictable".
We want to thank all of you for your faithful prayers on our behalf, the advice and encouragement and articles you have sent our way, and your loving support of us as we learn how to make decisions as a household. While it was nerve-wracking to make a life-altering decision on a deadline, it was an awesome opportunity God has given us to learn what it means to seek His face and ask for His direction, to look for wise counsel, and to encourage each other and be honest about our desires, fears, hopes, and discouragements. We have been forced to be humble and to be honest, and that is something I think every newlywed couple could use a few lessons in (and maybe even a few of you old married folk).
We would of course continue to be extremely grateful for any prayers you offer on our behalf. Some specific things to pray for are:
- that we will trust that God will provide for all of our needs as we walk down this "unpredictable" path - financially, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
- that Nathan will be able to keep the grades needed to enroll in a doctoral program
- anything else you feel led to pray for...the Holy Spirit's better at this "prayer request" thing than I am
If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
~James 1:5-8
We are both very relieved to have finally made a decision, excited and confident in the decision that we have made, and a little bit nervous about what the future is going to bring for us. One can imagine that the life of a military man and his military family is significantly more predictable than a ministry man and his ministry family...at least as much as any life can be "predictable".
We want to thank all of you for your faithful prayers on our behalf, the advice and encouragement and articles you have sent our way, and your loving support of us as we learn how to make decisions as a household. While it was nerve-wracking to make a life-altering decision on a deadline, it was an awesome opportunity God has given us to learn what it means to seek His face and ask for His direction, to look for wise counsel, and to encourage each other and be honest about our desires, fears, hopes, and discouragements. We have been forced to be humble and to be honest, and that is something I think every newlywed couple could use a few lessons in (and maybe even a few of you old married folk).
We would of course continue to be extremely grateful for any prayers you offer on our behalf. Some specific things to pray for are:
- that we will trust that God will provide for all of our needs as we walk down this "unpredictable" path - financially, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
- that Nathan will be able to keep the grades needed to enroll in a doctoral program
- anything else you feel led to pray for...the Holy Spirit's better at this "prayer request" thing than I am
If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
~James 1:5-8
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