New Beginnings

Steve and I have both undergone fairly major changes in the past ten months or so, and while we still struggle on multiple fronts, the changes have all been good. In September 2014, Steve began a PhD program at Georgetown University, studying Christianity and Islam in the theology department. He has loved this opportunity to stretch his mind and focus on what he really loves. He's reveled in the camaraderie of fellow students, and feels fulfilled in a way he hasn't for a quite a few years. While it's tough as a family to live on his stipend, and to find balance since his study seems never-ending, it is wonderful to have a happy husband & father!

The biggest change for me this year has been joining TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) and working hard at both losing weight and gaining health. I'd never struggled much with my weight until about six years ago, but when I let it go, it got really bad really fast! My obesity has been a source of great sadness and frustration for me these past few years and I was tired of it. While TOPS is not a diet or exercise program, it offers support and accountability through weekly weigh-ins and meetings. This has helped tremendously! For the first time in my life, I've made it a priority to exercise regularly (and I'm up to doing it 6 days/week, usually an hour each time), and I feel stronger and healthier because of it. I now have energy to climb stairs, make a dash if I need to, or chase the kids in a game of tag. And I've coupled the exercise with healthier eating, which has made just as big a difference. I had fallen into the bad habit of self-medicating my sorrow with food, and it's taken a real shift in my thinking, as well as gargantuan self-discipline, to cut way back on my portions in general and desserts/sweets in particular. After six months in the program, I've lost 30 pounds and am 'halfway to goal.' I still have a long way to go, but I feel so much better!

Another new beginning has been joining a house church. Our good friends Jared and Claudia Holsing decided in December to plant a new church, and we joined their home group in January. We've treasured our Friday night meetings with new friends, growing, being encouraged and challenged. Now we're shifting from Fridays to Sundays, and are so thankful for the chance to be part of a missional, incarnational body of believers. It's a church experience unlike any we've ever had before and we look forward to how God will work both in us and the world around us as we pursue life together.

Finally, just a week ago I found out about another beginning. I was notified by the C.S. Lewis Institute here in Washington, D.C. that I was accepted for their 12-month discipleship program, which starts now! I've completed my first reading assignment ("Ordering Your Private World" by Gordon MacDonald) and will go to the orientation meeting this coming Thursday. After that, the commitment is to complete the reading assignments, write monthly reflection papers, meet with a mentor once a month, meet with a small group once a month, and attend Saturday morning class once a month. We'll also go on a retreat and do a service project together. I'm really excited about this opportunity! I think it will be the accountability for my spirit and mind that I've been longing for, similar to the accountability I've found for my body through TOPS.

I hope to write more, especially as I go through this year of readings and reflections. I'd love to share a bit of my journey with you. I'll finish with two quotes from my first reading assignment:

"I want first of all ... to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. ... I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God." ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Gift from the Sea

"There must be a quiet place where all is in order, a place from which comes the energy that overcomes turbulence and is not intimidated by it." ~ Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World

Completing my first 5K! March 2015

Change on the Horizon

 

Steve and the kids by the Capitol, February 2014

This month marks one year of living in our townhouse, and 2 1/2 years of living in the metro Washington, D.C. area. It's hard to believe that we've now been in D.C. longer than we've lived anywhere else since leaving Wheaton, Illinois in 2005. And hopefully we'll be here for the next 4-5 years to come. After that, all bets are off!

Life is about to change quite a bit for us, though, despite the fact that we're feeling increasingly settled in a home we own, and in a city that feels familiar and comfortable. The upcoming change is that Steve will be leaving his editorial job at Georgetown University, and becoming a full-time PhD student there instead. We got word in March that he's been accepted into a funded Theological and Religious Studies program, with a comparative focus on Islam and Christianity, and he's let his workplace know that August 1 will be his last day of full-time employment. Though this is a continuation of the path we've been on for 9 years now -- the journey that took us to Edinburgh, Oxford, and Amman -- he'll still be starting from scratch and unless he receives 'advanced standing' (which he very well might, due to his previous Master's degrees also in Islamic studies), it will be a 5-year commitment. 

Steve is thrilled to pieces about this. He's been increasingly unhappy at work, and simultaneously feeling frustrated that he's not pursuing his true calling. His ultimate goal is to teach at the university level, and for this, he needs the PhD. 

I am less than 'thrilled to pieces' about this new stage in our lives, but I'm definitely proud of Steve for his hard work and perseverance, and thankful for a funded education for him. I know there will be many benefits from it and I'm trying to focus on those instead of all my fears and worries. God has provided so faithfully for us in the past, and in our present. How can I not trust Him for our next steps?

We would love to keep homeschooling our three kids, and think that through my part-time work and Steve's stipend, we'll be able to do that. Finances will be tight, but we're already used to pinching pennies, and our situation won't be too different from what it's been the past couple years. For this, I'm especially grateful!

If you think of us, please pray for peace and unity. Pray that God will use this program to deepen and enlarge Steve's understanding, and that He will give us just the right finances to make it through the next few years of student living. We are glad we have a BIG God!

 

Naomi by the White House, 2 1/2 years ago