Pastor's Wife

I remember telling people that I would never marry a pastor.  I could never be a pastor's wife. They're so much that goes with that title...  I just shutter at the thought.  I was going to marry a Christian, guitar playing, singing guy.  Funny how God works.

Over the past couple of days, I've heard Adam dream about all sorts of different occupations that entice him.  Chaplain in the military?  A police officer?  A doctor? or PA?  I finally asked him the other day, "What's all the talk about these other occupations?  You were called to be a pastor."  Adam says, "I know, it's just not coming fast enough.  I want to be a pastor now."  And that's been an ongoing conversation for us since we've been married.  An ongoing prayer topic.  An ongoing prayer plea.

Last night after Cornerstone (the college aged ministry we (Adam) started), we received a phone call from one of our regular attendees asking us for prayer.  Her grandmother was just rushed to the ER because of bleeding in her brain which ultimately was a brain aneurism.  We decided to meet them at the hospital and just be a support for her and her family.

Last night I saw Adam come along side a scared and hurting family...
I saw him tenderly hold their hands and pray for their beloved grandma...
I saw him walk in confidence to the grandmother's bedside, hold her hand, and pray over her...
I saw him being present in a room filled with questions, faith, tears, nerves, and hope...
I saw him point out God when He seemed distant...
I saw Adam as a pastor last night.

Guess I'm a pastor's wife.  A proud one.

Marriage in High Definition

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Our first one cooking everything, and we (yes, we) defeated the turkey (even after a few frantic phone calls to the in-laws for advice)!  We had over the college ministry for dinner, dessert, and games.  God showed up in amazing conversation and an awesome time of community.

Our conversations consisted of just how blessed we really are.  It's a warmth that sits with me that I can't ignore.  And I'm reminded of it even more so today, 2 days after Thanksgiving, because my husband, my sweet Adam, is so happy.

A little after our wedding day, we created a "wish list" that consisted of different things that we want in the near future...  and we have to save for:  new bedroom furniture, a nice vacuum, a quality set of pots and pans, a good set of knives, and a HD flat screen TV.  Our wish list has had a few things crossed off the list over the past 15 months of marriage and as of Black Friday it has a freshly inked dash across flat screen TV.

I'm the Black Friday fanatic in the family. Adam enjoyed a nice peaceful sleep alone on Thursday night.  I went out at midnight with friends for our yearly tradition of crazy lines, CRAZY people, and crazy sales and fell into bed around 6 in the morning.  Adam and I had been talking for the past couple of weeks about looking at the ads for what the flat screen sales were going to be.  And we knew that Black Friday was going to be the day to cross of flat screen tv off our list.

So I wake up, we find our TV online and in stock, and we go to the store.  And they're sold out in the 12 minute drive it took from our place to the store.  So now what?  Ask if they have any in the back?  No, they don't.  Bummed.

Our conversation turns a little heated for probably 2 reasons: 1 - I'm in my black friday, no sleep coma.  2 - I don't know what the difference between 1080p or 720p is or what the difference between 60 hz or 120 hz - and does it really matter?  (All of the males right now or nodding their heads - yes it makes a difference!)  Do we get a different tv with better stats and made by another company?  Do we pay more for the 120 hz?  Do we get the stats we want but in a 37 inch screen and not a 42 inch?  Oh, the decisions.  I leave it in Adam's hands.  Minutes later, tv on flat bed cart, we walk out of the store proud owners of a new 42 inch HD flat screen tv (120 hz, 1080p - in case you were curious).

Little did I know, this was not the end of it...  now we had to get an HD cable box AND an HD cord for the XBox (for the movies we watch on it, not the games Adam plays - of course!).  So we go to Comcast - get our new HD cable box.  Perfect.  Adam finds an HD xbox cord for dirt cheap on Craigs List and at 10:30 PM meets this guy in the Target parking lot to make the transaction.  Perfect.

And The Martins are officially in HD.

And while Adam is at work today and I can basically see the nose hairs of Alton Brown on "Iron Chef" on our new TV, it dawns on me.  A lot of the advice that Adam has received over our newlywed 15 months is..  Happy Wife = Happy Life.  All he has to do is make sure that I'm happy and to his relief (hopefully!) there will be no nagging wife, right?

But really it's Happy Wife/Happy Husband = Happy Life.  It's cyclical.  The joy I see in Adam provides a joy deep in my heart, even if it baffles me that it's over a TV.  And he probably thinks the same thoughts, when a bouquet of flowers or a unexpected shopping allowance can bring so much joy in my eyes.  The joy just wants to be shared, and out of it - it will be returned in the future.  And the cycle will just continue.

Perhaps not the most profound thoughts for the day...  but I really am looking forward to Adam coming home from work and seeing the smile on his face (yet again) when he sees the new HD flat screen TV and his wife greeting him.

Ryleigh Camdyn

We can add a new title to ourselves...  

Aunt Kristin and Uncle Adam.  

Here's pictures of our new niece, Ryleigh Camdyn, born on August 31, 2010.  

She was 7 1/2 lbs and 18 1/2 inches long.  

She's adorable!

Congratulations Kari and Stephen :)

Called to a...Christian Nation?

'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' - Acts 1:8

This is a pretty familiar passage - especially when it comes to the idea of missions. It's gives us the idea that we should live a holistic, missional life.


So I am at the gas station partaking in the delightful '.$79 Thirst Buster', and, as I am getting ready to leave, I notice that there is a police officer hanging out in the parking lot. For whatever reason, he caught my attention; but, most importantly, he had God's attention. God speaks to me and tells me that I need to pray for that man. I take a minute to stand still and as I begin praying for him God speaks yet again. He tells me that I need to seek him out, find out how I can be praying for him, and then pray for him. I pay for my drink, get in my car, and head toward him.


As I am driving toward him I feel a sense of...peace. Granted, I am usually not shy around strangers, but approaching a police officer is always a different story. I pull up next to him and the challenge began: answering the call to live a holistic, missional life.


He politely tells the person he's on the phone to hold, turns to me and says, 'what can I do for you sir?' I answer back by saying 'Today is the National Day of Prayer (thank you K-Love!) and I was just wondering how I could be praying for you?'


Then there was just...


Silence.


After a few moments of just gazing at one another, he looks at me and says, 'to be honest, I am not really sure. No one has really asked me that before. Umm...I guess...my safety. That I would be safe.'


'Alright' I said. 'Do you have a wife? A family?'


'No. Well, I mean I did, but not anymore.' 


Did you catch that? There's a lot of pain in that statement. Perhaps he was married but went through a divorce. Or maybe he woke up one day and as he rolled over in bed to say good morning his wife was just...gone. To be honest, I didn't ask him to explain. I felt like I didn't need to.


'Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.' - Romans 8:26


The Spirit spoke through him. Not only did the Spirit give me something to pray for, He also spoke gently to my heart. This man cannot remember the last time someone asked how they could be praying for him. That breaks my heart. And, to be honest, I hope it breaks yours as well.


My hope and prayer for this blog is to create a passion deep within all of us to see God's Kingdom come here and now. That God would remind all of us that there are people all around us at work, in our neighborhoods, at our local starbucks, serving us at restaurants, cleaning up after us at events, that have a deep hunger for the things that only God can provide them. 


That we are all called to be missionaries; even to a 'Christian Nation'.


Shalom. Come Lord Jesus. 

birthday traditions

I started a birthday tradition I don't know how many years ago of asking the birthday person some questions.  It's a fun way of celebrating the person and recognizing who they are!  Depending on the age you were turning, you had to come up with so many answers to each question.  Some of the questions being:

1.  What are # fond memories of your life?
2.  What are # things you're looking forward to in the future?
3.  What are # characteristics about yourself that you love?

We've been doing this as a youth staff for a long time, and I do it with my friends and the kids I work with too.  Today (being my birthday), I sat down with the CCC Youth Staff prepared to answer the typical questions.  However, we decided to change things up a little bit and I got to answer 6 questions with 5 answers each.  They were:

1.  What are 5 things/pieces of advice you would pass on to your children about your first year of marriage?
2.  What are 5 ways you want to be a better wife to Adam this year?
3.  What are 5 ways you would spend your time differently this year?
4.  What are 5 fun things you're looking forward to this year?
5.  What are 5 things you're asking God to do? (You have not cuz you ask not)
6.  What are 5 ways you hide?

Wow...  all of them were deep questions but that last one was agony.  What better way to really be vulnerable and search yourself then to ask how you hide your true self at times from those around you.  I could only come up with 2 answers at the time, but I made a commitment to myself to really spend some time coming up with the last 3.

I'd love to hear some of your personal answers to those 6 questions... :)

the story i'm writing

I had to give myself permission to post this because I don't want it to be about boasting, but this is my blog... and I can post what I want, right? :)

I received this e-mail from one of my kiddos, who is definitly not a kiddo anymore but becoming a beautiful woman of God!  Thank you, Ashlee.  This couldn't have come at a better time.  Such an encouragement for an insecure woman and a new wife...


"Hmmmm something in my spirit has prompted me to tell you this and it is confusing because I have told you this several times before but I guess I would just like to remind you that I love you and.....



I am honored, I feel flattered, I am blessed to have had and to still have you in my life. I recently read your blog and I remember every step of your dating and engagement and even marriage with Adam. I am proud to say that I was witness to the faithful work that God did in your life. It is in moments when I feel discouraged about what God will do for my love life and my family that I think about his unending love that he so clearly proved to you. I think about your willingness to struggle to become a stronger woman throughout your dating process and how hard it was to transform yourself. And then I remember how you knew that you had to rely on God. The moral of the story is this...
 
I have never been so inspired by one love story in my entire life. I have never even seen a better gushy chick flick in my entire life and I don't think that there has been anyone who has been a better role model in my entire life. So often you challenge me to be a woman of moral character that upholds the standards that Christ expects of me. So thank you for that. What is wierd to me and probably off putting to you is that you do this without consistent or frequent contact. I look at your picture on facebook and I am reminded of this. (I also remember that I broke up with "the love of my life" at the same time you were falling in love with yours. . Ironic huh?) I think that it is your story that blesses me so. So I guess I would encourage you to remember that you are writing a story with your life and that others are reading in and I am directly affected by you. You are the only woman in my life who walks with God and even though I feel like our season together may be transitioning I am ever blessed by your prescence. (tears are for sure sure fallling at this point... lol. )"
 
It feels like God is saying "well done, good and faithful servant" to me through Ashlee. 
(Sigh of relief) :)

it's scary

Something I ran across in a book I'm reading that brought comfort...

"He (God) knows it's scary to be us."

He does not take lightly the circumstances that we find ourselves in.