That is what Derrick & I have been asking ourselves over the past month. For us, we have decided that love is not unmoving - that's why we are moving to Colorado Springs in February in order for Derrick to go back to school.
Some readers have known Derrick & I forever, some of you may have only met us recently. Some of you may not even know my fantastic husband. Here's a background story of our life to get you up to date:
Derrick & I met when I was 14 & he had just turned 18. I had just started attending the First Church in the Nazarene in Davenport. We quickly became best friends & spent tons of time together. Even when we were dating other people, we always seemed to be drawn back together. In May of 2001, we began officially dating. We got engaged in May 2002. I was junior in high school & Derrick was getting ready to head to Vennard College in the fall to pursue a degree in pastoral ministries. He had felt that God was calling him to go into full time Christian ministry & VC was a great place to go to get an education for that. When Derrick was finishing up that semester at VC, his National Guard unit was called up to head to Afghanistan. Because of a strange accident (God?), Derrick was injured while getting a truck ready to ship out & broke 2 toes. Broken bones equal no deployment, so he was put on "home fort" duty & was able to stay home. It was too late in the semester to head back to school, so Derrick stayed in Davenport & got a job. I finished up my senior year in high school & prepped to head to VC in the fall. We were also planning our wedding for the following year, in May 2004
I headed to VC in August 2003 to get my degree in elementary education. Derrick had not signed up for another semester. When I got there, the admissions officer said that if Derrick was still interested, they would be able to get him in. I called him & he (reluctantly) came to Vennard & took another semester's worth of classes. He decided to not pursue the pastoral ministries degree & instead began taking courses for computer science. He ended up transferring to William Penn University, taking another semester off, going back, and finally finishing his degree. I ended up switching degrees from elementary ed to psychology, but still completed my degree in just over 4 years.
When Derrick & I married in May 2004, we didn't really know what we wanted to do with our lives. We were both finishing up school. I really wanted to be a stay at home mom. We wanted to be foster parents. Derrick wanted to work with computers. We wanted to have a few kids, get a little house, volunteer at the church & work our normal jobs. And that is what we have been doing for the past 7 years. But now, it's time for a change.
That's the background - here's the update to the story:
About a month ago, my best friend Amy approached Derrick one Wednesday night about singing a special at church the following Sunday. He does this on occasion, so he agreed without listening to the song. We had never heard of the song, but we knew of the band. When we got home from church that night & got the boys wrangled into bed, I was off doing some emails (okay, probably checking facebook...) & Derrick was doing some work in the kitchen & was listening to the new song (You Can Have Me) on his phone. All of the sudden I heard a strange sound from the kitchen. When I went to see what was going on, I found Derrick listening to his song & sobbing. Anyone who knows Derrick & I at all knows that I am a crier...Derrick is not.
I hugged him for a long time & he finally said, "I think we need to talk." My paranoia kicked in right away - my first assumption was that he was having/had had an affair. My second was that he had gotten fired & didn't want to tell me. (Cause honestly, ladies, what would you assume if your crying husband said that you needed to talk?) Turns out it was neither of those things.
Derrick told me that he had been feeling God pulling him back towards finishing the degree he had started in 2001. Without me knowing, he had texted our pastor to pray for him about some decisions he needed to make & had been fasting & praying about what to do next. He asked God for a sign that this was really what he was supposed to be doing. After hearing the song, he knew what he was supposed to do. He knew God was reminding him of the call he had put on his life & that it was time to follow through with what God wanted him to do.
I have been asked by a lot of people what I think about all of this. For me, there was really no hesitation. When we got engaged, Derrick was planning on becoming a pastor. That was what I had signed up for. It is scary, but Derrick & I have adopted You Can Have Me as our theme song to encourage us to keep pushing forward through these changes.
As we discussed it some more, we started talking about schools. Should we stay here & Derrick can just go online? Should we move so he can take classes on campus? If we move, where should we go? After talking to our pastor & our good friend Dave, we settled on Nazarene Bible College (NBC) in Colorado Springs, CO. We were very torn about if we should move or stay. Ultimately it came down to me feeling like I could not be involved in the process if Derrick was just attending school online.
Since we have decided to move, we have seen God working in ways we have never imagined. Upon checking out the NBC website, we saw that they were hiring for a PHP Programmer...the exact thing that Derrick does at his current job. They were willing to be flexible about when we come because we have some loose ends to finish up here & because we were looking for housing out there. Housing has also opened up for us at the Windmill Apartments & we are able to move into an apartment on February 7th in the complex that we wanted to be in. It's gated, with a playground & dog park, and it is a 10 minute walk from the college. Our next major hurdle is selling our house in Davenport. Be in prayer that our house will sell quickly - also, if you or anyone you know is looking to buy a cute, small, 2 bedroom house in Davenport, let me know!
We are super excited about starting this next journey in our lives. I am also so proud of my husband for following through with God's plan for his life. I know that it has been a difficult decision, but I know that the benefits far outweigh the downfalls. Please be in prayer for us & our extended family as we go through this transition time. We know that God is going to do BIG things as long as we continue to follow his plans for us!
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