true joy.

I have been doing a reading plan since the beginning of this year. Sometimes I struggle with it because I am reading through the more "boring" books of the Bible. I have been reading Isaiah lately, and I am getting so much out of it especially in this particular season of my life. 

I was reading Isaiah 54-58 this morning, and God really encouraged me through it ( I love when that happens).  This morning, the Lord reminded me and gave me a wonderful example of what true joy is. I have known for a while that there is a difference between joy and happiness. Joy is something only the Lord can give; whereas, happiness is usually a result of a circumstance. Isaiah 54:1 says, "Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor." In this verse, God is speaking of Israel (Jerusalem) and he is relating it to a mother without a child. Back in the time of this being childless was shameful. God used this verse this morning to teach me that there is so much to be joyful about then temporary circumstances here on earth. It can be so easy to get jealous of others or to throw a pity party for ourselves when we see others HAPPY in life, but even when we don't have a lot of happiness, we can receive JOY from the Lord which is far greater than happiness and remember that we have something greater awaiting us if we are in Christ: our treasure, Jesus. We can be reminded in this that this is not our home, and our time on earth is so short in comparison to eternity. 

to get you up to date.

the past month.

This past month and a half has been one of the most non-stop season of my entire life. It’s a good thing I like it like that otherwise I would have been nuts by now. After being in a long distance relationship for almost two years, my fiancé came home on June 9 from being in Japan. He’s in the military, so he was stationed there during the whole time we were dating and engaged except for a good three weeks.  We then got married on June 15.  From there we went on our honeymoon in Louisville, KY and Boston, MA which was absolutely beautiful and awesome. If you have never been to Boston, I strongly recommend it. We both loved it there.  We then returned home for about a week and spent that time packing up all of our belongings and spending time with our families and friends before we made the big move to California which is where Mark’s next duty station would be.  Branson, MO was close to a city we would be going through on our way to CA, so we decided to spend some time there with Mark’s parents and my parents before we left. Branson was not our favorite vacation spot, but we all enjoyed the time we had together. It was definitely very hard saying goodbye. We then left from there on July 5 and made a two-day journey to CA which is where we are now. We then spent the remainder of the time living in hotels once in California while Mark checked in. We found out we would be waiting for housing for about a week and a half. While we were waiting for housing, Mark was checking in on base, and I spent most of my days in the hotel. I did laundry one day and visited the grocery stores several times. Finally and thankfully after living out of a suitcase for a month, we have finally settled into our house.

california. 

California is different than I expected it to be. I guess I thought everything would be glamorous and Hollywood-like, but it’s really not. This is just from what I have seen so far which is not much. When we first arrived in Fallbrook which a town right outside the base, I felt like I was in a foreign country. Most of the people that I have talked to here are very friendly which is always nice and helpful.

church.

Although we have only been in California two Sundays, Mark and I have been in search for a church. We tried one a couple of Sundays ago and I wasn't that impressed. The people were friendly, but I just could not imagine going there every Sunday. Plus, there were not a lot of people our age there which I think is important especially when moving to a new town and being newly married (personal opinion of course). So this past Sunday, we tried a church is in San Diego but not in the busy part of the city. WE LOVED IT! We found no negatives about the church. They also have small groups which are held at church member’s homes. One of them will be close to where we will be living which is Oceanside, CA, so we will not have to drive such a long distance to get there. The couple that has it close to us came up to us first thing at church and introduced themselves without either of us knowing who the others were. Come to find out, they too are newly married and around our age. It will be so awesome to be plugged in alongside someone that is in a similar situation (newly married) as us.

jude.
Other new news includes Mark and I getting a puppy.  It’s a six-week old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. I'm so excited about it. We’re naming him Jude which means thanks and praise. It will be nice to have a little buddy to hang out with while I’m at home.

july 13.

This past Friday was my birthday, and it was rough. I was just really sad that day because I've never been alone on my birthday. I also missed my family terribly, and I was dealing with some other issues. But I pulled through. Mark tried to make it what i would like; he took me to get my favorite, sushi, and he gave me some money to go shopping at an awesome outlet! I used a JCrew gift card my mom gave me as a present, and I also used the money Mark gave me and bought some more California-weather type clothes.

house.

On Thursday, July 19, we finally moved into our house on base. This was such a relief because we have been moving around so much. We just really wanted to be settled, but most of all, we wanted to empty our car. It was so full that we were running out of room in the passage seat. I won’t say much about it except that I absolutely love it and think it’s so adorable. I will post another blog with pictures and our ideas for making it our own.