How do I sum up what's been going on in our family over the last few months and the emotions that coinside? Nearly impossible, but I will try. When I met Dan he was fresh into his career as an engineer. We began dating and the Lord saw fit for us to fall in love and get married. Dan had been an interim pastor at our church for a couple of years. Two months before we wed, he accepted the role as full time youth pastor. I write that sentence with ease, yet I know Dan was faithful at praying about this huge responsibility that the Lord had laid on his heart for many, many months. He had, and still has, a passion for young people and this was an exciting leap of faith for us. I watched God use Dan as His vessel and it was amazing. God blessed us with three amazing children whom we love so dearly. With this blessing came the challenge of balancing time. Many people can relate I'm sure, but once you have kids, it becomes much more critical. I can say wholeheartedly that Dan did this well. Yes, he had some strange hours. Yes, he went on many trips. But, I have never felt like our children were missing out on having a father. In fact, it was the opposite, I caught myself watching Dan with Jake, Lydia, and Claire and thanking the Lord for such an involved Dad. And our kids got to see their dad in action doing what he does best...building relationships into the lives of teens and challenging them to follow and serve Christ.
Fast forward 11 years later (13 if you count the two interim years, which I do)...
I have never been more proud of my husband in my life than I was two Sundays ago. Not of his accomplishments, not of his years of service, but of his character and integrity. And I know God alone gets full credit and glory because of this! As I watched Dan go up in front of our church family to read his letter of resignation, I knew this was one of the hardest moments he'd face. The next couple of minutes evoked many tears...from him, from me, from many people throughout the congregation. I'd wanted to go up with him and be a support to him. In hindsight, it was a good thing I didn't as I was a blubbering mess. Ok, maybe not blubbering, but I certainly could not hold back my tears. And yet, at the same time, I was so happy. That was my man up there who had followed God's calling in his life years ealier and was now again, doing the same. Change is never easy. My eyes are welling up just writing those words. But when God calls for a change, it is always good. I don't know married life with Dan without him being a youth pastor, but I am excited for our future. Dan believes God is leading him to become a teacher in the public schools. He does not have a teaching degree so he will be going back to school to get his Masters. This will take between one and two years. We don't know what these transistion years will look like, but as Dan stated in his letter to the church, this will give us an opportunity to "trust God in a way we've never had to before."
So while the last couple weeks have been emotional ones with the changes that are occuring, we have complete peace in our God who NEVER CHANGES! If you would, please join us in prayer as Dan begins a job search. I am so thankful to the Lord for Dan. He is a good man...my man!
Jake and Lydia asked to make signs to post outside to show them which way to go (we wanted them to go around to the backyard and come into the house through the back door to avoid the messy kitchen). I said that would be nice...what I did not know was that they insisted on making Grandma and Grandpa close their eyes as they were being led down the stairs from the backyard. Then J & L announced they could open their eyes and here were their reactions.
This picture doesn't show it very well and I forgot to get a picture of the ambiance beforehand. We had the table set for two, candles, white lights, pictures of them on their wedding day, and music playing softly in the background. We also had a makeshift dance floor (4 pieces of leftover Wayne's coating taped together). I could not find our duct tape, so I gave Uncle Matt heavy book tape and he rigged it the night before. It in itself was a memory, as it creaked when you stepped on it, especially near the "seams." 
The menu is hard to see here. I printed off 3 menus. Two for them at their seats, and one that had picture illustrations of the food, created by my sweet Lid, that was taped to the wall. Under each title of food was the description of that food. We served Festival Salad (came with pear, cranberries, Feta cheese...it was supposed to also have caramelized pecans on top, but I forgot to add them last minute, so we ate them plain later), Artisan Garlic Bread (again was supposed to come with dipping oil, but I forgot that as well), Four Cheese Stuffed Shells (Rachel Ray recipe), and the desserts were a choice of a Strawberry Shortcake Parfait or an Oreo Chocolate Delight Parfait. Our guests ended up getting one of each and sharing them. Beverages offered: Water, Iced Tea, and Coffee...Beverages actually available: Water and Coffee (the third thing thing I forgot). I had also had Jake shave some Hershey's chocolate bar for a pretty effect on the Oreo dessert, but did I remember?...no. Still, despite my memory loss on some things (I'll blame it on only being back on my medicine for a little over a week), we got compliments!
Here was our hired help for the night! Actually, this was a gift on their part as well, but they had a blast participating so they didn't mind. Some funny moments from our waiter/waitress: *Jake had tennis shoes on with his polo and khakis. I thought it was so sweet when I discovered he had changed into his black dress shoes (which he despises). He wanted to go the extra mile for his Grandma and Grandpa's special evening. *We tried to hush the kids from talking too loudly, but I'm sure our guests heard some funny things. We also had to discourage our help from being overly helpful. They wanted to keep going downstairs. And even though the menu was already decided, Lydia went down, unbeknownst to me, with pad and pencil to take orders. They also couldn't help but peek during the couple's dance time. *And our kindly guests even tipped J & L, for which they were very happy about. Lydia even gave change back from her tip...bet that's a first! 
