A Change is Gonna Come

"You guys are Crazy" is a phrase Rob and I have heard quite a few times in our young married life. In fact, let's recap:

We got engaged and planned a wedding in 2 1/2 months. Then, moved into a foreclosure house and fixed it up WHILE IN graduate school living on 2 stipends. A short time later, we picked up and moved to Rwanda. We've recently moved back to the US to a place where we knew virtually no one and had a baby. Whew, I know.

Well, we'll soon be provoking that ever familiar refrain again. Rob has left HOPE and is pursuing a position in church ministry. Our dream is ultimately to begin an urban church plant, but in our near future pursue a position that will place us in a church that shares this vision. This new endeavor will most likely lead to another big move (our 4th big move in 3 years of marriage) and brand new everything. Tired?, you may ask- absolutely. Scared?, yeah a little. You have a brand new baby, aren't you WORRIED? - not at all. Through the experience of the new married foreclosure-house-graduate-school mega combo, searching-for-jobs-and-landing-in-Africa tour, and then the move to Lancaster, I’ve ever so slowly and with many set backs begun to learn to let go of my plans; that life is better when you’re not afraid to trust God.

Perhaps it is merely acclimation that I’m able to handle this transition; but I would like to think that it's maturity and peace that Rob has (we all knew it would happen one day) accepted his (hmm, I’ll avoid the weird churchy word "calling") desire, ability, gifting to be in ministry. And crazy as we may be, I like to think that we're really living. Feeling all life's bumps and bruises, joys and trials as we stretch to be the people God made us to be.

So, stay tuned to the blog and I'll post developments. And you never know, perhaps the Hartley family trio will be coming to a city near you soon.