A Lamp unto my feet.....

This is our new blog(Nick and Audra Brown, Audra Writing) and there are many things I could choose to blog about first but I thought I would write a little about where we are in life and what we are doing with what God has given us. 

If you are walking down a path with only a lamp lighting the way, at your feet, what do you see?  Only a step or two in front of you.  That's where are.

Nick and I got married in 2008, right after I graduated from Seminary.  Since I graduated from college in 2005, there have been 2 places in life that I knew I was exactly where God wanted me to be(well between 2005 and 2008).  I knew without a doubt that I was supposed to go to Seminary, more specifically SWBTS.  I caught some flack from some of my college friends for choosing such a conservative seminary(all the changes that came with Paige Patterson started taking shape).   Little did I know my Husband also caught the same stuff from some of his friends in college.  I remember sitting in my little 500 square foot apartment asking God what I was doing, and having such an overwhelming peace that I was in the right place at the right time.  The next time I had a peace like that was when I met and married Nick. 

Nick works at Bell Helicopter, and made enough money to pay completely for Seminary out of pocket(SWBTS also has scholarships through the cooperative program which helped along the way) and I was blessed with parents who were led to help financially at the beginning, savings and a full scholarship through the seminary during my last semester, which is now 100% paid off. 
Nick was only able to take classes part time because of his full time job, so even though we(unknowingly) both started in the fall of 2005, he just graduated in December 2010 while I graduated in May 2008. 
We both earned a Master Degree in Christian Education, his concentration is in Youth Ministry while mine is in Children's Ministry.   Shortly before our engagement(we had always talked about it) we understood that a family with 2 ministers IN THE CHURCH would not be hired at the same church most likely.  I put IN THE CHURCH in bold letters because we are both ministers, either way you look at it.  Well after much prayer and even some tears, we felt that God was leading Nick to minister in the church and I would be ministering outside the church.  Please understand that this decision was in no way me "giving up" any dreams, and that God's hand was and is all over this.  After this decision was made, I had feelings that I was a little surprised at.  I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and an overwhelming peace, the same peace I had about being in Seminary and marrying Nick, that I was in the right place, doing the right thing.   

Well, since we had been married, I have not had a consistent job.  After losing a job shortly after we were married, a horrible experience with and apartment complex, being unemployed for several months, and a surprisingly very temporary job due to the economy, I decided to try my hand at Substitute Teaching mostly until I could find something more consistent.  A month later, I had a "light-bulb" moment while teaching a Kindergarten class in Crowley ISD.  A young boy who I thought was physically unable to sit down and not bounce off the walls(literally) started to understand how to add.  And he was so proud of himself for it, I was proud of him too and let him know repeatedly. I don't know if it had anything to do with anything I did but I like to think it was because I showed patience with him and showed him the attention he was after for doing what I asked instead of the negative attention he was used to.  So I felt led to get into teaching not knowing that there could not be a worse time for that profession in this economy.  I started working with A+ Texas Teachers and that summer completed all my tests and training and all that stood in my way of being a fully certified teacher was getting job.  Yep, Texas teachers requires you to teach for one year on your own as a "probationary year" in place of student teaching.  FYI-If you're looking at teaching, work with a program that does traditional student teaching.  So two years and another district later(long story), I still don't have job.  And now things are different, I have decided to take a "break" from this, due to the economy and due to that fact that our family will be 1 person bigger in September. 

Shorty after Nick graduates we found out that we are expecting our first in September, a baby boy!  We have decided not to reveal the name yet, but I promise it will be known long before the baby comes.  I have been asked if this was a planned pregnancy, which under other circumstances I would think of as an inappropriate question, but it came from people who love us and know where we are in life and want to help.  Yes, it was planned, it was planned as a leap of faith, a way we're telling God we are on board for whatever He has planned for us(and the desire to start a family).  We just didnt think it would happen so fast(2 months after starting to try), especially after we knew there was a very real possibility of having problems or not being able to have kids at all.  And, praise God, we have had a healthy pregnancy so far!
So back to my "profession", I am continuing to Substitute Teach for the remainder of the school year and then start my unpaid position of being a mom.  Thats about as far as I've gotten with my plans, and I think thats where I want to be.  Maybe at some point a job will come along that I love and can work while still caring for my son(MY SON!  I AM GOING TO BE A MOM!), maybe I'll start writing, maybe I will just be a full time mom like my mom was while I was growing up. 

In the meantime Nick is still working at Bell, Praise God he makes enough money to get us by now and we have insurance(although its not great)!  And we're waiting for the next step in life, one step at a time.