And Now You Know the Rest of the Story..... (Part Two)

Tuesday, we left off with our story in the month of March. (If you missed it, you might want to catch up so you’re not lost. You can click here to go to the post.)

March was the hardest month for me. I’ve said it before only a few times, but infertility wrecked my faith. I really didn’t know how to trust God anymore. I knew that I should trust Him. I knew deep down that He was faithful, but the constant disappointment from infertility I was so familiar with the last eighteen months had all but destroyed me. When I got a job offer before Roman did, I was afraid to make a move. In an instance, all of the confidence and peace I had felt about our move had vanished and I was left with all of the tiny questions that had suddenly become mountains in my mind.

What about Roman’s job? Where would we move? Can we afford to move? What about my friends? What about Roman’s job? What about our church? What about Roman’s job?

I hesitantly called the human resource specialist back the next afternoon with my answer: I would take the job, but I couldn’t start until the end of April. I told her that my husband and I would have to move and we would need the time to find a place to live and get to Columbus. Truthfully, I was just trying to push my start date out as far as possible to give Roman’s job offer more time. For the next five weeks, we would wait in intense anticipation.

We went house hunting one last time at the beginning of April. We tried to be as transparent as we could with the landlords we met. We carefully explained that I had a job offer and that he was in the final stages of a job offer. Once he had a job offer we would need to move right away. We selected a house and the landlord told us he would hold it for one week. We fully expected God to “wrap things up” and for Roman to get a job offer that week. We were not comfortable with signing a lease for a house without his job offer.

That week, Roman’s dad had a God-orchestrated encounter with someone who knew the status of Roman’s job. According to this individual, Roman had been selected and they were just waiting on a few things to clear up before he got a job offer. We were greatly encouraged, and I finally decided to officially announce to my boss that we were leaving. Our week went by with no job offer. Not wanting to lose the house, we told the landlord that we would meet with him the next weekend and sign the lease and deliver the security deposit. Surely God would work everything out by then! And oh yea, I had two weeks before I was supposed to start my new job. We started packing our house up out of pure faith.

At first, we were adamant about not signing a lease without a job offer. How in the world could we hand over the entire contents of our savings account and hold ourselves legally liable on a rental contract with no job offer for Roman? There was no way we could afford the higher rent without him having a job! But eventually, we decided that this was just going to have to be a leap of faith. It took all of my energy to stand on what I felt God had been saying all along: move to Columbus. I was so used to disappointments and being angry and doubtful towards God. It was almost as though I could feel those flames of refinement in my heart.  

So that next weekend, we took a deep breath and jumped off the cliff. We signed the lease and handed over a cashier’s check that had emptied our savings account. My job threw me a going away party. Roman put in his notice at his job. We rented a U-Haul, and we moved that week.

The almost month since then has been an emotional and spiritual roller coaster. We took our leap of faith and moved to Columbus. I started my new job, and it has been great. We’ve gone through the month of May with only my paycheck, the going-away gift from our church, and the reimbursed security deposit from our last rental. I’ve spent the last month looking at our budget and looking at our accounts and then looking at God. “We can’t go on like this for another month.” Roman started looking at part-time job announcements in the area, but said none of them felt right. We had been telling every new person we met that he was in the “final stages of a job offer” and would be starting soon, but the truth was that we really weren’t sure. Maybe God wanted us in Columbus, but didn’t want Roman in that job? We tried our best to just trust Him and not doubt…..but it was hard. Really, really hard.

But finally, oh happy day, Roman got his job offer this past Thursday! It took everything in me to not scream when he called me at work to tell me the news. I don’t think I could ever describe to you the feeling of relief I had as soon as he called. To finally have our faith made sight in this part of our journey is an incredible experience.

Truth is, the past six months has been a crazy adventure, but now that this part of the story has ended I can say with confidence that I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Because the last six months has restored a part of me that I thought infertility had stolen forever: my faith in God. I can recall the times I heard God’s voice, and I can look back over the puzzle and see how He was faithful and true to His word. I can see how shallow my doubts were in light of His promises. And I can now look to the future and say with confidence that I will trust the Lord to guide my steps in the way they should go.

This part of our adventure has ended, but the next part is just beginning. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” ~Psalm 40:2

And Now You Know the Rest of the Story..... (Part One)

Almost a month ago, we announced our move to Columbus. I promised you in this post the full story, but I had to wait until we actually knew the full story before I could tell it. As of last Thursday, the final piece of the puzzle finally fell into place, so I can finally tell you guys how this move of ours came about. Yippee!

Right before Thanksgiving 2013, Roman found a job announcement online for a forensic scientist job. (I won’t go into any further details on what the job is, just because I’m slightly leery about posting it for the world to see. So we’ll just say it’s a forensic scientist job, cool? Cool.) For those of you who don’t know, Roman majored in forensic science in college but had so far been unable to find a job in his field. So about three months after graduating college, he took a full-time job selling phones through a Verizon wireless retailer.

Trying to get a job in the forensic science community proved a lot more difficult than what we had expected. Going into marriage, we had a plan: graduate from college, Roman gets a job in his career field, I quit my job and be a stay-at-home mom, we live in Camilla and stay on the ministry team at our church, and everyone lives happily ever after. We graduated college in May of 2012, but nothing else from our plan was falling into place. We just weren’t getting anywhere with the few forensic science jobs that became available in the Camilla area.

So when Roman found the forensic scientist job this past November, we asked ourselves a scary question: What if God doesn’t want us to stay in Camilla? What if He wants us to move somewhere else? We decided that was a possibility but would never know unless he applied, so Roman submitted his application and we started praying really hard.

It was very strange, because the longer we prayed about it, the more at peace we felt about it. By the time Christmas rolled around, we were almost positive that God wanted us to move…which was really odd because Roman hadn’t even heard anything back yet! We even drove up there one Saturday and checked out the area where he would be working and some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Sure enough, Roman got a phone call in January to set up an interview. We were ridiculously excited! This was the closest we had ever come in his career pursuit! I took the day off and we drove up to Columbus the night before. His interview went very well and as soon as I picked him up I blurted out, “We’re moving to Columbus!!” We spent the afternoon looking at houses and I immediately started applying for federal government jobs in the area. Within a few days, a job came up and I felt God telling me to apply.

February came with lots of great news: Roman had made it into the next stage of the hiring process. It was him and two other individuals, and he was now required to do the extensive background investigation and a polygraph. In addition, I was selected for an interview for the job that I had applied for the month before. I was nervous, but I felt God telling me that the job was already mine, so there was a lot of peace at the same time.

Up until February we were feeling nothing but excitement and confidence. As we explained to some of our family and friends: if this couple who always said they were never leaving Camilla are at peace with moving to Columbus, then that peace is only coming from God. We were really excited about the future and what God was doing. In the back of our minds, all the questions about the tiny details were still there…but they were small in comparison. Our feelings were mixed with nervousness, peace and excitement, but mostly peace and excitement. March changed all of that……

In early March, I got a tentative job offer. At first I was beyond excited, but reality quickly set in. Roman had not heard anything yet about his job. What do we do? I strongly felt like this was God saying that we were meant to move to Columbus even though Roman hadn’t heard anything yet, but I really did not want to be wrong and accept a job offer that I wasn’t supposed to take. I stalled as long as possible on my paperwork that I had to fill out before a firm job offer could be made. Then I stalled as long as possible on getting my background investigation and fingerprinting complete. But even after all that stalling, I got a phone call immediately after my fingerprints were taken with a firm job offer. I told the human resource specialist that I would need to talk to my husband and I’d call her back in the morning. Roman immediately called the human resource specialist and asked for a status on his job….they had none to offer him.

Our time of intense anxiety had begun.

 

Come back Thursday to hear the rest of the story!

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” ~Jeremiah 29:11

Trust in God!

Over the weekend, Roman and I went with my parents to the movie theater to see Son of God. We have already watched “The Bible” series on TV, and much of the Son of God came from that series, but we wanted to show our support to the creators of the film and watch something wholesome (for a change) as well. The movie was excellent, as I knew it would be. And I cried just as hard as I knew I would.

One thing that struck me in the movie, as well as the Bible series itself, was how many times the phrase “trust in God” was repeated. Throughout the Bible series, it seemed like every major character in every episode repeated the phrase at least once. And I know that I heard the phrase repeated at least twice in Son of God.

Trust in God.

Why is that so hard sometimes? It feels like I wrestle almost every day with trust. It was so easy for me to watch the movie and repeat over and over in my heart “Lord, I trust You.” But it wasn’t long after I left the theater that those feelings of love and trust slowly started to fade. It is SO difficult for me to keep those thoughts of fear and doubt at bay and place my full trust in Christ. I feel like I have walked around this mountain for ages…taking three steps forward and two steps backward, barely making any progress at all.

Currently, Roman and I are facing a major life event…and even as I write this post, my heart is filled with doubt, fear and anxiety. God has done so many things and spoken so many times to us, showing us the way we should go. And yet, we are still here. Still not knowing what the whole pictures looks like. Still stressing about the pieces of the puzzle that we can’t see right now. This is part of being in the flesh. This is part of having an earthly point of view, and not an eternal point of view. It is also part of having an enemy that loves to tear apart what God is doing in our lives. This is the faith walk. Where doubt and fear collide with faith and trust and you have to make a conscious decision: faith or fear?

What’s the best way to renew your hope and trust in God? Scripture. When Jesus Himself was tempted by the enemy, He combatted him with God’s Word. If Jesus needed the Word of God to combat temptation, how much more so do I need it? The only peace and rest that we will ever have on this side of eternity will always come from the Lord and His Word. So for today, these are the Scriptures that I am doing my best to meditate on:

“But for You, O Lord, do I wait; it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer.” ~Psalm 38:15

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.” ~Psalm 39:7

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!” ~Psalm 40:1-4

“As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!” ~Psalm 40:17

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” ~Psalm 42:1-5

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord if your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” ~Psalm 121

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” ~John 20:29

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” ~Matthew 6:25-34

In review of my life, I truly believe that this is the biggest “faith test” I have ever had to endure. I know that this temporary trial is nothing more than a path I must walk in order to strengthen my faith and trust in Christ. I know how important it is that I become victorious over my trust issues with God. And so today, I am keeping my thoughts captive on these verses and not allowing the enemy to destroy the new work that God is doing in my life.

I WILL trust in God!!

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

A Servant's Heart

Over the last three weeks I have been really sick two times. The first time was a sinus infection that lasted for ten days. It took me a week from the time I came down with it to feel like I was not going to die….that was a rough one. The second time was a three-day long stomach bug. Yay for me. Needless to say, the last three weeks have not treated me very well and things have not been great in the Casterline house (because Roman had the sinus infection for a week before I had it, so there’s that too.)

But you guys, I scored the jackpot when I married this man of mine. One thing that I can say he does extremely well is taking care of his wife, especially when she is glued to the recliner claiming that she is going to die within the next five minutes. Ahem.

Through all of the bowls of chicken noodle soup and sweet tea refills, he was right there….patiently doing everything he could to make sure I was taken care of. He cooked, he cleaned up the kitchen, he took care of all the animals. Seriously, if you took a glance at my house right now you’d never know that I’m three weeks behind in vacuuming and my bathroom mirrors should also probably get cleaned, because Mr. Husband did a pretty dang good job holding down the fort.  

All of this got me thinking last night, because I know that not every wife has it this good.

We had an evangelist come to our church a couple weeks ago for revival. He was awesome, and we really enjoyed getting to eat dinner with him after service a few times and learning more about him. He would randomly throw out questions like “do you hate your job” and “how long have you been married” as we talked and joked. One time, he asked “so does Roman help with the housework?” to which I enthusiastically replied “yes!” He looked a little surprised at my answer, so I continued. “No really, he really does. I never have to beg him to help out around the house. If I ask him for help, he helps. And a lot of times I don’t even have to ask.”

My point in all of this is twofold:

1)      Roman seriously deserves some credit. This husband of mine is living, breathing proof that men are not who the media says they are. Not all men are lazy and inconsiderate. There are men out there who actually have a servant’s heart. Men who are willing to be there for their wives and share some of the load when it comes to housekeeping. I happened to snag a really good one, and I like telling you about it-not because I’m prideful-but because sometimes it’s nice for us to brag on our guys in front of other people. And I could brag for a long time on Mr. Casterline.

2)     To challenge you.

If you are a man: I challenge you to step up to the plate (if you aren’t already.) We women do a lot. Many of us work. And then we come home and cook. And take care of kids. And do the laundry. And you get the point. Yes, I know that you guys work too, and this is not to discount everything that you do. But this is not a contest to see who works more and therefore who deserves to sit on the couch while the other person plays house. Marriage is a partnership, and both partners should be striving to make the home run smoothly. So my challenge is for you to survey your household. Does your wife seem overburdened with work/kids/house? Is there something you can do to help out? Perhaps you can volunteer to do the dishes while she cleans up from dinner. Or you maybe you can help Junior out with his math homework so she can fold some of the laundry. And don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking, and I’m about to address that.

If you are a woman: let him help you. We can be control freaks sometimes. And yes, I’m speaking to myself here. We desperately want him to help us, but we want him to do it our way. So we’ll nag him when he does it wrong instead of thanking him, or we won’t even let him help in the first place. Listen, it doesn’t matter if he sweeps the floor differently than you. He’s getting the fur balls out of the corner! Trust me I KNOW we like things to be done a certain way. I have 100% gotten in an all-out brawl with Roman over how the towels needed to be folded. If I clean our house all by myself on a Saturday, it will look awesome. It will also take me six hours and I’ll be a zombie by the time I get done. If I let Roman help me, the house will still look awesome even though he does things a little bit differently, it takes less than half the time, and we still have the time/energy to do something fun on Saturday evenings.  

And one more thing, to all of my unmarried readers……

Learn to take on that servant’s attitude before you ever get married. Know that when you do get married, it will take the two of you working together to have a happy, efficient home. Look for that same servant’s attitude when you are searching for your spouse. It’s easy to spot….a servant’s attitude will cause you to be the first to start helping clean up the kitchen at church after a potluck dinner. Or help the lady with two buggies of groceries get to her car. Or volunteer at church to clean the bathrooms. You get my point.

Believe me, life is so much easier when you have a husband that serves you soup while you’re sick. And those fur balls accumulate pretty quickly when you’re doing everything on your own. Just sayin’.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.” ~1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Smorgasbord

Is it just me, or is “smorgasbord” a ridiculously strange word?

February is zooming by, but here are some cool things I’ve been reading online that I thought was worth a second mention (some of them have already been posted to my personal Facebook page.)

I have quite a few friends that are getting ready to get married. I’ve talked a lot on here about how beautiful yet difficult marriage can be, but this article said some things that I haven’t necessarily said, yet are totally true. I really love her perspective, and whole-heartedly agree with the statements she made at the beginning. It’s definitely worth a read!

I am vehemently against abortion. That’s one of those topics that really strikes a nerve with me. (Quick note: If you have ever had an abortion, you can be forgiven. This is not meant to make you feel ashamed.) Matt Walsh is an amazing blogger that writes fifty times better than me, so I really (really) loved his article, “‘Pro-choicers’: Here’s why you cannot support abortion while opposing puppy murder.” I’ve often wondered myself how people can so aggressively support abortion, while also being vegetarian or petition for whales and stuff like that. Makes. No. Sense.

Something that will always be big on my heart is missions. Going on my mission trip to Peru when I was fifteen rocked my world and forever impacted the way I see poverty. But sometimes, we forget that poverty is right at our back door as well. Kristen’s article, “The Two Questions Every North American Christian Must Ask Themselves” reminded me once again that you do not have to search far to find people that desperately need us to be the hands and feet of Christ.

On a much less serious note, this spoof had me laughing for a really long time. Roman read the first paragraph and said he couldn’t take it anymore, but I read the whole thing and almost died laughing. What was so funny was me and my co-worker were just talking about how it seemed like no one had any writing skills anymore…..even the big-wigs that get paid the big bucks. (Note: not talking about any of my bosses, just America in general.) Right after she left for the day, I stumbled across this article. Perfect timing! And now I'm re-reading this post so that I'm not hypocritical with numerous grammar mistakes.  ;) 

I’ve mentioned a few things that I’m scared of, but I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned the one animal that truly terrifies me. As in, don’t even make me walk close to the enclosure at the zoo because I'm so scared. And that animal would be the crocodile. Something about an animal that hides really well in the water, has enough power to snap your body in two, and likes to finish killing its prey by dragging it under the water and drowning it just gives me the creeps. I seriously have a plan of action on how to get away from one if I ever see it: run as fast as I can until I can get to a tree and then jump in the tree and hide there forever while cry-screaming hysterically. And then I read this article today on Fox News, “Crocodiles are able to Climb Trees, Study Says.”

This is the worst news ever. Now, anytime I’m near a body of water I’m going to have to look up to make sure a crocodile isn’t chilling out on a tree limb waiting to jump down like a ninja and take my arms off. #worstfear

And just a nice reminder to all my dude-readers: Hey guys, Valentine’s day is tomorrow. Be sweet to your ladies, m’kay? Don’t forget!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:4-7

This is the Stuff of Romance

Last night I realized that I have known you for eight years. Eight years! Right around this time, eight years ago, a mutual friend of ours sent you my phone number. You had come to our fall festival, interested in another girl. But she didn’t want anything to do with you. However, upon further consideration, you realized there was a much prettier and fantastic girl in the room (a.k.a. ME) *ahem* and not all hope was lost. Then you promptly chased me through the fellowship hall with a fly swatter. Love at first sight, I tell you. This is the stuff of romance.

My friend asked me after you left if I wanted her to text you my home phone number. I said no. She did it anyways and didn’t tell me. You called me later that night and asked me if I liked you. I was too embarrassed to answer, but I finally agreed to give you my answer and then hang up the phone. “YES” *click* You called right back laughing because you didn’t think I’d really hang up. This is the stuff of romance.

My dad asked me that night who I was talking to. “Don’t worry, Dad. It’s just some guy I met at church. I’m sure he’ll get bored with me after a month or so.” This is the stuff of romance.

About two months later, we were at the same mutual friend’s house for a New Year’s Eve bonfire. It was just me and you standing in front of the fire for a few minutes….everyone else had gone inside to get something to drink. Your Aunt called, and you told her that you were at a bonfire with your girlfriend. I pretended not to notice that you called me your girlfriend. After you hung up, you looked at me and said “It is alright that I call you my girlfriend, right?” I giggled and said yes. When you left to go home that night, you kissed me on the forehead and I think I may have almost passed out from the butterflies. This is the stuff of romance.

Within a few months of dating you, I knew I wanted to marry you. I was so certain that I even put it into my tenth grade English essay...which you know, definitely makes it a sure thing. “I hope I get to marry him, but if I don’t, then we will definitely stay best friends for the rest of our lives.” Luckily, I got the best of both worlds and married my best friend. I also made a 100 on my essay. This is the stuff of romance.

We’ve known each other for eight years. We’ve been together for seven of those eight years. We pulled all-nighters talking on the phone. I got in SOOOO much trouble when I finally got a cell phone and my parents saw just how many minutes I spent in one month talking to you. We broke up at six months for *gasp* one day. Then we broke up for *gasp* one day a month after that. We argued. We had the typical drama that only happens when you have two sixteen year olds “dating”. My parents didn’t let you drive me ANYWHERE until Homecoming. We thought we were so cool when we hopped into your mom’s truck and drove off. This is the stuff of romance.

Senior year was rough. We had a major fight. We broke up for ten months. We both entered into unhealthy relationships. I’ve spent much of my adulthood trying my best to forget everything that happened my senior year. But I can say one good thing came out of it: that first time you hugged me after I managed to get free of my ex-boyfriend was the best. thing. ever. I was quite damaged. We got back together. Then I left you for two months because I couldn’t figure out what was up and what was down. God did a major re-work in my heart, and I figured out that you truly were THE one for me. I never knew just how much I loved and appreciated you until I had lost you. We’ve been together ever since. This is the stuff of romance.

We got married when everyone else said we were too young. My own best friend later admitted that she thought it was a terrible idea. But our wedding day was the best day of my entire life, because I pledged to be yours for the rest of forever. We took two weeks for our honeymoon, and everyone laughed at us because apparently that was the longest honeymoon in the history of ever. But I don't care what they say, those two weeks hold some of the best memories for me. We came home flat broke, living in that crazy-awful trailer. I still have nightmares about the hot water running out after ten minutes, the ugly wallpaper, and that terrible time I had with the roaches. We struggled our way through college, through jobs we didn’t like, through three months of summer with no air conditioning (hell, I tell you), through ministry and through complete exhaustion. We adopted a cat. Then another cat. Then a puppy. The puppy was against our parents’ wishes because they thought we would get tired of him and try to bum him off on them. HA! Yea right, that puppy quickly became our fur-child…..who still tries to sleep in between us every night and has a fit when you try to hug or kiss me. This is the stuff of romance.

We’ve made plenty of mistakes. Fought plenty of unnecessary fights. We’ve battled through fourteen months of infertility. It has been the most heartbreaking time of our lives, and it still isn’t over yet. We’ve endured all of the medicines, doctor appointments, negative pregnancy tests, tears, and doubts. We’ve questioned everything that we thought God had planned for us. It has been a test of both our faith and our marriage, but so far we are walking through the fire and I know that eventually we will see the good in all of this. This is what we do. We relish the great times, and fight through the hard times. We cling to our Father when the road gets rocky and praise Him when the path is smooth. We stay faithful to Him and we stay faithful to each other. Because that is the stuff of romance.

Our story is not perfect, but it’s ours. And I’m thankful for the life I’ve lived with you. We are in that in-between stage right now. We haven’t had our first child yet. We’re still unsure about what we want to be when we grow-up. We still act more like teenagers than anything. Eight years ago seems like such a long time, but it really isn’t. But I’ve had the best time knowing you these past eight years. I’ve enjoyed learning about you and falling in love with who you are. You are strong, funny, smart, incredibly handsome, and a hard worker. And one day (hopefully soon) you’ll make an amazing dad. You are a man of great faith and dedication to His kingdom, and that is why I love you most. I still can’t believe I get to wake up next to you every morning….but I really wish you weren’t such a cover thief. This is the stuff of romance.

Trials will come. The road will not always be easy. We still have plenty of unnecessary arguments in our future. We are still battling infertility. But despite all of that, I will always love you. You are my best friend. You are my better half. You are my husband. You are wonderful. I love being your wife and being able to see you grow into such an amazing man of God. America and Hollywood, take note: this is the stuff of romance. It isn’t sleeping around. It isn’t divorce. It isn’t having an affair. It’s following God’s plan for a family: marriage. It’s unconditional love. It’s sticking with that person no matter what comes your way. It’s the joining of souls into one flesh. That is the stuff of romance.       

To my best friend: Happy Eight Years of Knowing Me. I am certainly glad to have met you eight years ago. And I look forward to the many years of knowing you in our future.

“And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”  ~Mark 10:8

Bundle of the Week

Happy Monday! Today, I’d like to share some exciting news:

I’m really excited to partner with The Bundle of the Week! Here’s how it works: every week they sell a bundle of five eBooks for only $7.40 (that’s 65% off!) The sale goes up on Monday at 8 a.m. and closes the following Monday at 8 a.m. This is a Christian-based organization, so you won’t ever find anything gross or inappropriate in the bundle. However, the topics from week to week vary from marriage to organic living to organization tips. As of this week, I am an affiliate with this company which means I earn a small percentage if you use the links on my blog to purchase something from their store. From time to time I’ll do a post detailing the Bundle of the Week, but if I don’t do a post one Monday, you can still click on their image I have in the sidebar to find out what this week’s bundle is. As an affiliate, in order for me to receive credit for the sale, you have to use one of the links posted on this blog. I have the links to this week’s bundle in this post. I also have links in the left sidebar that will link to the current week’s bundle. I love this company, and I have used them to purchase bundles before. They feature some really great authors with helpful information (I recently purchased one that covered blogging!), so I’m really excited to help spread the word about this great resource.



This week’s bundle is for the married folks, with 5 eBooks to spice up your love life. Everything from rekindling romance to being the best spouse you can be is included in these five books. I understand how easy it is to get busy and put your marriage on the backburner while you handle “everything else”, but we do not need to do this! Rediscover that spark and prioritize romance this week. ;)  Since I often post about marriage on this blog, I thought this week’s bundle was a great one to feature. Click here to get your bundle!

Here are the five books, along with a short description:

“The Wife Life” by Marla Taviano: Is married life a little different than you thought it would be–or maybe a lot different? Do you wonder if something is wrong, if other people feel the same way about their marriages? Are you sometimes intimidated by wives who seem to have it all together? Marla has been there, and she knows what it’s like to adjust from unrealistic expectations to real life. In The Wife Life she offers hope and encouragement — with her trademark humor and the sensitivity of someone who’s been in your shoes.

“31 Days to Great Sex” by Sheila Wray Gregoire: In 31 Days to Great Sex, Sheila takes you step by step through the process of building a fun and intimate sex life. It doesn’t only focus on the mechanics of sex — though there are certainly exercises that will give you tons of fireworks — but also focuses on building friendship, experiencing real intimacy, and learning to have fun again.

“Rekindling Romance Kit” by Jason & Jami Balmet: Romance is a big part of marriage, and can be a very enjoyable part at that. But without care it can wither and perhaps even die, relegated to anniversaries and Hallmark holidays. In Rekindling Romance, Jason and Jamie have created the perfect romance kit, with 7 inexpensive date ideas and more than 30 pages of printables to help you reignite the spark!

“The Irresistible Husband” by Jason Gratehouse: The Irresistible Husband was written to help every husband live up to his potential to be irresistible to his wife. This book is simple, practical and easy-to-read, and the principles within will help you have the marriage that you and your wife have always dreamed of. If your marriage has reached a plateau, or is even in a state of decline, this book could be the spark to rekindle the flame.

“Christian Woman’s Guide to Romance on a Budget” by Rhonda White: Is your marriage in a rut? Take action with these fun date ideas that won’t break the bank. This is a quick, Christian-based ebook that includes Scripture from God’s Word for your marriage plus tips for a healthy relationship and 33 date ideas to help you rediscover the romance!

Remember, you can only get this bundle for the discounted price of $7.40 through 8 a.m. Monday next week, so order yours today!

"The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong." ~Psalm 37:30

New Blog Announcement!

Holy moly. The past two days have been insane!

So……if you haven’t heard already……the new blog is up! I announced it on Facebook Tuesday night and sent out a bunch of invitations to some of my friends for them to go like the new Facebook page and check out my first post, but the blog was not actually “ready” until yesterday evening because I was still playing with internet code and all that wonderful stuff.

I actually didn’t mean to launch the site for public view until I actually finished playing with code (so sorry if you’ve visited a few times and have seen fifty different versions of the same site), but then a few things happened:

1.       I realized there was no way I could see how the website looked on multiple computers unless I went ahead and published it.

2.      I already had a post written and ready to go.

3.      I accidentally hit “launch” and published it before it was ready. Oops.

I must say, that was probably one of the most complicated things I’ve ever done. I am no technological expert (see #3 above), so learning how to write Internet code in order to fix certain aspects of the new site was like learning how to read Chinese. Only except the Chinese use actual WORDS when they speak and not symbols like { > : {   ….that kind of looks like a frowny face. Totally unintentional.

Anyways, the new blog is called Faith, Marriage & Family. The main goal of the blog is to encourage women in all the major aspects of life: our walk with the Lord, our marriages, and our families. Not married? That’s totally cool. I’ll be talking just as much about living a godly life as I will about marriage. Don’t have kids? That’s cool too, because I don’t either (yet). So until I do I’ll just cover topics like what to do when you have a “trouble-maker” in the family, or should you lend family money or what to do when you have bad in-laws (note: my in-laws are awesome!). Not a woman? That’s still cool. Feel free to check it out because I’m sure many of my posts will be helpful to you guys as well. And if not, you can still hang out here. Life with the Casterlines is not going anywhere.  :)

Like I mentioned before in this post, I plan to post here three times a week in addition to running the new blog. It’s just that this new blog will share a lot less personal details (such as my last name in the title) and will be a little more focused. You still get to enjoy my ADD here though. Congratulations.  O.o

Seriously, thank you to everyone who has already supported me. The response to the new blog announcement was amazing and very encouraging. So many of you have encouraged me over the past year and two months as I’ve started writing and it means so much to me. I love you guys!

So, without further ado, please check out the new blog by clicking here. And if you haven’t already, click on over to Facebook and like the new page by clicking here.  :)  :)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!" ~2 Corinthians 5:17

23 Things I Love About My Husband

Two days ago, we celebrated Roman’s 23^rd birthday. Wahoo!! There were brownies, steaks, and a huge ice cream cake. (Note: I ate some of everything and it was glorious. Which means this week I get to work extra-hard at the gym!) So in honor of my awesome husband, I thought I would dedicate this post to him, with 23 Things I Love About My Husband:

1.       He has a servant’s heart, always willing to help others around him

2.      He loves Jesus and seeks after Him

3.      He is a hard worker in everything he does

4.      He is honest and loyal

5.      He is a faithful husband

6.      He is an amazing drummer—I love hearing him play!

7.      He looks after me and defends me when necessary

8.      He does not gossip about others or tear others down

9.      I may be a bit biased, but I’m married to one sexy man!!

10.   He’s great with kids

11.    He successfully grew a garden this year, saving us lots of money on veggies!

12.   He takes good care of himself and strives to make healthy choices

13.   He is an optimist….a great balance to my pessimist way of thinking

14.   He knows how to cook!

15.   He can make me laugh no matter how bad a day I’ve had

16.   He supports me in everything that I do

17.   He is extremely intelligent

18.   He mows the grass. (Yes and amen)

19.   He’s always willing to help me out around the house

20.  He loves me for me and says I’m beautiful

21.   He can fix my phone. And my laptop. And the TV. He’s a good fixer-upper-of-stuff

22.  He puts up with my OCD ways  ;)

23.  He’s my husband!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. I’m so proud of you, Roman, and the man that you have become. I can’t wait to spend many more birthdays with you as we walk through life’s journey together. I love you!!!

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;"  ~Psalm 1:1

Three Years!!!!

You probably noticed that I decided to take an impromptu week off. I guess the start of summer put me in lazy mode-but that's okay because I'm back all refreshed and full of ideas and all that great stuff. But besides all of that, today is a very special day. Why? Because today marks me and Roman's third year of marriage.

Holy moly. We have been married three years!! It's crazy to think that a little over three years ago we were taking our engagement pictures......

....And then all of a sudden our big day had arrived!

"First Look" at our private reveal. 

It was a whirlwind of a day, but it was the best day of my life.

Dancing with Dad

Including our three years of marriage, we've been together for around seven years. We got together in tenth grade at the ripe young age of fifteen years old. Out of pure respect for your eyeballs, I will not post a picture of us in our early dating days. You're welcome. But I will post these:

On the escalator leaving a Brave's game

Senior pictures

We've grown from being silly and in love to being even more silly and even more in love. 

Cruise: 2013

So, fun wedding story: my parents paid for our first night of our honeymoon. We were so exhausted from all of the prior day wedding festivities (no hidden meanings there), that we way overslept our alarm the next morning. We wake up at ten-ish and are just kind of sitting around the room. At about 11:00 I decide that maybe we could go swimming before we check out, but then we think "hey. we should see what time check-out is." Check-out was at 10:00.  Um. Uh oh!! The only thing I could think about was my Dad getting charged for an extra day because we missed our check-out time. We throw all of our belongings into the luggage, I splash some water on my face, and we run out of there real quick-like. No shower. No fixing of my hair. No make-up. Which resulted in me looking like this:

HI! My name is Sarah and I just got married yesterday,
so I do not care what you think about me right now.

To rescue myself, here we are the next day.....after waking up on time and showering and actually making ourselves look like we could venture into the public. Haha.

And here we are again....still looking all presentable. Yay for us!!

But seriously. After three years of marriage, I can be 100% honest when I say that I am the luckiest woman on the planet to be married to this man. I thank God that He has blessed us so abundantly in our first three years of married life, and I can't wait to see what else He has in store for us. 

"And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh."  ~Mark 10:8

Opposites Attract

The saying that opposite people attract may have something to it. One thing I’ve noticed over our (almost) three years of marriage is that Roman and I think quite differently. And not just in a “he thinks like a man and I think like a woman” kind of way. I mean more along the lines of “is the glass half empty or half full” kind of way.

Roman is an optimist. I am a pessimist.

Example: There is a forecast for thunderstorms and possible severe weather tonight (hypothetically speaking, not really). I assume that we need to be ready to lock ourselves in the closet because we might get a tornado. Roman assumes that he’s going to sleep awesome tonight because it’ll be rainy/stormy outside.

Example: Duke has a bump on his back that we have to get removed tomorrow (for real). I am secretly freaking out because it could be cancer. Roman is not freaking out because he just thinks it’s an old sore that the dog wouldn’t leave alone.

Roman naturally sees the good side of everything and hopes for the best. I do not. Well, I hope for the best, but I assume the best is not going to happen.

I have been at war with my own hormones over the past nine months, and it’s been quite the struggle. (I may or may not go into deeper details at a later date, but for now, I’m going to leave it at that.) The other day in the car I was lamenting to Roman just how tired of it I was and how I felt like I was going to be taking all these medicines for the rest of my liiiiiiiffffeee. I went through all of my frustrations and aggravations and then I waited for him to agree with all of my concerns. But he didn’t. He sat there for a few seconds and then he basically said that he understood and he was slightly frustrated as well, but he wasn’t worried like I was. He said he knows it will all work out in the end.

God bless the optimistic people in this world.

This is one of those examples of how your spouse can make you into a better person if you let them. Because my husband takes my pessimistic thought process and shows me how to think more positively probably at least once a week. Sometimes it is annoying, I’ll admit. But sometimes, it helps me to calm down and see the other side of the picture that my narrow thinking can’t see. And I can tell you this: it’s a much prettier picture from his point of view.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  ~Matthew 6:34 

Caution: Husband in Training

I’m travelling a little bit today, so this post will be super short. I hope you all have a great weekend! :)

My Pastor’s wife once gave me some great advice: “If you can just try to not kill your husband until he turns 30, then I promise you things will get a lot better.” I think that is excellent advice, personally.

I must admit, I married a good one. He is romantic and kind and I rarely have any problems when it comes to helping out on housework and things like that. But you know, just as I am not perfect, he is not perfect, and sometimes I just have to smile and remind myself that if I can hold off on killing him until he reaches thirty, then we should be in pretty good shape, ya know??  ;)

I was reminded of this on Wednesday evening, when I realized that there were a couple of small holes developing around the pockets of my favorite jeans. Now, please understand this: the clothes I buy are generally cheap. I found this pair of jeans at the mall, they were an off-brand and they were on clearance, but they fit AMAZING. So I bought three pairs of them, two in a dark wash and one in a lighter wash, because all women know that good jeans are hard to find. For some reason, the lighter wash fits better than the two dark wash pairs, so I wear that pair A LOT. Like as in, at least two times a week. And I go horse-back riding in them. I even painted in them. I tell you this so that you will understand: I wear this pair of jeans a whole lot and even though I haven’t had them a year yet, I’ve already had Roman patch a hole in the back pocket area once. So when I noticed that there were a couple of small holes developing close to where Roman patched the first hole, I casually turned to him and said something like this: I need you to patch up a couple more holes in these jeans. I’ve got a few more holes developing close to that patch. And that is when I realized that he is still in training.

“Your butt must be getting bigger.”

……..thank you, Roman. Please hold while I go grab a steak knife. Must. Wait. Until. He’s. Thirty.

Men across America: never tell your wife her butt is getting bigger. Also, never follow up that statement by trying to explain yourself: “I mean, it’s getting rounder and more plump. I like it.” Because that also is not wise. I’m just trying to help y’all out here.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” ~Ephesians 5:25