When Tara asked me to write a God Story for her blog my first thought was A story. My WHOLE marriage is a story. From before the wedding to, well, just today, I can see God’s hand just below the current working to mold me into the person that I need to be.

My story feels a bit like the movie UP. At the end of the movie when Carl has finally placed his and Ellie’s house in the location that they had dreamed, Ellie’s scrapbook falls open to the beginning of  “Our Adventures.” The first picture is of their wedding with consecutive pictures mapping out the next 50 years. This is how I see my marriage – as an adventure (Honestly, if I thought of it any other way I would have quit by now).

In this adventure I have seen God choose not a scrapbook, but a tapestry to weave his Golden Thread, connecting each event, each day, each moment to make me into a more complete person and to make my life a more complete life.

The first thread  God chose to work with was in the color of trust. And the story begins…

This adventure starts several days before the wedding. My then fiancé decided to try and off himself before he was married to me. In reality this meant that the master cylinder in his truck went out while he was pulling a trailer. For those less mechanically inclined, his breaks didn’t work when he was going 45 MPH towards a red light. On July 4^th, 2007 I had a plan. The plan was that Patrick was to pick me up, we would pick my sister up at the airport in Dallas, and we would head to Abilene for our wedding. I orchestrated these plans. I trusted in my plans because, well, I made them, so they were perfect.

Instead, we found out that Pep Boys is open on the 4^thof July, and they are able to fix trucks. I also found out that friends are great in times of crisis. My sister was picked up from the airport, and some wonderful friends in Dallas let her hang out at their house and watch a Harry Potter marathon while we waited for the truck to be fixed. God had his plan. I don’t know why we were 5 hours late leaving Tyler, but he knew why. Little did I know that this was just the start…

Over the next 3 months our luggage was left behind as we left for our honeymoon, we were locked out of our house (twice), my new husband did not have a solid job, I was attended school while working 3 jobs and paying for 2 horses, my new husband didn’t have a solid job, we learned that you can’t just live on love and Ramen, Kirby is not a substantial way to make money, and did I mention that my new husband didn’t have a solid job? Apparently, I didn’t learn trust too well the first time around because has God brought this up, A LOT over the course of our marriage.

Then three months later in September 2007, I was talking to a new horseback riding client at the stables where Patrick and I held down part time work. I was starting to teach a riding lesson, and the young lady’s father was interrogating me. The conversation went like this:

Him: What do you do?
Me: I am going to school to get my masters in… (insert boring conversation regarding his wife having a similar degree to what I was working on)
Him: What does your husband do?
Me: Look for work.
Him: What kind of work?
Me: Anything.
Him: Here is my card have him call me.

Patrick started working for this company 2 weeks later, and He still works in  this field today.

Fast forward,almost 5 years to last month, July 2012. I applied for a full time job two weeks ago. It is clear across the state in a town that I don’t really want to live in, but it is a place where my husband can finish his degree. I applied because, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I have an interview for this job on Friday. It will be a big change for me if I get this job. I have jobs that I like here in Tyler. I don’t really want to move, but I felt the need to send in a “God only knows” resume (Read: I sent what I had on hand with no corrections or fluffing saying to myself “If God wants us in Lubbock I guess there is nothing I can do to stop it.”).

However, I feel at peace with whatever will come. I am now better able to trust that God will take care of our finances (my biggest stress) and place us where we need to be to best serve him. Less panic. Less stress. More Peace.  I still plan out life down to minuscule detail, but I am now better at letting God take my plans, throw them away, and weave patterns that I could not have even imagined.

In addition to trust, he has also used the colors of hope, love, faith, patience, perseverance, and humility on our marriage  adventure, but that’s another story for another day.

I will wrap up with a poem that I hope you all enjoy. Have a great week, and I pray that God weaves in your life the patterns and colors that are needed to make you a more complete you.

Tapestry
By: Trey Quaranta
(The Reluctant Monk)

In a field of string and knots
As seen from underneath
No pattern can be caught

Colors flow and clash
There’s no sense that can be seen
Even though you stare and hope
You cannot find the meaning

The virtue now is patience
From the other side, you’ll see
The maker has been gracious
And formed you, a tapestry.
An immaculate creation
No color out of place
Built from Creator’s love
And a perfect loom of grace