Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Did I marry Rudy?

Did I marry Rudy? If you have never seen this film, then you will be completely lost. Rudy was a true story about a young guy who lived in a blue collar town that dreamed about being part of the Notre Dame Football team. After the tragic death of his friend, he felt more motivated to go out to Notre Dame. He later reaches out to a Priest who signs him up for a community College and makes a promise if he gets good grades to enroll him at Notre Dame. You then see a hardworking man who does anything to reach his goal. Well, obviously his dream does come true, but it wasn’t easy. Now, how do I parallel this to my husband? Well, hopefully you can see the connection in this post.

Many people who know my husband know he doesn't like to reveal too much except for the following subjects: politics, theology, books, seminary, history, music, martial arts, cigars, beer & liquor, video games, metal shows, guns, and how awesome his wife and son are. If you fail to engage in any of these subject discussions, then you will only get a quiet boring man. I remember meeting my husband for the very first time and instantly thought he was a hottie. He wore nasty old Chuck Taylor’s, rugged independent hat that hid his much needed hair cut, blue button up shirt that wasn't ironed, and nasty ripped jeans. I didn’t know at our first “meet” (still don’t consider that our first date) that I would marry such a passionate man.

As many of my close friends know, John was my witness. Our dates involved the Bible and catechism. We know how to have a good time…sorry you envy us for such awesome dates! [insert sarcasm] He didn’t know right away that he wanted to get into the ministry, but once he did after we married in 2006 he started to look for schools that were affordable and somewhat decent to finish up his B.A. He has been attending Washington Bible College and has less than 9 months away from graduating in Biblical Studies. The next step in this process is finding the right seminary to attend that will teach sound reformed doctrine and hopefully at the right price. We are drawn to Westminster Theological Seminary in CA, but the cost of living in the San Diego area is crazy expensive. My husband reminds me that he has choices, but he constantly falls back to Westminster CA. Either way, we are looking into ditching the DC area and possibly the East Coast entirely. We have never moved far from our family and friends, so the pressure is on! Many of our family and friends do not understand why we have to move, but then again they view any school is good. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case when it comes to the ministry. You don’t want to attend a school where you feel like the minority with your theological views. It’s best to attend a school where you love the staff and professors and their teaching. The goal is to move the entire family out there in hopes we don’t survive off of ramon noodles alone. We do hope to have tons of support from churches and family. Something we have been praying about.

 I can’t help but feel more gratitude each and everyday, as God works in my husband’s life and the rest of our family. I can only praise God for His divine grace and mercy in saving me, a wretched sinner. God works in amazing ways in His children and throughout their lives. I see the gratitude that Paul had now more than ever going from Church persecutor to Gospel preacher to the Gentiles. As many are aware, my husband wasn’t always Christian. He was once a Church persecutor, and now maybe through the grace of God my husband will be half the preacher Paul was. Seminary is the next stepping stone, but that doesn’t end his goal in the ministry. I hope my husband can feel ½ the excitement Rudy did when dressed in his first game at Notre Dame, although not in a papist setting and rather through a Reformed Christian point-of-view. ;)