big changes in our small world.

we have had some pretty big changes in our small little world over here.

mike has been a United States Marine Corps infantry officer for the past six and a half years.

he trained to be an officer for eight years previous to that.

he's wanted to be a Marine since he was twelve years old.

so, i knew when i married him that this was a life commitment.

not just to him, but to the Corps.

i knew that he was going to be an amazing officer.

i knew that we were in this for the long haul.

i knew that the Marines were going to be our life.

so during the past year, when we were sensing that the Lord was leading us in a different direction, we tried to ignore Him.

we were happy.

it was really, really hard sometimes, but we were happy.

but, then, mike became...less happy.

i think he knew before i did that the Corps that he fell in love with was not where he was supposed to be.

and i can't be happy if he isn't.

so, we prayed and talked and prayed some more.

and mike told me that he didn't know if this was where he was supposed to be anymore.

and all that ignoring i was doing started to make more sense.

and all those little pulls, those little tugs, in a new and totally foreign direction seemed to connect.

we have investments in south america.

mike visited when i was pregnant with jack.

and i got to go last fall.

and we fell in love.

so, when i say we are being pulled in a foreign direction, i mean it quite literally.

we began to see that maybe the Lord had something different in mind.

something exciting.

something scary.

something brand new.

but we started to listen to Him.

and started to realize that we both wanted this new adventure after all.

even though it was never, ever something we expected.

so, a few months back, mike decided to leave the Marine Corps.

this coming from a man (and i can brag on him because i'm his wife and this is my blog) who started #3 out of over 300 Marine officers.  

and rose from there.

he is always at the very top of his classes and his peers.

his superiors offer him whatever positions he wants.

he has more awards than i can count.

but most of all, and what i'm most proud of, is his character.

his superiors and peers constantly say what a moral example he is and how they aspire to be like him.

i am and will always be in awe of his dedication.

i am and always will be so very proud of him.

anyway, i digress :)

the point is that his decision to leave the Corps was unexpected, shall we say.

but that makes him all the braver in my opinion.

i can't even imagine how hard this change must be for him.

he was twelve when he wrote to the commandant and tried to apply for the Marines.

he's almost 30 now.

i can't imagine how scary making that decision for our family must have been.

but that just shows you what a servant of the Lord he is.

and i love him all the more for it.

but now to the specifics.

we are in the midst of this massive career change, a move across country, and a brand new baby on the way.

to say that we need prayers is an understatement!

we will be living in an extra house of my in-laws in san antonio for the next six months while we adjust to the new baby boy and continue our research on south america.

in february, we have flights booked for quito, ecuador, and then plan on traveling all over south america for the next seven or eight months.

with three kids.

and no job.

:)

but we've diligently saved our pennies for a rainy day and guess what? this big adventure is our rainy day.

some people buy a house.

we get the glorious privilege of having daddy home with us for the next year and a half and not have to worry about money.

oh, we'll be busy :)

mike will be researching investment opportunities in south america and working on a new-found passion, writing.

i'll be homeschooling our two oldest in the fall and adjusting to our new little one.

but, more than our rainy day buying us some needed time off, we are using it for this grand adventure.

how amazing to travel as a family for such a long time!

how amazing for our boys to get that kind of once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience!

sure, there are risks.

but no life is worth living without them.

we might get down there and realize this isn't for us.

and we'll come straight back to texas! :)

but, who knows?

we might just find something extraordinary and a new life calling at the same time.

we will leave the details up to Him. 

:)

*please continue to follow this blog for our adventures in south america and as a guinea pig for the blog's new co-author, mike!*