We're Moving to Mexico!!!

You heard right. We are moving to Mexico.

Now for the explanation (as told by Levi).

We have never been the couple whose lives are predictable. We always have plans and those plans are constantly changing. If you're reading this and have known us for any amount of time, you know that the answer to the question, "What are you guys up to?" is never the same twice in a row. Our original plan after we got married was to be in Springfield for maybe a year and then move on to something different. Surely we would have some direction by then.

Well, we didn't. So, I decided to start taking classes for a master's degree in the spring of 2012 to pass the time. We were still planning on moving in the fall and were anticipating on knowing what we were supposed to do by then. August rolled around and, sure enough, we knew what we needed to do.

Stay in Springfield.

It wasn't what we expected, but we both knew that staying in Springfield (so I could finish my degree) was what we needed to do. We felt complete peace over the decision. Natasha had a great job working at Central with Pastor Justin and I had received an opportunity to teach as a graduate assistant at Missouri State. It wasn't what we expected, but we felt so good about the decision that we never questioned whether it was the right thing to do.

That being said, we never stopped looking forward. We made a deal that since we focused on me for two years to get my degree, Natasha would get to pick what we did next. We both still had the desire to go overseas for an extended period of time. For those of you who followed this blog while we were in Europe, you know that we both LOVED our time there. Natasha has always had a passion for the Spanish language, so we started researching language schools.

But everything we tried was a dead end. This school was too expensive. That school required a residency visa that would take 6 months-12 months to receive and was neck deep in red tape. Another program would let us join, but we would be placed in different parts of the country. Nothing we did was working. Confused and a little discouraged, we gave up and decided that language school must not be what God wanted for us and that we should just start looking for other things to do.

No joking, ONE WEEK LATER this opportunity in Mexico fell into our lap. It was affordable, visas were easy to get, it is located in the safest part of Mexico (a must), and the program was exactly what we wanted.

Now, you might say, "See, as soon as you stop trying so hard, God will answer your prayers. You should have just had faith and known the opportunity would present itself."

My response to that is, "Nay, nay."

You see, we knew that this was right for us because of all the research we had done on Spanish schools. We knew, because of all the searching, that this school was on par with other more expensive schools and would be precisely what we wanted. Our looking had nothing to do with a lack of faith. Natasha and I know that God is always there to guide us and give us the wisdom we need to make decisions. But I also know that God appreciates our tenacity. He made us that way!

That's also why he refuses to let Natasha and I know what we are doing until the very last second. We are planners and while that is a great trait to have, it can get in the way if we are allowed to run free. So God works with us and we are in agreement that if we wait it out and constantly look to him for guidance, he will always let us know what we need to do just in time.

The program we are in is a language school. It is on a non-denominational mission base in Roca Blanca, Mexico, but we will not be there for evangelistic reasons. We just want to learn the language. We will have an opportunity to help out with different events at their medical clinic and their outreach teams, but the focus will be on learning the language. We are currently signed up for the spring semester with the opportunity to extend out stay. We will be in classes for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, with at least two hours of homework a night. Needless to say, we had better be bilingual when this whole thing is over!

We do have a Google number that will work while we are down there and are on Skype. Just let us know if you want to contact us and we can get you the info.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in this decision. We have such a peace about it and we are so thankful others have been so supportive. Our lives are never normal and we couldn't say thank you enough to all our friends and family who stick by us no matter what. Please be praying for us that our minds would be like sponges and we won't get too homesick (or sick at all, for that matter!). We'll be updating the blog as we go along, so be looking for pictures and stories.

Mexico, here we come!