Marriage Testimony

I wanted to share all the ways that God is working in our life since we got married on May 23, 2007. So we moved to Fort Worth, TX about a week after we got married on June 1, 2007 and we did not have jobs, didnt know anyone here, didnt know our way around, and just started our life all over. It was kind of scary but at the same time it was exciting. We searched for jobs for about a month and then Mandrae found a job at Geosphere. Geosphere is a travel company and it was the easiest job he has ever had. All he had to do was sit down with people that came into the building for a time share presentation and sell them the package. Well about a week later I became the receptionist at the same company. They were really nice to us and we had GREAT hours and pretty awesome pay. It was a really bad work environment though. They did alot of things that were really unprofessional and well I guess some things that were illegal. So yeah anyway then I was promoted to the account/ payroll clerk and I got a pay raise of DOUBLE! :) It was amazing money. We paid all of my credit cards off with the pay that we were making. Life was good but marriage was also hard for us our first year. We were adjusting to each others annoying traits and at the same time trying to grow in Christ together and find a church together. The search for the church was a headache and we could not agree on a church we liked and we had tried out around 50+ churches in the area. We also started looking for a house because our lease was almost up and we were sick of paying rent and we were making good money at the time. So we found our dream home and signed the contract to have it built. We went and picked out all the different colors for the house and the appliances. It was alot of fun. Well one day we went to work and when we got there the owner told us to go home and that we would start work again next week per they were getting a new product to sell and had to tye up some loose ends. So we had a vacation for about a week and then went back to work. At this point the office was empty and the owners were gone. We soon realized that the business was shut down and our last 2 weeks of pay was not coming. We were devastated. Our last paycheck went all towards my cc balance of around $2000 and we were banking on our pay to pay rent that month. So we were without a job and had to go now 4 weeks without any pay. We then filed unemployment and started our new job search. We were expecting $4000 for our last 2 weeks of work and so were then $4000 in the hole. We found out that the owners of Geosphere had taken the profits from the business and run with it. So we started our job search and within a week God blessed Mandrae (baby) with a job with Chrysler Financial. I searched everywhere and finally went through a temp agency and found a job with Mercedes-Benz Financial, which happened to be in the same building. :) (GOD IS GOOD) In the mean time we needed to pay rent and didnt have any money. We had to get another cc and write a cc check to pay rent. Then wait another 2 weeks for Mandraes first check. We thought for sure we would be on the streets by then with a house in the process of being built. BUT God is GOOD! Unemployment started to come in so we could eat and pay other bills. Then we started to get paid regularly. Our incomes just barely qualified for our loan on our new home and life started to look up again. Through all of this we prayed and stayed faithful to God. Our house was supposed to be completed in December of 2007 and it was not ready. We were anxious to get in and frustrated to be overpaying our apartment complex because we had to move to month to month payments with the apartment (which are like 40% more than normal). I was frustrated because our apartments had rats and there were rapes and shootings in our complex and I just wanted out of there. Well finally in May 2008 we were able to move into our brand new home. It ended up being a blessing that it took so long (due to rain and weather- God knows what He is doing) because we were able to get some bills lowered and pay some things off ahead of time before we took on really high mortgage payments. Also our house was a great deal, we got in right when the economy was allowing for the best housing prices in years and we got $11000 in upgrades for free. So we finally moved in and started to go to a church that was just okay to us down the road. We didnt really know anyone there and no one ever talked to us. Then our neighbors moved in next door and told us about their church. We tried it out and the first day the pastor took us to lunch after church. The pastor and his wife were amazing and the church had EVERYTHING we were looking for. It had the singing and awesome and interesting preaching that was from the WORD! So now we attend Destiny Church in Forest Hill and it is the best thing that has happened to us in our marriage. We joined a small group and grew quickly and strong in our relationship with Christ. We learned so so much. I started to struggle and get picked on at work and God has taught us so much within our second year of marriage that I could write a book about all the things that I have learned in Christ. Our marriage is fun, exciting, strong, encouraging and better than I could imagine now. We have a gorgeous home that God blessed us with and stable jobs. We are truly blessed and God is faithful. He provides for his children in every way imaginable.