J and I have decided that we're moving to Chicago. He really wants to go back to school and eventually seminary, and has his eyes on Moody. We first discussed where we wanted to go to school in April, when he returned from a trip to Atlanta for a men's conference. He's taken on a lot of "mentor" roles with different people at church and while he originally went to school to become a history teacher, we're both feeling that God is leading him into ministry. So we did some research and Moody Bible Institute was a big one that stuck out in our search. We're going to visit it later in the summer, but I think we've settled on it.
I'm excited but also extremely anxious. We won't be moving August 2013, so it's a while away. But there's still the factor of the unknown. And I'm a planner, so hopefully I don't start overthinking this...
What's funny is I was thisclose to going to school in Chicago. My boyfriend in high school wanted to go to art school there so I started looking into schools up there. Elmhurst was my top pick and I had my paperwork all filled out and a deposit check in the envelope, stamped an ready to mail, when Lindenwood called and offered me a very generous scholarship. A whole lot more than Elmhurst was offering. So I took the offer and went away to school close to home. Which is probably the best decision I ever made -- that high school relationship didn't pan out, and I was able to get to know J and we all know how that ended up. =)
When it came time for me to student teach, J and I made the decision that I wasn't going to work -- I still had scholarships for school so my room and board was paid for and all I had to worry about was gas -- so he dropped out of the community college and went to work fulltime at the hospital (where he still works). That gesture spoke volumes. We were engaged but wouldn't be married for almost another year, so that kind of commitment really meant a lot to me. Of course, that was always hanging over my head (not because he held it there but because I did), that I had a college degree and he didn't. But even that has worked out. It took him a few years to realize that he didn't want to teach. At first he thought he wanted to go into youth ministry, but over the last several months he's been giving serious thought to pastoral ministry. Hence the search into Christian institutions and thinking about going to seminary.
So I've been doing research: the best areas of the city in which to live (if we decide not to live on campus), how to transfer my teaching certificate to Illinois, grad schools for me. I even found a campus group called Student Wives Fellowship that is a group of women who are married to Moody students or are Moody students themselves. I've emailed for some more insight -- because we all know how much I appreciate insight. Ha.
