Hey! Welcome to my little corner of the internet! My name is Josephine Barnes!
I have recently embarked on this brand new adventure called marriage and adulthood, and I thought I'd bring you along for the journey! My husband (Asher) is constantly saying I should blog and write more. While I love writing, I never quite know what I should write ABOUT. I carry around a little pocket notebook and sometimes write stories in there about real life which is super cool, but I have no writing I really share with anyone and that's where this blog comes into play. First though, let's back up a few steps so I can introduce myself better.
I am 20 years old and live in a one bedroom apartment with my husband, Asher, and our dog, Bartholomew (or less formally known as Bart). We got married June of this year as a 19 and 21 year old who'd known each other for 10 months. I know. Now you're either wondering if we're completely crazy or you're one of those people who did the same thing. I'll write more about our story later. I accepted Christ as a 5 year old and He has been teaching me and growing me as the years have gone by.
The longer I've been a wife, the more I've craved a slower life. I've romanticized slow moments like waiting for bread to rise, or crocheting by lamplight. These cravings have had to be juggled with reality. For the first month of our marriage I had an evening job where Asher and I would say hi as we passed each other in the hall (if we were lucky). I had the morning to myself, but I was so new to housekeeping and being a wife at that time, I honestly can't even remember what I would have filled my days with. Come the end of the first month I got a second job and suddenly I was juggling 2 work schedules. It wasn't all that bad but the schedule definitely wasn't ideal for just about anything besides earning enough income to keep us running and being able to see Asher more evenings. Then my instructor job offered me a full time position and I started working 40 hour weeks.
Now none of this is to complain, but rather for you to understand the context of my situation and the question I've been asking myself over the past couple of weeks: "How do you live this slow, homemaker's life, when you have a full time job and a busy life?"
I used to thrive off of the fast paced lifestyle. There was one semester in school that I took 14 credit hours, had a bunch of grad meetings to attend, kept up my grades, social life, and managed to work 15-20 hours a week. I was beat but proud. Now as I look for ways to serve my husband and keep my home, I can't always be in go-go-go mode because I have a second person relying on me and a home that will stress me out if I don't take care of it. My spiritual life also always takes a beating when I don't intentionally slow down. I don't doubt that I am going to have busy seasons, or even just a busy life in general, but my goal is to slow myself down in body, mind, and spirit even if my life itself isn't slow.
Through all of this the question of where the Lord is continually leading us sits heavy on my mind. It was obvious to us when me and my husband got our new jobs that the Lord had basically handed them to us. There wasn't any question in our minds. We both had been looking for new jobs and on the same day both got a job offer which also happened to started on the same day. In one day everything changed just like that. We both love out jobs and the Lord has brought us such provision through them. At the same time, we both want to do full time mission work. We aren't sure what that may look like or if that is exactly what the Lord may have for us, but we're continually praying about where the Lord may continue to lead us in the future while trying to do what we can with where the Lord has placed us RIGHT NOW. We're helping friends plant a church in the coming years, and I'm interested to see what the Lord has planned through that and through our jobs that we currently have.
I know God places us in situations for specific purposes and I don't want to take that for granted. Asher and I have a lot of hopes and dreams and I can't wait to see what the Lord does with them.
So... join me on my journey of being a wife, becoming a homemaker, and seeing where the Lord takes me and my husband in this life here on earth. Welcome. I hope you stick around :)
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