Who Woulda Thunk?

December 2, 1995

Our first date was December 2, 1995. We weren't in love at this point. We didn't have any dreams for our future. We didn't have any glamorous plans planned. We were two individuals who really enjoyed talking with each other. I don't even think Greg asked me to be his girlfriend. Our relationship was one that just slowly evolved into more than just friends.

December 2, 2011

Greg waving goodbye to the kids and I.

Jump forward 16 years to December 2, 2011. Wow! Who woulda thunk back in 1995 we would have been standing at Travis AFB, CA saying goodbye for six months? I would never have guessed back then that Greg would have made a career out of the Air Force and I would be a mom, homeschooling all three of our beautiful children. Over the years, we have also been able to enjoy our "December 2 Anniversary" with AF Christmas parties, false labor, deployment departures, deployment reunions, and separations during deployments.

The journey of the past 16 years has been one I would never had volunteered for if I knew all we would be facing, yet is a journey I have no regrets taking. God is smart (in case y'all didn't know this already). He knew I would have run faster than Jonah if He allowed me to know what was ahead. He purposed our steps. He alone was a light unto our path. He has been the only firm foundation we have. He has been our rescue. Our comforter. Our help. Our peace. Our master planner.

When we started life together as man and wife in 1999, Greg was planning on getting out of the military and we were going to move home to Indiana. We all know God has a sense of humor! We became pregnant with Natalie just 5 months prior to his separation from the Air Force. Having no money saved, no insurance outside Tricare, and no job in Indiana, Greg reenlisted. God guided us in only a way He can to exactly what we needed, when we needed it. Had we moved back to Indiana in May of 2000 we would have missed meeting so many people who have become especially important to us. I won't even try to mention everyone who have each left footprints in our lives. We also would have missed our first taste of ministry at the Contemporary Service at Eglin AFB Chapel. It was a meager start, a mustard seed of sorts. When we moved on to Niceville AG the seed of ministry was watered further.

December 2, 2006 was supposed to be our leave day from FL to Pope AFB, NC (We actually moved in March 2007). We did not want to leave. We knew God had allowed us to become part of the family at Niceville for a reason and there was no way He would have us move. We were sure the Air Force had a hand in us moving more than God did. All three children were born at Eglin. We had so many friends. We were actively involved in church. No, God couldn't have created these orders. Saying goodbye never gets easy and leaving our "family" in FL was the first extreme challenge God placed in our path. It was almost as if God was asking us if we trusted ourselves more than we trusted Him. Deciding to put our complete trust in Him alone, we embraced our move from FL to NC as His will for our lives.

NC was God's way of taking Greg and I to a new level of everything we thought was good in life. We learned more than we ever thought possible about each other. I had two major surgeries while stationed in NC. We had to learn how to live as a team without tearing each other down so the other could rise up. We learned in NC how to allow the other half of us to succeed. God also used our experiences in NC to grow the seed of ministry into a young sapling. We didn't have enough strength on our own to hold ourselves up so God blessed us with people to support us in our journey. We didn't have the knowledge to do a lot of things we volunteered to do, but God blessed the work we did and somehow it always came out right. He provided people willing to teach us. He provided people willing to call us out when our heads got too big. He provided a measure of grace we didn't deserve. He also provided us with an extra two years at Pope we weren't supposed to have had. Those two years were vital because Greg wasn't deployed during that time. Our relationship now changed into something only God could have created. We learned how to be interdependent on each other.

Leaving NC was harder than leaving FL, but we knew we had been favored with extra time there. God directed our path to Beale AFB, CA. Ironically, our notification of official orders was on Dec 2, 2010.

Beale has been another dose of exactly what we needed when we needed it. God has been 3 for 3 on our base assignments! Go God!! Our church family at Crosspointe has embraced the Toney Family with open arms. They are amazing, genuine, kind, caring, and relaxed all at the same time. I don't know what God has planned for our ministry sapling yet. Based on His perfect record, I'm confident we will be looking at our time in CA with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment that will leave another whole in our hearts. I wonder if our next move will be on Dec 2?

Who woulda thunk two kids from Indiana would be were we are today? Who woulda thunk we would be able to talk about the many times God provided for us in unexpected ways? Who woulda thunk the journey started 16 years ago is even better today than yesterday? I don't think any human who knew Greg and I dating would have placed even a small bet on this journey being as successful as it has been. I'm ok with that because I know that our God cared enough about Greg and I to prepare us for the journey He ordained to begin December 2, 1995.