{"id":14,"date":"2013-01-29T21:34:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T02:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2014-12-27T10:09:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-27T15:09:19","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nov<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m Michelle ~<\/p>\n

I love to dream big dreams and pursue them. \u00a0When I was nineteen, I enrolled in a local college and several years later landed my dream job as a nurse in an intensive care unit. \u00a0Two years later, another dream came true when I married the man who changed my mind about staying single for life. \u00a0Two handsome boys and a darling baby girl have made me a mother. \u00a0IVs and EKG’s gave way to sippy cups and block towers. \u00a0Through the ache of loss, I learned that some dreams have to end in order to let others begin. \u00a0I could be a nurse or I could be a stay at home mom and I chose the latter. \u00a0More dreams came true. \u00a0A few years down the road my sister and I self-published the book for new brides we’d co-authored. \u00a0That same year, two children’s books I wrote were published. \u00a0Through heartbreaking tears, I learned that dreams don’t always come true, no matter how hard we pursue them. \u00a0Two miscarriages and years of secondary infertility are redefining our dreams into the family God has chosen for us. \u00a0David and I dreamed of building our own home and after a year of sweat, aching muscles, and the lack of any kind of quality life, we moved into our home. \u00a0We thought we were there to stay.<\/p>\n

I still dream. \u00a0Someday I want to manage a cafe \/ bakery that provides delicious allergy friendly menu items in a hip environment so that families like ours can still grab a bite to eat or order a ready made birthday cake.<\/p>\n

Someday I want to go back to school.<\/p>\n

Someday I want to live in Paris for three months.<\/p>\n

I want to have another baby.<\/p>\n

But even more than that, I want to know Jesus so much that I am just like Him. \u00a0I long for holiness and healing in the deepest places in my soul.<\/p>\n

A few years back, David and I began longing to know God and His truth much more intimately. \u00a0It wasn’t an immediate earthquake and it certainly didn’t sanctify us overnight. \u00a0Instead, for a long time, things seemed to get uglier. \u00a0But the longing became more intense and ever so slowly, God began turning our dreams inside out.<\/p>\n

So it was that in 2012 we rented out our home and moved to Allegany Boys Camp in Maryland because our longing to be obedient to God was louder than our dreams. \u00a0For me, the change temporarily shattered almost every aspect of the life I’d known and loved. \u00a0While David had previously been a counsellor at Bald Eagle Boys Camp and been on the board at ABC since it’s conception, I didn’t know camp or its culture. \u00a0When I drove our loaded mini van one route while David drove the truck and trailer another, I had no idea that we wouldn’t even be able to unload when we got there because we were being moved straight into a construction zone and men on ladders were scattered through the debris of wire, trash and building supplies in the basement apartment we were supposed to inhabit. \u00a0In the days of darkness that followed, I was reading the story of the children of Israel and their journey through the wilderness. \u00a0I wept with them in their loss of all that was known … their culture, their homes, and the leeks and onions of their former lifestyle. \u00a0I listened to their grumbling and with shame heard my own voice reflected over and over again. \u00a0But, I also watched as God provided for them over and over. \u00a0I watched as He fought their battles for them when they trusted Him. \u00a0I watched as He took them back, every time they lost their way. I saw a God who was the very essence of the Hebrew word chesed (faithful love). \u00a0I saw God’s faithfulness to Israel in light of His covenant promise. \u00a0And I knew the same God who brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea would be faithful to carry us through every day at camp.<\/p>\n

I still get my dreams and obedience to God mixed up in life some days. \u00a0But I am also {slowly} learning to walk in the freedom of what He has called me to instead of being manipulated by the expectations of other people. \u00a0I am learning to dream without clenching my fists. \u00a0To embrace the life that is<\/strong> more than I mourn the life I wanted.<\/p>\n

This blog is our story. \u00a0It is funny snippets from the mouths of boys. \u00a0It is pictures of the every day happenings in our life. \u00a0It is a peek into what life is like at camp. \u00a0But really, it’s His story. \u00a0His story of redemption and learning. \u00a0Of new dreams for us and making them come true.<\/p>\n

Welcome here!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m Michelle ~ I love to dream big dreams and pursue them. \u00a0When I was nineteen, I enrolled in a local college and several years later landed my dream job… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P39ynQ-e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2032,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions\/2032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}