Dire Prophecies and Good Intentions: 6 Years Later

[Dichotomy Girl]

NOW
(5 Years and 344 days later)
05/22/13

Name: Dichotomy Girl
Age: 38
Relationship Status: Happily married to Josh
Children: A daughter, Avery, who will be 2 on 6/12. The best surprise of my life!
Spirituality: It's Complicated!

A little bit of a timeline:

6/12/2007: Posted that I left the UPC
8/15/2008: Matthew and I separated
10/31/2008: Divorce was Final
4/18/2010: First Date with Josh, an atheist.
9/2010: Josh and I started "shacking up"
11/1/2010: Found out that after over 12 years of infertility I was (accidentally)8 weeks pregnant.
11/11/2010: Quickie marriage at the court house so that I could take advantage of Josh's awesome medical insurance.
6/12/2011: Avery was born, perfect in every way.
5/22/2012: Enjoying life and my family.

But there is so much between the lines of that timeline! I guess it's harder than I thought to quickly summarize everything that's happened to you in 6 years. Though I bet some preachers could do it pretty fast: "She started questioning standards, then came the doctrine, then she left church completely. It wasn't too much later that she got divorced, dated and then shacked up with an Atheist, and got pregnant out of wedlock!" (i'm not sure at this point if then marrying the Atheist would be considered a bigger sin!).

So on the one hand, I can say that the dire predictions were probably a bit understated, I think they figured that I'd just go charismatic, maybe get a few piercings and a tattoo.

I suppose most would think my life something to repent of, or to feel shame for. And though I have many regrets in life, my husband and daughter are not one of them. I have learned that marriage (though it can still be hard at times) can be a wonderful, awesome thing, and how much a difference it makes when you love each other!

I think I've learned true humility and sacrifice. Oh, I sacrificed tons of stuff in my first marriage, I was quite the martyr, but I didn't do it for my ex-husband who I resented and despised, I did it out of a sense of duty, or because I felt it was an expectation of God. And my daughter, she was the answer to a prayer I hadn't even enough faith to pray for. I'd often lamented the fact that I would never have children, but I'd given up that dream many years before.

I guess I'll break the spiritual part into another post.