Like normal it has been a while since I’ve posted anything. Part of this is me being busy and part of it is not having internet at the house. But I wanted to type something up today. During church I had a lot of different things go through my mind. There was a guest speaker who was going to do some type of church planting, but he spent part of the sermon telling stories.

I’ve talked with Dad and Mr. Johnson about the stories before and how God has worked in our (my life). It’s always exciting to see how God works. The details that He figures out long before we do or how when we think things have gone wrong, it turns out for His glory. When the bible says that He takes care of His children, He meant it. Now, sometimes it means stepping out in faith, instead of trying to do it on our own power. I have seen God do so much, and it is amazing. I want those to be my stories and not ones of my parents. I mean, yes, they are still awesome stories, but it makes things even more real when they are my own (or ours since I’m now married).

Another thought that went through my head was the fact that I don’t know where life will take me in a few years, or what Job I will have. Right now I am in Berea learning how to be a high school teacher.  Yet, something tells me that I won’t be a high school teacher for my entire life. Part of me wants to go into ministry.  Part of me also wants a job where I will be working with my wife. Not a job where I leave and am only home on evening and weekends.  I mean, I would be ok with it, but I don’t know.  As for ministry, I don’t know what or where that will lead. It might mean being a youth pastor, or it might mean being an elder at a church, or maybe even a missionary. It’s hard to say where the future will take us (me).  One thing that did come to mind this morning though was what am I doing to prepare for that? Carla has asked me that question before. If that is where I feel led, what I am doing to prepare? Am I taking my bible study time seriously?

Anyhow, my mind is distracted now. But what it comes down to is that I was wondering what the future holds. I was wondering what plans God has for me and Carla. How and what I should do about it? And lastly how much faith will I put in God, and what stories he has for us in the future.

So, I honestly don’t remember the last time I posted on my blog (and since I’m in the car I can’t check).

I guess the best place to start is back about two months ago. So many things have changed in two months, it’s hard to believe. There are stories that I wish I had written do so that I would remember them later, but alas I didn’t and they have slipped temporarily from my mind.

Two months ago I was a single (well, not married, though I was engaged) and I think I had just moved into the apartment.  I don’t like living in an empty apartment, it was boring. Well, not exactly boring, just no one else lived there to keep me company. Fast forward a week or two and Carla and I were driving up to her house a week before the wedding!

The week before the wedding was neat. It was odd thinking that next time I came back to Berea that I would have a wife.  We picked up our marriage license Wednesday which was an odd, yet exciting feeling. Clarin also showed up to help around the house in preparation for the wedding. Thursday, the day before everything got really crazy, I helped Mr. Ball pull fence posts out from the back yard. It was nice to just spend time with him and relax before the wedding stuff.  Carla was out shopping part of that time with her mom and Clarin.

Friday morning came and there actually wasn’t too much to do that morning. I helped chop some cheese up for the wedding.  Mrs. Ball gave me and Mr. Ball t-shirts that looked like tuxedos! I thought that was awesome. Around noon most of the bridesmaids showed up. It was good to see those friends again. About 3Pm we left for the church to set things up for the rehearsal that evening! Caleb, Lydia and David were waiting for us at the church. It was so great to see David (Lamabch) again.  I hadn’t seen him in over 2 years. It was good to hang out with him, but Carla point out at first I wasn’t sure how to act around him. Both of us had changed and we were trying to fit back together. As the afternoon progressed other people showed up, which was awesome! Brian and Le’anna, James (younger), my family, Julie and Travis (Gustofson), and James and Jayme (Miller) all came and it was great to see them again.  I hadn’t seen Julie and Travis in a really long time, so it was really nice of them to come.  Then the rehearsal started. : )  We went through how we wanted everyone to stand and pairing people off. We also went over the vows and what to do if something went wrong. Then we did the actually rehearsal!  One of the funniest parts was when the pastor told me to “speak loudly so the microphone could pick me up” and for some reason I used a yoda voice (and I didn’t even do it on purpose!) Then Carla said “I didn’t know I was marrying yoda! We all laughed. After the rehearsal we went to a Mexican restaurant down the road and enjoyed spending time talking and not stressing about the next day. From there I left with David and Brian to go a hotel for the night. We didn’t party, but rather (since the pool was closed) went to bed.

                 Saturday morning came and I was nervous, but not freaking out.  The guys (David, Brian and I) got up, and played around a bit. Brian and I threw the hotel cards at each other and I managed to actually cut him a little! We went to breakfast and then headed to the church. Once we arrived at the church we helped set things up before getting ready.  After setting up random things the guys got ready for the wedding. I put on my fancy suit and Brian did my hair. After waiting around for a while other people showed up and things became busier.  Harper (the photographer) met with everyone upstairs and started taking pictures of the guys. The girls were finishing getting ready and I hadn’t seen Carla yet! When we had finished taking pictures of the guys Carla’s mom and Harper told me to turn around and not look (because Carla was coming). So, I stood there and nervously waited while Harper took a ton of photos.  I had this feeling that Carla was behind me (I could hear her) and then I saw a teddy bear in front of me! Long story short Carla had said one day I would replace her teddy. It was exciting to see her special teddy! Then I was told I could turn around. When I did I saw the most beautiful woman ever standing in front of me. We took some more pictures and then went to down stairs since people were starting to show up.

                Before I knew it the wedding had started! Everyone was seated down inside and the Pastor, Brian and I were ready to go inside. I was nervous, exited, but yet calm at the same time. The wedding went wonderful. Carla looked amazing coming down the aisle.  Everything went well and at the end we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Patton! We walked down the aisle and then came back to greet everyone row by row. After shaking hands and hugging what felt like a 1,000 people, the main service was over. Harper took a few pictures of us upstairs by ourselves, and then we headed downstairs to mingle.  After mingling for a bit, which was fun, but still crazy because it was a lot of people, we got around to cutting cake. Cutting the cake was fun, but we ended up making a mess since I pushed a little harder than Carla thought I would. Later I found out that I got some of it down her dress. After cutting the cake we were able to finally sit down for a few minutes and enjoy eating cake while just relaxing. Unfortunately just before that Carla had walked up behind me and I started talking while moving my hands and bumped her piece of cake onto the ground. I turned around and it looked like she was about to cry. I went and quickly got her another piece of cake. It had been a long day and it was wonderful cake.  Five o’clock came around and we changed out of our wedding clothes and into normal clothes. We headed out the door and chatted with people while taking a few final pictures. Around 5:30 we finally headed for our honeymoon, which little did we know was going to be a really long drive.

                We headed down I-75 and saw several people headed back to Berea (most of them were going quickly and passed us. We had also stopped to get gas along the way).   We were headed to the Natural Bridge area, so we got onto another highway and headed east. Somewhere along the way we stopped for dinner at wenyd’s which was so nice. Both of us were hungry and exhausted from the wedding. As we got closer to our exit, the clouds kept getting thicker. As we pulled off the highway the storm  started. We pulled off into the rest area since we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us. The rain started to let up and we continued, but them it started again! We were driving along at like 15mph and just being really unsure of where we were driving. Honestly, it was rather scary! After about an hour and half of driving through crazy rain we finally made it to our destination.

                We spent our honeymoon at a place called Lago Linda’s near the Red River Gorge, which was beautiful. It was a cabin on a lake surrounded by woods. We sat and played Settlers of Catan on the Porch, drank coke and burped (it even echoed!) We went for a few short walks through the woods and talked. It was nice to be away from everything and not worry. After about few days we came back to reality. The drive back to the interstate, which took about a half hour(and remember it took us 1.5 hours to get there). We  stopped at Miguel’s and I took Carla for pizza. I found out the miguel’s doesn’t have twist top Ale-8. I tried to open them by twisting the top with my arm, which clearly didn’t work. We drove back to Carla’s parent’s house, opened presents and then returned to Berea.

This semester I’ve been taking  four hard classes, working 15 hours a week and adjusting to married life. It has been a challenge, but a good one. I’ve  been taking Differential Equations, how to teach high school math, education methods and my senior math seminar. 

Ok, So, I know this is super long, and I really want to get something posted. I actually have internet this weekend, so I can type and post. I don’t have internet at the house, so I post, but then I can’t post.( I’ve been typing this for a while) .

So, long post short

-          I got married back in August to the most amazing woman ever.

-          We moved into an apartment in Berea.

-          I’m going to school (taking four classes) and Carla is working at the public library.

-          Life is fun, challenging, and I love Carla.

Until next time ( and hopefully it’s a lot sooner than this one)

Jacob