February-present.. in very few words.

So, it's been since the beginning of February since I have updated. Boy, do we have a lot to catch up on.  There isn't much that went on from February through April other than school and work.  School was stressful, hectic, annoying, joyful, tearful, happy, exciting, and most of all.. it's OVER now! Well, at least for the summer.   I have never been more excited and THANKFUL for a semester to come to an end.  To say it was the hardest semester for me yet would be an understatement, so to have it behind me and to be moving forward puts a huge smile on my face.  As for Matt, his business has picked up tremendously and we are so thankful for all God has provided us through his business.  However, April brought about some changes in Matt's career, as well as our lives.  We had been praying for months upon end,, and after seeking much counsel from others and our Father, we made what has been one of the hardest decisions of our lives.  Although we were not sure why, God was calling us away from the church we were serving at.  As a result, Matt resigned from his position as youth pastor in April.  As I said, this was a very hard decision, but we knew God had a plan.  For those of you that know us well, you know that we were living rent free while we served at the church.  Because of that fact, we were very scared and nervous about resigning, because it meant we would have to relocate and.. pay rent.  Yes, most of you probably know what that feels like.  For us, we started our marriage with no rent or mortgage, so we had no idea what to expect.  Instead of rambling, I'm going to cut to the chase.  We had been in debt (not like tons of credit card debts).  Our debt was from a truck we had purchased which failed on us and had been sitting up for months.  Nothing quite like paying a monthly note on something that doesn't even work.  To make a long story short, we were still scared with the decision we made.  Well, after Matt resigned.. that very week we were able to FREE ourselves from debt.  God blessed us tremendously with the ability to pay off all of our debt, confirming to us that we were following God's will for our lives.  So.. that brings us to where we are now.  We have moved to Byram from a four bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment.  Wow, yeah. Huge change.  WE LOVE IT! It is so cozy and fits our lifestyles perfectly.  We are not serving at a church, yet, but are praying for God to open doors in His timing.  As for me, I am working as a nanny full-time.  I am keeping two of the most adorable boys I have ever laid eyes on.  This job, however, probes the "baby" question even more from friends, family members, etc.  "When are y'all going to have a baby?", "I can't wait for y'all to be parents", etc.  Well, to answer this question once and for all for EVERYONE.. we are NOT pregnant and NOT trying.. haha. Maybe one year. But, for now, we still have a lot of living left to do.  I want to finish school and we want time together AFTER school.  However, if God has other plans for us before we decide to start a family, we will go along with His plans just like always.  I know this has been a long post, and if you're still reading, kudos to you! If i can sum up everything we have learned together over the past few months, it would be to trust God, trust His plan, and trust His timing.  He is in control and all powerful.  He protects and fights for His children.

PS- I cut all of my hair off.
PPS- Romeo is still as sweet as ever :)

So, I'll leave you with a few recent pictures.
Enjoy!!

Our baby after a haircut

Date Night

Easter Sunday

Life Lately.

Well, like I mentioned in my last post, life is pretty hectic now with school and the unfortunate wreck. So, here is a quick update on what's been going on in our lives.
In the Nursing World-- I have had three tests so far this semester and passed all of them (not with the grade I wanted, but hey, passing is passing). I am getting ready to wrap up my last week of my Pediatric rotation at Blair E. Batson. Crazy enough, I went in to this rotation already telling myself I would hate working with kids.. only to come out of this rotation being in LOVE with the pediatric field. Funny how we think we "know" our plans, but God shows us something completely different that He has planned for us. Proverbs 16:9 says "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps" (NLT). This verse became so true to me during my pediatric clinical rotation. Now, I am getting prepared to leave Batson behind (not happily..) and head to MS State Hospital (Whitfield) for my Psychiatric rotation. I'm sure I will have plenty to blog about on this coming experience.
In the Gates' World-- Philippians 4:19 states "You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need.." (The MSG). The promise in this verse is what we have been clinging to these past few days, and will continue to live by in days to come. It's been 11 days since my car accident.. and the body shop was finally able to get my car in. The news we found out today was not as promising as we had hoped it would be. The mechanic told Matthew that it would take a lot more work than they/we were expecting to fix my car and the damages were a little worse than we expected. However, we are waiting on the insurance adjuster to go meet with the mechanic and discuss the plan. There is a good chance that they will end up totaling my car, but I am not giving up hope. However, I do know that whatever happens, the Lord will take care of us and provide for us in His time.
In our Christ World-- We were blessed with such an amazing experience this past weekend. Matthew's youth group attended DiscipleNow Friday night-Sunday Morning. Our youth split up into small groups and we stayed at different host homes. Matthew kept the college age guys at our house (and to my dismay, it was still in one piece Sunday!!). I had the youth girls at a host home. This weekend could not have come at a more perfect time, and I will honestly say that I probably got just as much, if not more, out of the services and worship than the youth did. With all of the crazy events going on in our lives right now, God placed this event in our lives for His purpose of calming our souls and fully relying on Him. We heard from an amazing speaker, Ben Pirtle from The Gateway Church in Dallas, TX. God used Him in such a mighty way, even to the point of completely disregarding his last message and using it as one big prayer service for the young men and women. Now.. for my favorite part of the weekend.. I do not have many "favorite" artists or worship leaders. However, I do claim to have ONE all-time favorite, who just so happened to be our worship leader for the weekend... KARI JOBE (also from The Gateway Church)! Worshipping with Kari is always such an amazing experience. Everything about her and leadership is completely authentic. I felt God in such a powerful way this weekend. Through Kari, I was able to completely let go and feel God's embrace around me all weekend-- just what I needed. She led us in one of my favorite songs this weekend.. and the words were exactly what I needed to hear, as well as pray to my Savior. I want to leave you with the words to this beautiful song..

So faithful
So constant
So loving and so true
So powerful in all You do

You fill me
You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to You

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never
Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down
Even if to ride upon my heart
To remind me who You are

So patient
So gracious
So merciful and true
So wonderful in all You do

You fill me
You see me
You know my every move
And You love for me to sing to You

And Lord, I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never
Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down
Even if to ride upon my heart
To remind me

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never
Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down
Even if to ride upon my heart
To remind me who You are

You remind me

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never
Forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come down
Even if to ride upon my heart
To remind me who You are

In Him,
Cait

Catching Up.

Wow, so it's been a pretty good while since I've last blogged. Well, like I warned, nursing school is back in full swing which barely leaves me time to remember to eat and shower. So, since I have a few spare moments on this Friday night, I decided to spend it catching you readers up to date...
...Nursing school definitely hit me like a ton a bricks. Unlike the past two semesters, we weren't "eased" into this semester, we were hit head on and full force. We have already had two tests, with another one in about a week. Also, we started our first clinical rotation this week, so it's been a hectic week around the Gates' household. Unfortunately, while today was supposed to be my first day on the floor with patients at Blair E. Batson, I was not so lucky on my way to the hospital. At the early hour of 5:30 this morning, as I'm headed to Jackson, two deer decided to conveniently leap in front of my car. The first deer cleared my path, but the second deer wasn't so lucky.. neither was my car. So, I get in touch with my teacher and she excuses me from clinical for the day and advised that I stayed home and regained my composure. I was, and still am, pretty upset when I think about the accident, but I'm also very thankful and fortunate that it was not any worse than it was. However, I will be without my "princess" car for the next few weeks as I have nearly the entire front end replaced. On a happier note, my Couch to 5K plan with mom is still underway. I honestly was not sure if I would hold myself accountable to running as busy as school makes me. To my surprise, I have found that I CAN fit exercising and eating healthy into my schedule and my physical stress has decreased tremendously! I advise all of you to find at least one area in your life that you can modify to improve your overall health. It has been one of the best decisions I have made this year! I don't have much more to catch you guys up on and I don't want to type away and bore you with the gruesome details of school.. So, I hope everyone has a splendid weekend!

God loves you
love Him back,

-Cait