Howdy ye Easterners!

So, in typical Elizabeth fashion...I'm getting around to posting an entry in my own time. LATE IN THE GAME. I do want you all to know that I have read every word on this thing that you ladies have written, so though I may be distant I am not removed or disinterested.
Let's get to the down and dirty: Graduated UVA 2001; Young Life Staff in Va. Beach for 2 years (think 360 life extended for another 2 years with Court and MgGovern but with an income and more purpose...sort of); then moved to Montana for Young Life Staff for another two years in Bigfork,MT; met a boy, fell in love, got married July 2005; quit YL when I got married and started working at Rocky Mountain Outfitter which I have been doing for a year and change. It's a small, backcountry ski/climb/paddle/hike/etc. shop. I am the softgoods buyer, so I do the buying for all the clothes.
Filling in the gaps: YL in the beach was incredibly formative for me. I got ripped down the first year and then rebuilt the second in beautiful ways. Themes being intimacy with Jesus in a super powerful way, softening of the harder portions of my persona, and just fabulous fruit of the spirit in kids and myself. I was flying high and mighty by the end of it. Then I got the hair brained (I mean God ordained) idea to move to Montana to do ministry in a place more condusive to outdoor experiential learning like I was introduced to at Beyind Malibu. Well, God paved the way out there, overcoming obstacles left and right, and then let me walk into the bed of lions which is Bigfork, MT (in my book deemed "Bigfuck." Pardon me.) So I got ripped apart spiritually, physically, and emotionally for the next 2 years. Montana is a wild and untamed place on many levels, and Bigfork felt about like a cesspool of demons to me at the time. God is certainly on the move there, but there is a lot of spiritual opposition that I didn't really know how to handle. That was hard. A big light in all of it was that I met this really great redhead named Ben, and he embodied Joy more than any Christian I'd ever met in my life. Funny thing is, he wasn't a Christian. We met in a bar on Halloween, yeah, that's right "Satan's holiday." Well, I like to laugh in the face of that because God clearly isn't hindered one bit by any of those humanly foolish ideas. Ben was my own personal unsaved embodiment of joy and life in a way that challenged my spiritual understanding. He was also my future husband. We became friends and he became a Christian somewhere along the way and also a volunteer with Young Life on my team. It was pretty amazing to sit back and watch God do all the work in that, and to see the speed with which God began growing him up spiritually. Anyhow, we eventually got engaged and then married 2 years after we met. I left staff the month I got married. You could say that God very clearly led me out of what had sufficiently battered me to the point of bitterness and uselessness. I was pretty unfit for fruitful ministry by the time I left staff and God told me He was leading me into a time of rest, healing, and rebuilding again. Also of learning how to be a wife- no easy matter. I will say that in those 2 years God DID accomplish amazing things in my heart as well as in Bigfork. He is undoubtedly vitorious there, lest there be any doubt from my negativity. In the past year I have been trying to get the hang of this whole "married" gig. In all honesty I have to say that the first 5 months were "hard." For anyone who is not married at this point, let me clear the record. People told me the first year of marraige was "hard," but also good. I was prepared for hard. I was not however, prepared for complete and utter meltdown at times. That was a shock. Moments of thinking "God, what have I DONE?! I'm trapped! I picked the wrong one!" Yeah, I didn't know that would happen, and it was terrifying. Maybe the rest of you women were better at this thing than I am, but in those first 5 months I experienced a lot of what felt like dying. And it is...dying to self. I know intimately what that feels like in this area. In particular one of my favorite parts of myself has been getting murdered by God: my independence, which you all know is rather fierce. It hurts! Dying is no fun. I am sure you ALL are aquainted with the feeling in different areas of your life. Mothers, your sense of self gets killed every day. Losing loved ones, that murders your dreams and hopes for a start. Well, marraige first off started hacking away at my independence (MY goals, MY dreams, MY desires). However, God showed up. He had never actually left. Ben and I started getting the hang of things after about 5 months, and since then it has been up and up all the time. I highly reccommend marraige! It's good holy fun, and the pain has a purpose. My theme in the past year has been rest and healing, hence the brainless job at Rocky Mtn. Outfitter (RMO). When I leave work, I don't think about it anymore. THAT IS WONDERFUL!!!! Ben and I both worked there together, and this year he got his first job teaching junior high at a rural school (think little house on the prairie). We bought a house. We have 2 perfect kitties. We play a lot. We're enjoying our resting time. God's agenda with me this past year has also been freedom. Yeah, the east isn't so good at instilling freedom into people. God has surrounded me with some very free believers here, my husband being one of them. It is an interesting and revealing raod to walk when married to someone who has not grown up in the church. I can honestly say that Ben experiences Christlike freedom in ways that will take me years to get to because God is trying to undo in me a lot of what the church has instilled. I am not a heretic, I promise, but more on that another day.
So anyhooo, believe it or not, that's the short version. I am actully in VIRGINIA right now Friday the 15th, until the 24th. I am going to Charlottesville today through Sunday. Anyone have Martha's email address? Or Lashelle's? I'd LOVE to at least bring somebody a coffee and a hug. As for the rest of you NOVA'ers I want to find you, so perhaps a mass event like drinks or coffee in a central location could happen. CJ. you are good at this sort of organizing. Any ideas on where would be a good spot for an open-housey kind of check in point? My info is lizmwhite@yahoo.com or 540-347-7940. hope to find some of you guys this week!