Sam and Elena met on CatholicMatch and celebrated their one-year anniversary Dec. 19. Now they’re focusing on decorating their Fairhope, Ala., home and gradually pressing toward their career goals – an effort that requires patience and trust in God.
Sam, 35, just took a job with Keller Williams Realty, based in Austin. He’ll be working out of the Fairhope branch, serving the gulf coast and all of Baldwin County. He’s excited about the job.
“I feel strongly about correctness in housing – that involves design, construction, location, and price,” Sam said. “I enjoy helping people and appreciate attaining peoples' trust and confidence in allowing me to assist them in finding housing that fulfills their needs, desires, and dreams.”
Still, for all the enjoyment he gets in realty, Sam’s real passion is theology, and he’s hoping to one day study it at the Ph. D. level, opening up more opportunities for him to work for the church. He knows he’s many steps away from that stage.
“I get restless,” Sam said. “I’d like to go back to school right now. Even if you enjoy a job, if you don't feel that it's fulfilling, it's not ideal. It may not be your dream, but when you want to take care of your family, that comes first, and you have to do what you have to do to get to your dream. I trust that God will indicate to me the right time to get to that goal, be it go back to school for another degree, possibly in theology, or becoming part of the permanent diaconate, or whatever I can do to serve Him best.”
Counting on God
Likewise, Elena is holding out for the dream job. The 34-year-old has a master’s in applied linguistics and is currently working from home as a test rater for multiple English-as-a-second-language tests at Princeton’s Educational Testing Service.
“It has come in handy during our first year of marriage," she said, "seeing as the nearest university is around 45 minutes away and I am just beginning as a homemaker – finally!”
Elena dreams of one day writing and teaching writing to college students. She envisions bylines in various publications, a newspaper column, maybe even a biography. “I love words,” she said. “I love using words like I'm painting the white space with sound.”
Until she gets to a point where she’s a full-time writer, Elena is adopting a similar attitude as Sam’s. “I enjoy every moment and try to see that the present is all we have to work with. I know that you really do get everything you want in life, if you're in line with God's will, you just don't get it all at one time, or at the time you think you want it.”
Further reading
Want a taste of Elena’s writing? Check out the success story she wrote for “Faith, Hope & Love.”
