2017: the year my entire life changed. Engaged March 26, married May 26, and my husband was deported June 1 to South Africa as we were coming back from our honeymoon.
Yep, you read that right. All within a few months, the dreams of our new life together flipped upside down. And as someone with Type A personality and self-diagnosed OCD, it just about broke me.
But after more than a year sequestered to South Africa, Brad Straarup and I learned a lot about waiting. And we’re committed to helping others build a healthy marriage even in the midst of less-than-ideal circumstances.
And if you’re wondering, we’re still waiting for the day we’ll return to America together.
Marketing
Discover your why, learn your voice, and understand you're not alone.
In this digital age, there are millions of pieces of content being published every day. So how can you make sure people see your content? How can you make sure your voice is still heard?
I think you have something valuable to say. That's why I want to help you be you through social media.
Ministry
I’m a preacher’s wife. What?! If I could go back to high school and tell the 17-year-old Paige that she would marry a pastor, she would slap me in the face.
My parents raised me in a Christian home, I loved my church, and I would tell you I loved Jesus. Yet I lived most of my life asking “who am I?” and spent far too much time letting others dictate the answer.
My faith wake-up call came when I was 19 and lost my mom to cancer.
But when I lost my mom to cancer at age 19, it was my faith wake-up call.
Brenda Klein left a legacy of faith that no one could understand. She was terminally diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and given 6 months to live. In what doctors said would be the final 6 months of her life, she put her faith on display for our church and believed God would heal her. God did in fact heal her body of the cancer. Doctors couldn’t explain it and God was given all the glory. But when cancer returned to her body less than a year later, her faith didn’t waver. With another terminal diagnosis, she faced death full of faith, without fear or uncertainty. Even in her final weeks from the hospice bed, she greeted every day with joy and prayed prophetic prayers over every visitor there to comfort her. She passed away in August of 2013 and a whole auditorium of people gathered at Elevation Church to celebrate her life. We worshiped, danced, and received a message from God’s Word. Many gave their lives to Christ that day.
Through my mom’s final months on this earth I learned something about faith. Faith isn’t always believing for our best case scenario. Real faith is trusting God’s scenario is always the best-case.
One of my greatest blessings came out of losing my mom when Lysa Terkeurst stepped in to be a guiding voice in my life. Lysa invited me in to her family like her very own. She brought me to speaking engagements and family vacations. She offered me a social media internship at Proverbs 31 Ministries when I was facing depression in college. And through it all, Lysa taught me what ministry looks like when you’re truly passionate about God’s Word.
5 years later, it’s easy to see the way God used my pain for His purpose. Losing my mom led to surrendering my faith to God in a real way. Which led to learning from Lysa. Which led to discovering my passion for social media. Which led me to meeting my husband.
Through every new season of life, I’m reminded to step back and look at the big picture of all God has done. Because often it brings much-needed perspective on that hardship you’re facing right now.
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This life is too short to go it alone. Let’s learn together!
Follow along with me:
Instagram: @paigestraarup
YouTube: Brad x Paige
Twitter: @paigestraarup
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xx
Paige
