Showing Off

Christian and I have recently been noticing how God has just been loving this opportunity to show off his creation. This fall has been just so beautiful! I think that we can both officially say that Fall is our favorite season. Days like today are just perfect. Cold, crisp, and still managing to be sunny and beautiful. I am so thankful for this season, not just the literal season, but for this season of life. Being engaged to the best man ever, anticipating the wedding day, getting ready to graduate from university, and getting things ready to move across the country and get Christian into Bible college. I just can't emphasize it enough just how excited I am for Christian to finally be able to study the thing that he has the greatest passion for: Jesus, and the Bible. I can almost see him bouncing his knee up and down as he thinks about how great that it will be for him to learn all of these great things! So, Emmaus-ites, prepare yourselves. ;-)
Also, the latest and greatest thing that Christian and I have been up to is going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Not kidding, that is the best program EVER! We have learned so much, and we are only three video's into it. The best part is, not only do we love learning these great pieces of wisdom about finances, but we love watching and learning it together! Christian has been amazing. He has already written up a budget sheet, and is always on top of making sure that we stay in step with the program and watching the videos whenever we have the chance. I am so thankful for his initiating and his persistence in making sure that this gets done. God has blessed me richly with this man. :-) (Sorry, cheesy moment.)

So, this part is a little more random, but I have a song that is one of my absolute favorites. It's by Big Daddy Weave, and every time that I hear it, I get what I call, "God bumps". This is where I feel the Holy Spirit in me responding to a moment of real appreciation of God's glory and majesty, and I get all choked up realizing just how small I am, how great my God is, and how, despite all of my shortcomings and sub-par performances in my life, the Lord still knows me, and cares about my deepest, desperate needs. The lyrics of the chorus to one of BDW's songs is,
"He made the lame walk, and the dumb talk. He opened blinded eyes to see that the sun rises on His time, yet He knows my deepest, desperate need... I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus live through you and me?"
I took these pictures earlier today, because the view on my drive home was just this amazing. Like I said, God has no shame in showing off what he's made. ;-)
"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him." - Colossians 1:16

Autumn in a Cup

I love waking up on mornings like this. Mornings where the sun is shining its rays through the light fog. It's quiet and still, and I can step outside in one of my favorite fall outfits, and see my breath as I hold my warm coffee cup in my hand while the sun warms my face. Happiness.

The last couple of months have been a real flurry. Time has gone by so fast, and I find myself today being hit with the realization that in a mere two months from today, I will marry my best friend and love. How amazing. I am torn between thinking that two months is just too long, and thinking that two months is going to fly by faster than I realize. It's hard to try to take everything in, knowing that this is possibly my last fall in Oregon, either forever, or at least for a really long time. I'm trying to memorize the views from my drives home from various destinations, jamming my schedule with spending vast quantities of time with family and friends that I love and will miss dearly. It's hard to not get emotional, thinking about leaving what has literally been my home for twenty-two years. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a Starbucks on PSU campus, getting all choked up. Anyone who knows me, knows that I never cry publicly. How about I focus on how good my nonfat chai latte tastes...Mmmm... There we go. Much better.

While life remains crazy and time is getting shorter, I really have to direct attention to the One who is orchestrating our adventurous lives: God. The Lord has literally carried this whole process. In retrospect of everything that Christian and I have gone through to get to this time is innumerable. I'm completely positive that there are even more innumerable things that He has done that I have failed to notice. I have seen Him work in people's hearts. For example, our professors in terms of setting our finals one-to-two weeks before finals week, just because... Without us even asking! That is just one example out of my a-fore said, "innumerable" blessings. If you are interested in hearing more, I would love to share them. God's goodness and faithfulness is something that I just cannot hesitate to talk about.

I think that I will close with some prayer requests, just in case anyone thinks of us and would like to pray.
1) That Christian and I would be able to focus on our schooling and the present. It's so much easier to think of the future: our family and friends coming into town, our wedding day, honeymoon, moving to Iowa, Emmaus. But we have to remember that we are still in the here and now, and our most current duty is to our studies (ick...). 2) That the Lord would prepare us mentally, physically and spiritually for each other. That He would prepare us to love, serve and bless one another to the best of our abilities, and that through our marriage, be a shining light for Him. 3) That the Lord would provide us with a home, and I (or both of us) with a job(s) that would allow me (primarily) to take care of our needs while Christian is in school. 4) That God would provide a good group of friends (and church) for us to encourage us, hold us accountable and build us up spiritually and in our marriage. 5) That Christian and I would be able to have the time and means to bless and encourage others with the use of our home. We both love to be hospitable, love to have people over for food, coffee, games, just talking, etc. Also, that people would feel the freedom to come over and spend time with us doing whatever. This is the area that we are most excited about, and also the area where we both feel probably the most intimidated. What if people don't accept us? What if our place is too small? What if we can't afford it? What if our schedules don't allow it? As far as the schedule thing, the first and utmost priority is that Christian and I have time together, just for each other. While this comes first, we would still really like the have the time for others, too.

Thank you, everyone who has read this, and has been/is/and will be praying for us. Prayer and thanksgiving are so crucial to everything we do, and God does listen and He does care, because it's all for His glory. :-)
"You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." -2 Cor. 1:11