Wedding Craze

I think I'm officially about to burst internally. Three of my best girls are all engaged with one of them about to get married very soon. I am soooo excited for all of them. It's almost a little crazy on my part, but I really cannot help it. My life with David is so incredibly amazing, more than I could ever have imagined, and I want the same experience for them. I want them to have all of the goodness that comes after the wedding too--minds out of the gutter, I mean the being married to your best friend part. (I may focus on this in a later blog, but today, it's all about the wedding.)

Things I love about weddings:

Romance

Bling

Beautiful dresses

Cake

Bling

Planning everything

Love

Flowers

Dancing

Being sentimental

Bling

Getting the hair done

Shopping a lot for all of the stuff

The vows
Bling

So, congratulations to my buddies. I'm so happy for you :)

P.S. I am a little obsessed with diamonds...trying not to be, but they're so pretty.
P.P.S. My next job will be as a wedding planner. It's decided.

Shopping

I finally did it. I went shopping. This may not seem very exciting to some people, but let's just say it's been a reeeeeaaaaallllllly long time since I have bought anything new. (Engagement+Moving to CA+Job Transitions+Higher Cost of Living+Wedding+Honeymoon+Car Repairs+Buying a House=No cash to shop)

I didn't go crazy--I just bought a few new things, so that I don't feel like a total style-less shlub as I have been feeling lately. It's nice to feel nice. The end. :)

LUKE

I am jazzed. I'm talking jazz hands level of jazzed-ness. Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is starting a three year series (yes, count them...1, 2, 3 years!) on the book of Luke. David and I are committed to following the study by watching the Mars Hill podcast every week. I have not been this excited about the Bible in a while.

I feel like this is a huge opportunity to learn in depth about Jesus and all of the goodness that is recorded throughout the book of Luke. I've felt stuck lately when reading the scriptures, like I'm not uncovering or understanding anything new. I've just been reading....which leads to not reading because it's not meaningful. (I know you just gasped right then. A leader on a church plant team, and she said the Bible wasn't meaningful!) Am I an awful Christian or what? I'll go with "or what." Thank God for grace.

Anyway, back to Luke. This past Sunday was just covering Luke 1:1-4.

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

You may be asking, "What in the world did that guy preach on out of this verse (for over an hour!)?" Trust me. In the words of my good friend Ruby--bomb.com. I learned more in that hour than I feel like I've learned in a really long time. (Disclaimer--this excludes Sundays at Remnant where I do learn a lot but am often very distracted with volunteer duties throughout the worship experience.)

My challenge to you: If your Bible study time has slid into being just Bible reading time which will slide into your Bible not reading time, join us for the 3 year study through Luke. Let me know if you decide to do it. I think I'll be posting about what I'm learning quite a bit.

Did I mention that I'm jazzed?

Identity

So, David and I have been talking a lot about identity lately. Since moving to CA, I feel like we have both really been struggling with trying to figure out our identities. This is mostly because in the past we linked our identities more with what we did than who we are. Now that we don't do the things we used to do, especially in the church, we are feeling a little aimless and more than a little insignificant.

I blogged about finding my sweet spot a while ago. This is connected to that issue. I am trying to understand that even if I am doing small tasks right now for the kingdom that don't look (in my eyes) like they are meaningful and that don't feel like my sweet spot, that I as a person am still significant. I am trying to understand that my worth to the church is not based just on what I can give but also who I am. AND, I am trying to understand that if God has entrusted me with a role, no matter how small, it is what He has for me and that is enough. Where satan really wants to go with the negative thoughts here is that if I am not doing much than it would mean that I am no one. That is a lie, and I recognize it when I say it outright like this.

This all seems easier to write than to believe though. How do I disconnect who I am (my identity) from what I do (my contributions/tasks)?

Just wanted you to know

I found out a few nights ago that a very dear Christian woman went home to the Lord. It was quite a shock because we haven't even seen each other in probably 10 years. However, I am eternally grateful to her.

When I was a freshman in high school, my friend Liz invited me to attend a Christian youth conference called Acquire the Fire. Her mom, Laurie, took us to the conference. Even though I had been to church sporadically as a child, I had never heard about the need for a relationship with Jesus. I gave my life to Christ at that conference. I spent quite a bit of time with Liz and her family during that year or so of my life. I had never seen what a Christian family looked like, and they provided such an amazing example. Even now when I think about how I want my own family to look one day, I imagine them. Her death has really made me reflect on how beautiful the promises of God are. He is faithful and true. His word stands forever. I am excited to see her in heaven one day. She will be greatly missed here and now though.

I wrote to her shortly before she passed away to let her know what an impact she had on me. Kind of a "Just wanted you to know..." moment. It made me think, "Why didn't I do this before?" I guess I'm learning to express my heart to those who are important to me. Laurie's death was unexpectedly hard for me. It also made me reflect on the legacy that I want to leave behind. Hers is so marked by impact for Jesus. How amazing!

So, that was a lot. I would love to hear your reactions and thoughts on any or all of it.

One Year

Wow. David and I will have been married for one year on Sunday, August 23. I can't believe it has already been a year, and yet, it seems like it has been so much longer than a year. I decided to write a top 10 list of things I've learned about marriage and David...here it goes:

10. Being married to the right person is a natural step. (People told me before marriage how much we would have to work through and deal with in order to get along. That wasn't the case for us. We just fit together after marriage. It has been easy.)

9. Being married to your best friend is fun. (Of course we argue once in a while, but it has been the most fun I've ever had living with anyone. Everything is better when I am with him.)

8. David snores only if he goes to sleep with his arms flung up over his head. (At first, I was polite and waited a while to see if he would stop snoring. Now if he lays down with his arms above his head, I make him move them right away.)

7. Dating after you are married is important. (Even though we see each other all the time, we still need isolated, concentrated time that is designated just for being with each other.)

6. David knows how to have a good balance in life of work and relaxation. (I tend to work myself really hard and then crash and not want to do anything. He understands the importance of pacing life, so you enjoy it along the way.)

5. Serving someone is much easier when you really love them. (I don't mind doing chore-like tasks for him. I don't mind doing chore-like tasks for him that I don't even want to do for myself.)

4. You need to splurge once in a while. (I totally understand financial constraints. It has been, by far, the poorest year of my life financially because of the wedding, move, and cost of living increases. However, we've found little ways to splurge and just treat ourselves. It's important because you just need to feel a little special every once in a while.)

3. God is the glue. (I cannot understand non-Christian marriages. I don't understand how they survive. David and I have a common view of life and marriage because we have a standard to look at in the Bible. We learn to love each other through God.)

2. David eats a lot. (I have had to adapt the amount of food I cook. I cannot cook just two portions because we are two people. David eats at least twice what I do...easily....and is still not full.)

1. Falling in love isn't just for people who are dating. (I am so much more in love now than I was even a year ago. My love for David is deeper, richer, and more powerful than I knew a year ago that it could be. I know more and more how blessed I am to have such an amazing man as my husband.)

I'm excited for our second year together!

Advice

Alright my blog friends, I need some advice.

Several years ago, I had one of those very best of friends kind of friends. She was (hopefully still is) a Christian. We had some pretty strong disagreements about the paths we were each taking in life, and slowly, our friendship just dissolved. It got to the point that she didn't even invite me to her wedding, and we haven't been in contact for at least 4 years.

I was looking back through some pictures and kind of got nostalgic thinking about all of the fun we had and how close we were. Now, I'm wondering if I should try and get in contact with her. It is a situation where the hurt caused was very deep. I have forgiven her, but I don't think we would ever go back to being how we used to be. Too much has been said. Is it worth trying to find her to let her know I love her and hope everything is okay? Should I just let it be? I don't want to find her only to make things weird or hear that she doesn't want anything to do with me now.

What do you think?