Hello again!

Hey all! As you may have guessed, I'm married now! Nate and I have already been in our new apartment for a week (still settling in).

The honeymoon was great! We went to Victoria, British Columbia. The weather was perfect, we ate delicious food, and hit local attractions and oddities.

We are getting ready to leave for Thailand in a few weeks and then China (officially!) in August.

In honor of all the changes happening in our lives, Nate and I have started a new blog together.

Visit us at http://twopieceband.blogspot.com

I haven't decided if I will keep posting on this blog or not. I will let you know.

Two weeks from today...

I'll be married! The countdown is almost over! I think we started at 200 something and now it is down to 14!
I have been keeping busy lately with tons of wedding details. It's coming together now and I can finally see what it will look like. I'm so excited!
I'm also really excited to see family and friends that I have not seen for awhile.

Continue to pray for us as things will probably pick up the pace.

Snapshots

My mom, with the help of my sister, recently purchased a new camera for me! This is such a huge blessing! With big travels coming up and my desire to have a more advanced camera, it came at a great time. Here are some of the latest things that have been happening in my life:

Easter with the family!

Graduation!!!
Party with Nate, Molly, Jean and I.

Big Stuff

When I thought about graduating the thought of what else would be going on in my life never really occurred to me. I knew I'd be moving out on my own, looking for jobs, and that kind of thing. I never thought this much would be going on! It seems like the reality of what is about to happen just started really sinking in last weekend. Now, however, it feels a little surreal. Here is what is happening in my life right now:
Graduation-10 days
Wedding-38 days
Thailand Trip-8.5 weeks

A bit of exciting news! Nate and I have found jobs teaching overseas in Asia! Living overseas is never something we thought we'd be able to do for awhile, let alone right out of college. However, God is so amazingly good and has opened up a wonderful opportunity for us! Things are still not completely official, but it looks like we will go unless something crazy happens. If you would like to know more, please contact me personally. It's not top-secret or anything, I'm just trying to be careful with something that feels a delicate right now. And to think I worried so much!

More wedding information

Go here
Our Wedding website
There will also be a permanent link at the bottom of the page.

Thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount

I found this blog post on Jason Upton's website (Upton is one of my favorite worship leaders). This was written by Eberhardt Arnold.

How do we respond to the Sermon on the Mount? The Sermon on the Mount is
the first step on the way of discipleship, and it is of decisive importance to
me that our church consider this deeply. If we grasp the Sermon on the
Mount and believe it, then nothing can frighten us - neither our own
self-recognition, nor financial threats, nor our personal weakness.
The
dedication demanded in the Sermon on the Mount is not a new law or moral
teaching. Instead it is forgiveness. Its vital element is the light
and warmth of the Holy Spirit. Here is Christ: the essence of salt, and
the strength of the tree that bears good fruit. The Sermon on the Mount
shows us the character of a community, which shines like a light for the whole
world.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a high-tension moralism, but we must
grasp it as the revelation of God's real power in human life. If we take
our surrender to God seriously and allow him to enter our lives as light, as the
only energy which makes new life possible, then we will be able to live the new
life.

To read more visit this link

New Link

Hey all,
Sorry I'm boring. I'm not keeping up with blogging. Oh well. Such is life.
Anyway....
I'm going to Thailand this summer and our team is starting to blog. I've posted the link down at the bottom.
If you want to check us out go to http://thethailandexpress.blogspot.com

Let Every Heart

I am counting down the days to Graduation and my wedding. Everyone says and knows that this semester is going to go fast and yet we are still surprised that, in fact, it is. This is a interesting time in my life, a strange and significant time where their is a natural tension between making decisions and waiting.

This last week in my alone time and time with God, this theme that had been recurring in my mind was finally made clear. For some time this theme was just lingering there, kind of like background music. This theme is "Prepare Him Room".

I know it is not longer advent season, but somehow the words "Let every heart prepare him room" seem to resonate with me. I guess I'm in some sort of advent season. It's a time of waiting that is not empty or static, but is filled with hope and is preparatory. I know that somehow there is a change coming in my relationship with God. I feel that the answer to my often frenzied schedule and desire to somehow be less busy (a.k.a in charge) is going to be answered. I know it may look different than I expect, but I know that advent means that Christ is coming.

After long years of praying, serving, leading, and letting those things run me down instead of filling me up, I desire to be closer to God and I know I need it. I really want Christ to be the center of my life. I have let other things grab my attention and keep it. I have taken on responsibilities that may be good but not the best fit for me. I have let my own pride and zeal, along with things I really do enjoy, call the shots of what I am involved in.

So here I am. Tired. Ready to move on. Needing some time to reflect and be restored. And I feel called to "prepare him room". I don't know exactly what that will look like. I guess I'll be trying to listen to God and act boldly as I hash that out with Him. But I'm also really encouraged. God will bring me to that most necessary place of rest, 'shalom', and restored relationship with Him.