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.

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

I'm engaged!!!

Hey everybody, guess what? I'm engaged! Really! God is so good. I am amazed at God's faithfulness and kindness in our relationship and in how he has brought us together and lead us.
I know that some of you have heard already but may not have heard the story. I will now tell it to you with the help of a photo montage.
Sunday night, the 21st, Jean, one of my best friends and former roommate, asked me if I would come pray with her after chapel. She told me she had borrowed the key from our Campus Pastor for Heritage hall, the original chapel and a room frequently used for prayer meetings. I agreed. Jean and I have been long time prayer partners and it seemed normal. So I went up to heritage hall at 10:00pm, the time Jean said she would be up there. I arrived and on the front of the door was a note with my name on it. I opened it up and it said "Go to 4th floor". My heart started pounding! I returned to the staircase and as I climbed there were notes on the steps that said things like, "Keep going!", "Almost there," "A little farther". The door at the top of the stairs said "Open me." I went in and there was another sign with an arrow pointing to The Gathering Place (our super cool guest suite and meeting place. It has the most comfortable furniture on campus!). I went in and one of my favorite chairs was facing the t.v. The chair had a sign instructing me to sit there and the dvd player had a note that said "push play". I sat down and pushed play. The song "Praise you" by fatboy slim started playing. Nate had made a slide show of pictures chronicling our whole relationship along with slides narrating the whole thing. At the very end of the video, as the music died out, the words on the screen read, "And now all I'm wondering is what she will say..."
Then he came out from the hallway where he was hiding. He came to my side, got down on one knee, and asked if I wanted to get married...to him! I had already been crying, but now I was weeping! I said "YES!" through my tears and laughter.
I asked him how he did everything and if Jean helped him make all the signs. He said he had a lot of help and then got up and turned on the light. Suddenly, our closest friends burst through the door leading to the fire escape. They all came in with those party blower things. We hugged and laughed and cried. They had made some special brownies (see below), mostly for my amusement. We then had a tiny engagement party!
Ok, so I'll label the pictures a little bit, but I think you can figure it our for the most part.

Cayla, David, and Jean waiting on the fire escape.



zRight after they came in. I'm still crying. Nate is excited!
Our friend Molly coming to congratulate us!

Reading the card our friends wrote for us.


The fun brownies.



Molly and Jean decided to celebrate by wearing the Ugly Sweaters we made together this summer.
Whitney and Melissa!

Thanks friends!

Here is the question to the first question we are typically asked now: May 23rd, 2009. At least within a few days of that date. That is our tentative dates, it depends on our venue(s).

Personal Record

It's 5:23 in the morning. I just finished a paper for my doctrine class. I started it today.
I've never put off a paper this far in my life (record #1).
I've never stayed up this late doing homework (record #2).
I've never been this awake at 5:25 and I haven't even had caffeine (record #3).

Never has record breaking been so exhausting.

Praise the Lord for Spring Break in a few days!!!

Be informed

I get to vote this year and am trying to make the most of it. I'm still seeking out information on candidates and I strongly encourage you to do the same.

Check out these websites for more information:

www.glassbooth.org- Take quizes to find out which candidates you agree/disagree with and why.

www.rockthevote.com

Pray for the Middle East

Check out this article from the BBC Turkish MPs back attacks in Iraq.

Current Events: Israel and the Middle East

If you don't know what is going on with Israel or don't care read this article: Escalation ripples through Middle East .

Throughout history Israel has been in a almost constant skirmish with other nations (in fact Israel means 'he struggles with God'). In recent years the main disputes have been territorial and mostly with the Palestinians. Though there were concessions made about a year ago there is no peace. I really don't know why anyone expected there would be. Then Hamas, a political group dedicated to destroying Israel, took control of parliament, and therefore the government, back in January. Thing heated up again when Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier and Israel responded by firing on Government buildings in Palestine. As a result of Israel's actions many Palestinians are living without electricity or clean water and many have gone weeks, if not months, without any kind of pay. Surely, the poorest of the poor are suffering the most.

Now Israel is blaming Hezbollah for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. It's a great time to be an Israeli soldier (sarcasm). As a result, Israel is bombing airports, main roads, and other means of transportation/commerce. As the article mentioned, things could easily spiral out of control all across the middle east and ,in turn, the world.
I believe that though tensions might ease for awhile the conflict is far from over and peace is not even close to being a reality, but it is a distant hope for now. It's going to get worse over all before it gets better.

And with that being said it is time to pray. In Isaiah, God speaks to the prophet concerning Israel. God knows the extreme trials that Israel has been through and will go through as well as the fear they face and the violence they are using. God tells Isaiah to bring His words to the people to comfort them.

Isaiah 40 (NIV)
Comfort for God's People

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level,the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?"

"All men are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,

go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,

lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

say to the towns of Judah,

"Here is your God!"

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,

and his arm rules for him.

See, his reward is with him,

and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales

and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,

or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,

and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge

or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales;

he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

they are regarded by him as worthless

and less than nothing.

18 To whom, then, will you compare God?

What image will you compare him to?
19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A man too poor to present such an offering

selects wood that will not rot.

He looks for a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,

no sooner are they sown,

no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 "To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,

and complain, O Israel,

"My way is hidden from the LORD;

my cause is disregarded by my God"?

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Like Isaiah, it is time for us to pray for the comfort and peace of Jerusalem on God's terms. It is time to cry out and tell them that "all men are like grass", that this life is just a breath, just a moment. The only peace is God's peace.

"But if [Israel's] transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!" Romans 11:12