Our Wedding Highlights! 10.10.15

Jesus strengthens

I just read this from the website Desiring God. I found it to be a sobering reminder of Jesus' time here on earth, and the trials, temptations and struggles HE faced. Yet, HE continued to trust in God's plan and live accordingly.

And it is HE who strengthens me when I face trials, challenges and struggles. Glory be to HIM.

"All his life he was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He stayed the course even when sweat came like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). He could have called twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53), but he had the wherewithal to not rebut the false charges (Matthew 27:14) or defend himself (Luke 23:9). When reviled, he did not revile in return (1 Peter 2:23). They spit in his face and struck him; some slapped him (Matthew 26:67). They scourged him (Matthew 27:26). In every trial and temptation, “he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), and at the pinnacle of his self-control he was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). And he is the one who strengthens us (1 Timothy 1:12;Philippians 4:13).

In Jesus, we have a source for true self-control far beyond that of our feeble selves."

Our Engagement Story...

What a whirlwind life has been the last 3 weeks! I'm finally getting around to writing about our engagement for those of you who want to know all the fun details :) Sorry it's sort of long!

Back in December, Bryce and I had a very helpful conversation - a soft timeline of our relationship's future. Considering the direction of our relationship, we talked about getting engaged sometime in the summer. To me, I interpreted that as May - August. A big window of time, but also helpful as to know the direction of our relationship with as little detail as possible.

In February, Bryce  invited me to his end-of-April family reunion in Pensacola. It's about a 7 hour drive from Orlando, so Bryce and I planned to drive up together -  meaning I knew he was coming to Orlando first. He booked a ticket, and sent me the itinerary for Sunday April 26th. However, after sending me this itinerary, Bryce cancelled it and rebooked a ticket for Saturday April 25th! So sneaky and covering all his bases!

The end of March, one of my best friends - Chelsea DawTyne - called me to say she wanted to come visit! Her frequent flyer miles from United were expiring and she also knew I was planning to move back to Michigan in the Fall. She played it off, asking me what weekend worked best for me - knowing really only the weekend of April 25th worked for me. And she knew I'd be excited for her to meet Bryce, because I knew he was coming too. Little did I know, they had emailed, texted and Skyped a few times since early February!

So the weekend arrived. Friday around 6pm, I picked Chelsea up from the airport. We talked and laughed and ate till past midnight. It's always so life giving with her!

Chelsea and me kayaking hours before the proposal

Saturday April 25th. In the morning, Chelsea and I went over to my friend Taylor's house to kayak for a little while. Bryce and told me he would be "helping a freshman move out of his dorm, so texting would be minimal." Aka: he would be flying to Orlando. Ironically, Bryce stays with Taylor when he comes to visit... and we were still there when he landed!! So Taylor dropped Bryce off at Peter's house, another friend in Orlando.

After our kayaking adventure, Chelsea persisted we get our nails done. I was sort of opposed to it because I didn't want to have my nails done in case Bryce would propose during his time here in Orlando! Silly, I know... but true!  I caved because I had a gift certificate for a nail place I needed to use before moving. I also didn't think too much about it because Chelsea is a cosmetologist and has to have her nails done because they would get frail with all the shampoos and water usage. It "just so happened" to be time to get her nails redone.

She went first, so I gave Bryce a quick call while I waited for another nail technician to be available.  We only chatted for 5 minutes or so, and I remember getting off the phone feeling a little bummed that he seemed tired or apathetic. Little did I know, he had barely slept the night before, and had flown down to surprise me! 

Chelsea and I eventually finished with our nails - which was sort of a stressful experience for me, and left us running late for our dinner plans with another dear friend of mine, Patty Walsh. Looking back, Chelsea was very nonchalant about encouraging me to dress up and do my hair. I later found out, she grabbed a dress from my closet for me just in case I wanted to change later. Again, I didn't think too much about it, because she's a stylish cosmetologist :)  

My dear friend Patty Walsh

 We eventually headed to the area of town to meet up with Patty. She asked to be picked up because she "had been dropped off at Azalea park by her roommate, so she could get some time with the Lord" or something like that. It striked me as odd, but again, not thinking too much about it. I honestly was still a little annoyed with the nail experience, and felt bad we were late to meeting up with Patty.

Once Chelsea and I arrived, Patty some how got us out of the car "because she wanted to show us this pretty view". We ventured into the park, observing all the dressed up students taking Prom pictures - another distraction. We came around this large bush, and I quickly noticed we were about to step in the line of vision of a photographer. I sort of put my arms out to block Chelsea and Patty, while at the same time doing a double take. I realized I knew her - and at the same time, as if in slow motion, I saw Bryce out of the corner of my eye, coming from the opposite direction.
 
"What are you doing here!" I asked, as if I didn't believe what was happening. 

He just smiled and reached for my hands. He then went on to share some really sweet things, then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! 

"Yes!" I said as both of our hands were shaking with excitement and emotion. Haha, he even started to put the ring on my wrong hand! We laughed and got it figured out :)

I love my pear-shaped ring!

 We took a few more pictures, and then my friends left, so we could have some alone time and then head to dinner. 


But first, we kissed - my first kiss ever! It was special and sweet. And right after, Bryce said he might faint - like he literally almost fell over out of fatigue, emotion, and hunger. After resting a little bit on a bench, we headed to dinner, making calls along the way to our parents and siblings.

After a quick dinner, we headed back to Patty's house, for what I thought was a small bonfire. It actually was a surprise engagement party for us! About 30 sweet friends had come to celebrate our new engagement. We got to share our story and then they prayed over us. It was so sweet and I felt so loved!

So thankful for all these wonderful Orlando friends who came out to celebrate with us!

 

SPAIN: 3 flights there, a handful of days inbetween, and then 3 flights back... all with MOM

Tomorrow, I head to the STINT Midyear conference in Spain. I would love your prayers! I have 3 flights to the Spain location - which makes for a long day plus the adjustment to the new timezone (6+ hours difference). I've also come down with the start of a sore throat - so prayers for health would be greatly appreciated! Traveling while sick is just no fun.

What makes this trip a little more fun, is that my MOM will be joining me! We'll "rendezvous" in Detroit before heading over to Europe.

Because I know the conference planner and I also knew she was looking for childcare workers, MOM was asked to come and be the point person for all of childcare. So during the off times, I can spend some time with MOM in Spain! That's pretty exciting for me because most of my travel I do alone - so it will be fun to have a friend with me for the fun parts :)

My teammate Dave, and I will be meeting with our STINT teams as well as connecting with other teams who may be interested to be trained in ways of using the Jesus Film app in their ministry during the second semester.

Please pray our week is fruitful for the Kingdom!