God and Horton

Adam and I LOVE "Horton Hears a Who"... Well... maybe I LOVE "Horton Hears a Who." Adam graciously puts up with my obsession :) My nickname for him became "Horton" after we saw "Seussical the Musical" at OBU pretty early in our relationship and it's stuck. I even received a stuffed elephant for Valentines that hangs out on our bed even now!

Anyways, back to my point. The Mayor of Whoville and Horton "get in touch" pretty early in the movie. The Mayor quickly believes that Horton exists and that he is doing everything he can to protect the people of Whoville. But the hard part is convincing the rest of the people... Some people don't believe it until they hear Horton's voice! Bear with me. In our case, God is more similar to Horton and I think we are very similar to the people of Whoville. We are floating around on a speck of dust with no regard for the one sustaining our every breath. Something to think about...

Do you remember the part where the "Who's" have to yell so that Horton's friends will believe him? As loud as they can, the whole city of Whoville yells "We are here, we are here, we are here." I enjoy this part because I think the people of Whoville are just so cute and I love the sweet moment with the Mayor and his son. But it's also been stuck in my head lately because I think we should be listening to God saying the same thing to us! He is here, He is here, He is here... I've tried to make a habit of choosing to acknowledge His presence more intentionally each day.

Abba, I acknowledge you today. Thank you for sustaining my every breath. Help me to be more like Christ of Your presence in my life.

My Chains are Gone

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

So We Got Married!

"Our wedding will not be perfect. Ppl may not be impressed. But if God is glorified, it will be enough. #hardlessons"

I tweeted this on June 28, 16 days before our wedding. And I think we pulled it off. ;) My Dad said it perfectly when he said "God showed up and showed out." Needless to say, we LOVED our wedding day!!! Everything about it... from the surprisingly relaxing morning to sweet phone calls from dear friends who were away to saying "I do." I wouldn't have changed a thing! (Okay, fine. There were a couple of things I would have changed, but nothing major ;))

The day went by SO quickly. I found myself (especially during the ceremony) trying to slow my brain down and just take it all in. After the reception, Adam and I drove to Little Rock to our hotel. The drive was about an hour and we spent this time reveling in the fact we were married, sharing stories from the part of the day we spent apart, and making a list of things we wanted to specifically remember about the wedding! Adam also prayed over us and our marriage. It was a very sweet time and I wish I had a "videographic" memory to replay it over and over!

There are so many things that I wish I could share or express... Time is just too short and my vocabulary fails me! I'll close with this. The blessings, service, and encouragements poured out on us from sweet family and friends was nothing short of incredible. Few times have I felt and seen such love. Both sets of parents stayed up late finishing the reception decor on Friday night (while Adam and I "partied" at the Bachelor and Bachelorette parties no less). Grandparents traveled 5-13 hours to be with us. And we had the most amazing wedding party! They were awesome. The Groomsmen named themselves "the posse" and told Adam they'd do everything he needed. My bridesmaids picked things up for me, transported luggage, corseted my dress (unplanned), etc, etc. They were incredible. They are extremely special to me and I miss them dearly!

I'll try to post pictures when I have them. And there will be a Honeymoon post coming soon!

Pinteresting

I love Pinterest! I could sit there for hours just flipping through different boards and pictures pinning every other thing I see. But more than that, I love it when I'm able to try something from Pinterest! It's even better when I'm happy with the results :) So here are three of my recent Pinterest endeavors...

1) Beef Stroganoff. This was delicious and very simple!!! Adam said it may go in the top 5 of meals I've cooked for him. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and the leftovers are just as enjoyable! You can find this pin here. When she says "1/2 water," she means 1/2 cup. Also, I'm not a fan of anything hot/spicy, so I left out the paprika.

2) Tissue Paper Flowers. The directions are in the pin's picture here. We are using these with part of our center pieces at the reception. They're so easy and much cheaper than real flowers! I won't give away the whole centerpiece yet, but it's also from a Pinterest idea! Pictures of those will come after the wedding ;)

3) Dying shoes. The blog with directions can be found here. I wanted to use my laces, so I haven't done the elastic part. Admittedly, I was going for gray, but I'm still happy with my results and it was a quick/fun project!

Happy Pinteresting!

Quick Update: Pine Square 9

Adam and I are in the process of moving into our first apartment together! (Don't worry, only his stuff is here; he's still living at his buddy's place until after the wedding ;)) We are so thrilled with the apartment and things are becoming much more real as we approach the wedding day! I can't believe I'll have the privilege and joy of being his wife in only 8 days!!!

On the 4th, Adam's parents brought many of our wedding gifts that they've been graciously storing and helped us unpack. My parents will be here tomorrow with our furniture! We've been putting tape on the floor and trying to picture how it should be laid out, so we're anxious to see it in person.

Here's a sneak peak of our kichen!

The Wedding Dress

So... Our wedding is two weeks away! It's crazy that we are finally here and it's really going to happen! :) :) I pulled out my wedding dress this evening. My excuse was that it shouldn't be kept in the bag for too long... I really just wanted to look at it again. But as I was looking at it, I thought "I don't deserve to wear this dress. Am I really ready for the responsibility of marriage? Will I be able to be the wife Adam needs me to be? Will I be able to honor Christ in that role?"

I remembered that there is another white dress I don't deserve to wear. God, in His loving grace, reminded me of my salvation. He reminded me how He saw my sin and chose to send His Son... so that I could wear a white dress of righteousness instead of my filthy rags. And just like my wedding dress is adorned with jewels, He has adorned me with jewels because He has made me like His Son. He has made me an heir to the throne. He has blessed me with a grand inheritance. I am overwhelmed again by this glorious thought.

I believe that, in God's grace and kindness, He has led Adam and I to the marriage altar. I also believe that He will equip us daily with just what we need to fulfill our vows in obedience to Him. No, I don't deserve to wear this dress (which makes me all the more grateful). I am only ready because Christ has made me ready. No, I am not able to be the wife Adam needs... But Christ will enable me and teach me. And I will seek always to live in His strength so that I can honor Him through my role as a wife.

On Pleasing People

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Galatians 1:10

God loves irony, doesn't He? My devotional this morning was entitled "People Pleasers"... Okay, great. Good scripture from 1 Samuel and wasn't Saul crazy for trying to please his people instead of God?! Ha. Famous last words.

After reading, I hurried off to a meeting with our caterer and cake baker for the wedding. Little did I know that the meeting would stress me out! The ladies were very helpful and I'm so grateful for their input, but it sort of hit me all at once how much we have left to do for the wedding... So after this meeting, I stopped by Adam's office to have a quick "cool down" session. He, as usual, was patient and calm. He reminded me (again!) that our wedding is just one day. And we'll still be married at the end of it regardless of whether I have enough seat covers or not! I listened for the most part and said "I know, you're right" in the appropriate places, but apparently I didn't really get it because 5 minutes later I snapped at him over nothing! He was simply trying to help and I shut him down :(

I quickly apologized and Adam graciously forgave me. But later I remembered my devotional from earlier in the day... :/ Who am I trying to please for July 14?! My Mom? His Mom? All of our guests? Who am I kidding? I can't please ALL of those people!!! And I shouldn't even try. We believe that God brought us together for the purpose of marriage and because of that we are joyfully following His leading on July 14. The ONLY purpose for the day is to be married in obedience to Christ! What a relief :) I'm sure that these last couple of weeks until the wedding will not be easy. I will likely have another stress moment. But hopefully next time, I'll remember today's lesson before I snap at someone and before I lose my focus from His purposes.