I am taking a break from talking about the wedding, about me, about us, and what is going on. This is something that has really burdened me as I have been watching (or not watching) the news the past few days.

This may offend, but Scripture was never intended to make us feel good about ourselves. Jesus came to bring division between those made righteous by His blood, and those not (Luke 12:49-51).

How it saddens me that this culture that we live in is so deceived. How is it that a pop singer can die and not only take up all the news coverage for days on end, but for millions of people to mourn obsessively over him, his life, his "legacy", his death?!?! Oh how it ANGERS me to no end.

There is a Sovereign, Righteous, Just, and Holy God who is jealous for our affection!!!! He is jealous about praise and adoration!!!! How have we as a society, even Christians, forgotten this?!?!?

How sad and utterly pathetic it is that we will so gladly spend hours watching the funeral and memorial services of a man, but we refuse to spend time in His Word, giving worship to the ONLY ONE who is deserving!?!?!? It is wrong because it is idolatry. It is wrong because we are misplacing our love and affections on the wrong thing. We are in every sense, storing up treasures on earth, instead of in the Kingdom of eternity.

Eternity is calling us. The Lord is awaiting...He is long suffering, yet He is jealous for His Bride, and He will NOT tolerate the wandering affections of His Bride. May we come to a place of the knowledge of His Righteousness and Justice. May we see ourselves for who we are in light of His Holiness, for when we do, if we do, we will not bow to a man, but to The Man who is sitting on the throne. May we joyfully bow now, for if we don't, one day, one GLORIOUS day, we will be forced to, along with all men, all spirits, under heaven and in heaven.

May we meditate on Him. May we use this Michael Jackson thing as a reminder that what the world deems as important, is not in the Kingdom. We have been called to be lights, to be salt, and to stand for Righteousness. May we not live short of His calling.

Jeremiah 23:29

"Is not my Word like a fire?", says the Lord, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?"

Ezekiel 1:27

Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.

Hosea 6:1-3

Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.

Wedding Stuff!!

Well, a lot of the wedding details are coming together! I'm so excited. Mostly, it just fills my heart with joy to know that I will walk down the aisle to the man who The Lord so sovereignly designed me to be partnered with for as long as He gives me breath. This fact alone is what makes planning this wedding so easy. I could careless about flowers, cake, shoes, hair, etc., because at the end of the day, I will be his and he will be mine...and no flowers, cake, or shoes, can even compare to that!

Planning has been a little hard being that my parents have been out of town due to my grandmother's hospital visit. So, please keep that situation in prayer. She is in her late nineties, and age is having it's effect. We know that The Lord is in control and His timing is perfect, so we rest in that, never the less, it has been hard on my parents, who have so freely given of their time to my grandparents.

Well, I thought I'd post the pictures of the bridesmaids dresses along with the flower girl dresses, and the unity candle I made. I saw some of the unity candles that came pre-made..and I thought, "I can do a much better job, and for way less than what they're charging!!" So, I got my hot glue gun and got to work.

Here are some pics of the dresses:

I am glad Ruth was so willing to come meet me at David's Bridal and try on this dress. She loved it, and that was enough for me! It was the first dress she tried on, and she ordered it right then and there! I love you girl!!! You're so beautiful!!

Here is the flower girl dress:

Here are two of my flower girls..I love them so much! I also nanny these two angels!!

And, lastly, here is the unity candle I made! I guess the camera was crooked, but you get the idea anyway!

I am so thrilled right now. I have been trying to come up with a new idea for a post, but alas, all I can think about is my dear husband-to-be! So, we can talk about that for now!

We met with Hank Marion, my former pastor who will be doing our pre-marital counseling, as well as the wedding itself, and we think we have a date set! We are shooting for November 7th. I couldn't be happier! A lot of the details as far as church, my dress, my bridesmaids dresses, invitations, flowers, cake, etc. have been decided on already! I can't wait for November to get here...guess what? It's only FIVE months away!!!

The proposal, cont'd.

I feel the need to preface this post by saying that I am still in shock and in awe. My emotions are all over the place, so my writing may not clearly convey all that happened, and for that I'm sorry! I just figured that this would be the easiest and fastest way to let everyone know how he did it.

Poor guy! Everything he had planned, went wrong, according to him. I of course, loved every minute of how it actually turned out. He had planned on recording some songs with Rob on Friday and Saturday, but he got sick, and began to lose his voice Friday morning. He was not happy!!! So, we spent all day Friday and Saturday away from each other because "he had stuff to do". I thought he was going to propose, but I wasn't 100% sure, so I just went and did my thing. But, let's be honest, those two days without him were awful and I hated being away from him!

So, Sunday rolls around, and again, nothing goes according to his plan. He could barely sing for church! So, I assumed nothing was going to happen because he had mentioned over and over how disappointed that the most romantic weekend of his life was ruined...so I just played cool and (tried to) acted normal.

We had a church picnic we had to go to, so we went to that. All the while both of us were trying not to act disappointed in what "could have been..." Lol!!!

To make a very long story short, when we left the picnic, we went to his house to try to relax and watch a movie and eat dinner. However, he had different plans!!!!

I was trying to sit in his lap and just give him a much needed hug, and he told me to sit down on the couch because he had something for me...my heart started to BEAT SO FAST!!!! Still, though, I was trying not to expect anything!!!

He handed me packet of typed papers stapled together and told me to begin to read them. He reiterated that his plans did not go accordingly, and that he was so sorry for that. I didn't care!!! I began to read...the title made me cry!! "Our journey to one" GRRR!!! I was already emotional!

He had taken all of our most memorable and significant moments in our relationship and paired them with verses, songs that he had written me, and how it related to his life prior to me, etc. It was amazing. Essentially, his plan A was to have me do this love journey on my own in my car, going to various spots that meant a lot to us, all while listening to a CD he recorded of his songs that he wrote about and that he wrote for me. Then, I was going to end up at the park and the lake and he'd propose there. But, we did this sitting on the couch, side by side, and imagined all of it. Believe you me, it was so special to have him with me. I'm so glad it ended up this way because it was a really wonderful moment to share.

He used a hymn by William Cowper called, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" to set the stage. He divided each verse and told why he felt that song had relevance with us. The 4th verse, "behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face" has always been what he has said to me..that I'm his smiling face behind everything that was bad and that if he had to go through everything again to get to this point, he'd do it. He has also made me several cards calling me his pearl of great price that he'd sell everything for in order to just have that one pearl...me! It was so amazing. Then, he used Song of Solomon. And as you know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE that book! I love the symbolism, and so what better way to express love to the woman you're asking to be your bride than by comparing it to the ultimate example...Jesus and the Church!

I feel like I'm skipping over so much stuff, so I'll fill in the gaps later, I just wanted everyone to know the basics of what happened.

So, then when we finished reading it, I was still not sure he was going to do it because he just sat there for about 5 minutes...and I was like, "Okay..awkward!!! What do I say?" Then, he hit one knee and said the sweetest words I've ever heard anyone say, "So, with all my heart, will you marry me?" And, he pulled out the ring I wanted...a pearl!! A pearl of great price! I was speechless, as I am now even as I write this. I couldn't even utter a word, but all I could do was hug him. At this point, I was on the verge of sobbing and completely breaking down into those tears you can't control...you know what I'm talking about!!! And he was crying too...which made it even harder for me to not break down. I wanted to at least be able to speak to him!! Literally all we could do was just cry and hug...it was so SWEET and tender. I loved it and am still in shock. So, I'm going to leave it at that. I'll write more soon, but it's hard for me to sit down and write this now, because there are just so many emotions!!! I can't believe it! I'm so happy!!!

So....You all know by now, we're engaged!!!!! I will write more on this posting tomorrow, but for now, this will have to do. I am so excited!!!!! Can't wait to share all the details about one of the most sweet and precious moments of my life!

Just sharing

I found this in Ronald's computer, and thought I'd put it up. I realized that I don't want this to just be a blog where I sound "super spiritual", but it needs to be a place to just "journal", as Adrienne said. So, here is one of my fave pics of us. Rob had two extra tickets to opening day for the Astros in April, and he invited us! It was so much fun. We lost of course, but who cares about those little details!! I'm going to be better at taking pictures and putting them up, I hope!!

The best guy ever!!

What you mean to me:

I just wanted to brag a bit on Ronald!! I know everyone who reads this knows how amazing he is, but nevertheless, it can't hurt!

This week was your birthday, and it gave me such joy to have a specific day set aside to make you feel so special and adored. It was nothing short of a privilege and honor to make this day all about you.

So, Ronald, thank you for being an amazing man who loves the Lord first with everything you have in you. Everything you do is a display of your passion for Him, and your desire to submit to His will. You're an amazing, inspiring example of someone who truly understands grace, love, and mercy. Every moment with you is a gift that money cannot buy or that anyone can replace. I've learned so much from you, and as you've challenged me, I've drawn so much closer to the Lord. Thank you for always seeking truth. Whether it's truth about the Lord, truth about us, or truth in any difficult situation, you've shown me the value of loving truth and holding on to that no matter what comes. You've taught me the importance of worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth.


Thank you for loving me the way you do. You're my rock. Your strength gives me comfort, but your tenderness and love gives me peace. From day one, you've never been reckless with my heart, never have you been selfish or self seeking, and you've always put my needs above your own. The time and effort that you've taken to make sure that I feel your love toward me has completely won my heart. "You're everything I never knew I always wanted!"

Thanks for loving my family and for allowing me to love your family so freely too. Your family is so precious to me, and I treasure them as I treasure you. I love being around your family, but even more than that, I love how they love you and how they've been there for you. Your parents are nothing short of wonderful. Each time we're together, I fall even more in love with them! Your sisters are so amazing, each one with their own strengths and unique qualities that I admire. I am taken back by how everyone in your family has just welcomed me with open arms, and open hearts, as you have. Thank you for taking the time to meet with my dad and allowing him the freedom to get to know the man who has captured his daughter's heart. Thank you for not feeling threatened by my relationship with him or my mom. You will never know how much that has meant to me, and to them.

And, before I start to cry, I just wanted to say, thank you (again) for loving me. I never thought anything like this was possible, but it is. I truly thank the Lord for you, and it's my heart's desire that I allow Him to love you through me, as His love is perfect and fully satisfying. May He always stir my heart to treasure you and respect you in such a way that you know and feel you are loved the way that you've shown me.

I hope this week was amazing for you. I know I'm not alone when I say that you are loved beyond what words can even begin to express!

I love you