For those reading our courtship story, it will continue as soon as I can get a letter that is very important to the story.
See, I have it printed out... in storage in Texas with my parents. My dad has it on a computer... but it's packed in their hopes of moving. So... when I get the letter, I will continue:)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Westbound coupon train...
The westbound coupon train is back on track and moving on to stop number 8-W. Those of you still waiting, keep your eyes out for it, and keep it going.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Our little girl is six months old today...
It's so hard to believe that six short months ago, we were holding our little girl in our arms for the first time and looking into her beautiful face. I don't have time to do a real long post, but I just wanted to post a few pictures, and I'll try to post more tomorrow. If you'd like to leave a comment for Hannah, I'll read it to her. I think she'd really like that:)
Six months ago...
Now!!!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Act now to save marriage...
Yesterday I recieved this email from a good friend of mine. It states:
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker has introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment in the U.S. Senate. This constitutional amendment would keep liberal activist judges from forcing homosexual marriage on every American.
This constitutional amendment simply states: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
Liberal activist judges in Massachusetts and California, each by a 4-3 margin, have already forced homosexual marriage on their citizens! There is nothing in current law which would keep one judge from legalizing marriage between three men, or two men and four women, or any other combination.
The only way to stop other liberal activist judges from forcing homosexual marriage on Americans is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That is why your action now is so critical.
I already went and signed my name. I would encourage each of you to do the same. It is so sad that marriage is being scoffed and made fun of now a days. No one seems to take it seriously. And since marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the church, it makes it so much more serious...
To take action, click on this URL http://capwiz.com/afanet/utr/2/?a=11547266&i=1234&c. It's very simple and takes only a few minutes.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker has introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment in the U.S. Senate. This constitutional amendment would keep liberal activist judges from forcing homosexual marriage on every American.
This constitutional amendment simply states: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
Liberal activist judges in Massachusetts and California, each by a 4-3 margin, have already forced homosexual marriage on their citizens! There is nothing in current law which would keep one judge from legalizing marriage between three men, or two men and four women, or any other combination.
The only way to stop other liberal activist judges from forcing homosexual marriage on Americans is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That is why your action now is so critical.
I already went and signed my name. I would encourage each of you to do the same. It is so sad that marriage is being scoffed and made fun of now a days. No one seems to take it seriously. And since marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the church, it makes it so much more serious...
To take action, click on this URL http://capwiz.com/afanet/utr/2/?a=11547266&i=1234&c. It's very simple and takes only a few minutes.
Delight thyself in the Lord...part 3.
Sorry for my lateness in returning to finish this post. Life has been busy of late, and I've had a hard time finding "free time".
Let me try to pick up where I left off. If you haven't read the first two parts of this, you can go see part 1 and part 2 to bring you up to date.
So, as I was saying, I really began wondering if any guy exsisted that came anywhere close to my standards. At the time, I knew a few young men, but they really weren't what I was looking for. Sometimes I wondered if my standards were too high. Would I really be able to find the "man of my dreams"?
The answer came (at least partly) in December of 2006. For many years I had corresponded with a girl who was the daughter of a missionary my family supported. Finally the opportunity had presented itself for me to take a trip to Malawi Africa and meet her and her family. A pastor friend of ours was taking his daughter and some others over and so I was invited to go along. I was very excited about the prospect, as I had wanted to go there for quite a long time.
The time came and we took the trip over there. When we arrived, Joy was there to meet us along with her dad and a few siblings. I thoroughly enjoyed my ten day stay, and was actually quite sad to leave. It was good to get home, though and I soon fell back into the swing of things at home. But during this whole time, the thought of marriage to Victor really never crossed my mind. He seemed like a nice guy (what little I saw of him) but he was a whole 7 1/2 years older than me, and he just didn't seem my type.
(Let me interupt this story here for a mintue and encourage you young ladies out there about something. When a young man is brought into your life by your heavenly Father, try to put "feelings" out of the way and try to determine rather if this is God's will, and NOT do I think we "go well together".)
As I was saying, life went on. I graduated that year. I was as busy as ever. September rolled around, and one of the girls from the trip was getting married. Our pastor had been asked to speak the Sunday after the wedding, and since they had an extra seat in their van, I was able to go along and attend the wedding.
While travelling our to Florida where the wedding would be held, we stopped at a small church in Louisianna where Pastor was going to preach on a Wednesday night. The services where held at the Pastor's home in his garage and after the service, most of the young people went outside to play, visit, etc. I didn't really know anybody, so I wandered out into the yard and sat down on the huge trampoline and looked up into the beautiful night sky. For some reason, I had one phrase from a bible verse going around and around in my head. It was the phrase "Thy maker is thine Husband." (A horrible misquote I'm sure but that's basically what it said.) As I lay their looking at the beautiful stars in the night sky, I was reminded that I had been dwelling too much on marriage. I needed to let it go and focus on my life here and now and seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways I could while I had the time.
Shortly before I had left on this trip, I had had breakfast with a friend of mine who was in her late twenty's and still waiting on God to bring her husband to her. She had encouraged me to focus on my heavenly Father and serving Him, and to remember that it's not all about getting married. In fact, we don't deserve to ever get married. Rather, it is a special blessing given to us by our loving heavenly Father.
And so, with those thoughts swirling in my mind, I lay on the trampoline looking at the stars and feeling the sweet peace that comes from trusting in your Heavenly Father to provide everything you need.
That peace, however, was short lived...
(To be continued...)
Let me try to pick up where I left off. If you haven't read the first two parts of this, you can go see part 1 and part 2 to bring you up to date.
So, as I was saying, I really began wondering if any guy exsisted that came anywhere close to my standards. At the time, I knew a few young men, but they really weren't what I was looking for. Sometimes I wondered if my standards were too high. Would I really be able to find the "man of my dreams"?
The answer came (at least partly) in December of 2006. For many years I had corresponded with a girl who was the daughter of a missionary my family supported. Finally the opportunity had presented itself for me to take a trip to Malawi Africa and meet her and her family. A pastor friend of ours was taking his daughter and some others over and so I was invited to go along. I was very excited about the prospect, as I had wanted to go there for quite a long time.
The time came and we took the trip over there. When we arrived, Joy was there to meet us along with her dad and a few siblings. I thoroughly enjoyed my ten day stay, and was actually quite sad to leave. It was good to get home, though and I soon fell back into the swing of things at home. But during this whole time, the thought of marriage to Victor really never crossed my mind. He seemed like a nice guy (what little I saw of him) but he was a whole 7 1/2 years older than me, and he just didn't seem my type.
(Let me interupt this story here for a mintue and encourage you young ladies out there about something. When a young man is brought into your life by your heavenly Father, try to put "feelings" out of the way and try to determine rather if this is God's will, and NOT do I think we "go well together".)
As I was saying, life went on. I graduated that year. I was as busy as ever. September rolled around, and one of the girls from the trip was getting married. Our pastor had been asked to speak the Sunday after the wedding, and since they had an extra seat in their van, I was able to go along and attend the wedding.
While travelling our to Florida where the wedding would be held, we stopped at a small church in Louisianna where Pastor was going to preach on a Wednesday night. The services where held at the Pastor's home in his garage and after the service, most of the young people went outside to play, visit, etc. I didn't really know anybody, so I wandered out into the yard and sat down on the huge trampoline and looked up into the beautiful night sky. For some reason, I had one phrase from a bible verse going around and around in my head. It was the phrase "Thy maker is thine Husband." (A horrible misquote I'm sure but that's basically what it said.) As I lay their looking at the beautiful stars in the night sky, I was reminded that I had been dwelling too much on marriage. I needed to let it go and focus on my life here and now and seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways I could while I had the time.
Shortly before I had left on this trip, I had had breakfast with a friend of mine who was in her late twenty's and still waiting on God to bring her husband to her. She had encouraged me to focus on my heavenly Father and serving Him, and to remember that it's not all about getting married. In fact, we don't deserve to ever get married. Rather, it is a special blessing given to us by our loving heavenly Father.
And so, with those thoughts swirling in my mind, I lay on the trampoline looking at the stars and feeling the sweet peace that comes from trusting in your Heavenly Father to provide everything you need.
That peace, however, was short lived...
(To be continued...)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Delight thyself in the Lord, part 2
On the Valentines day when I was 16, it dawned on me that I was nearing the age where I would be old enough to get married. Because of this, I wrote out a list of what I wanted in a husband. This list was not physical but rather it was character and lifestyle. Here is the list I wrote:
- A strong walk with and desire for God and His will.
- A heart for missions.
- A love for music.
- A love for children and desire for many.
- Level-headedness - not easily shaken up.
- Servants heart- ready and willing to serve.
- Leader.
- Love for others.
- Strong in body and spirit.
- Likeness in convictions, faith and beliefs.
- Like desires and goals.
- Cheerful - have a ready smile.
- Content with his lot in life.
- Obedient and submissive to elders.
- Willing to lead in family devotions.
- Leader among his peers.
- Loves my family and my family loves him.
- I love his family and they love me.
- Humble.
- Pure.
- Tender.
- Protecting.
- Romantic.
- Forgiving.
- Has a source of steady income and can support a family.
And so, here was my list. Through out the few remaining years until I got married, I often wondered if anyone even exisited with those qualifications. And yet, he did...
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Delight thyself in the Lord...
Recently, I've been thinking back to our courtship and engagement days. It seems like so long ago. I still remember the overwhelming feeling of wondering if this was truly God's will for me. I knew once the decision was made, it was fianal. There was no going back.
It was a difficult decision for me, because I really didn't know Victor at all. When he emailed Daddy, I was totally shocked. 'Why is he interested in me' I thought. Our family had known the Maxsons for many years, ans we had supported their work in Malawi. But, the first time I'd ever met their family, was on the trip I took in Dec. 2005. During that trip, I hadn't really noticed Victor, and what I did see, didn't really make me think 'He's the one for me!!'.
So now, you might understand better why I was so shocked and uninterested when Victor first wrote daddy.
And yet as time wore on, my first response of NO! turned to maybe and then eventually to a Yes!. I still was a little uncertain, but every time I would think 'This doesn't make sense. I should just end it now' I would hear a little voice "behind me saying, this is the way, walk in it."(Isaiah 30:21). And so, I continued to walk by faith, trusting the Lord to direct my steps and bless my obedience to Him. And you know what... He has more than I could ever imagine.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
It was a difficult decision for me, because I really didn't know Victor at all. When he emailed Daddy, I was totally shocked. 'Why is he interested in me' I thought. Our family had known the Maxsons for many years, ans we had supported their work in Malawi. But, the first time I'd ever met their family, was on the trip I took in Dec. 2005. During that trip, I hadn't really noticed Victor, and what I did see, didn't really make me think 'He's the one for me!!'.
So now, you might understand better why I was so shocked and uninterested when Victor first wrote daddy.
And yet as time wore on, my first response of NO! turned to maybe and then eventually to a Yes!. I still was a little uncertain, but every time I would think 'This doesn't make sense. I should just end it now' I would hear a little voice "behind me saying, this is the way, walk in it."(Isaiah 30:21). And so, I continued to walk by faith, trusting the Lord to direct my steps and bless my obedience to Him. And you know what... He has more than I could ever imagine.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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