~Countdown~
3 Months, 8 Days, 9 Hours, 25 Minutes until I marry the most amazing man in the entire world!

Worship

This past weekend, Wes and I took some Junior High students to a youth conference in St. Louis. It was loud and music-driven, passionate and fun. Three great messages were given by a guy named Marco (Polo) who has worked with Jr. High students for like 25 years or something. There were skits that challenged you, moments of reflection that hopefully helped kids grow in their faith, and there was, by far, more worship through song than I've ever experienced.

And this whole weekend really reminded me why I'm running the race with Christ. I mean, I'm old enough to know why I believe the things I believe, and not just follow a "religion" in which my parents raised me. I have engaged in a faith that I know to be true. And what is so awesome is that, at the Jr. High age, kids are just now coming into their own faith. They are beginning to understand their beliefs and how it all fits together, and they are so unashamed of their worship. One of the 6th graders on the trip just humbled me completely. Her worhsip was so authentic and beautiful. There was no fear of what others thought, no showy intimacy. It was just her and God and it was beautiful. To see someone at her age truly engaging in the race that Hebrews mentions blows my mind. I'm beginning to love these kids and I can't wait to see their journeys unfold.

Hello, I love you won't you tell me your name...




















For those of you who were just aching to see a picture of the greatest man alive, I thought I would be nice and share it with you.

I Should Be Getting Paid For This

I love planning my wedding. I really do. It's a constant reminder that I am actually getting married and I am the happiest I have ever been. But with planning comes work, opinions, budgeting, organizing, arranging, and anyting else that ends in "-ing." Last night, I was going through the wedding planner my future mother-in-law bought for me and I was getting so excited about everything, but so overwhelmed by it all, too. I'm the kind of person who is incredibly laid back until it comes to an event where other people are involved. For example, I threw, along with two other girls, a wedding Shower for my friend Sarah and although I had such a fun time doing it, I was more stressed because it was for her and there were other people who would be experiencing that Shower with us. If it were my shower and I threw it for myself with no one else invited, well...I wouldn't make a big fuss. It would be just me and we all know how much fun I am. But other people will be coming to my wedding and so I feel a sense of duty to make it original and lovely. I mean, I want it to be original and lovely, and I love planning and seeing it all come together with Wes, but as all brides know, it can be overwhelming. But in those times I remind myself that people won't remember what the candles looked like, how the tables were arranged, how pretty the cake looked, or if our grandmas wore corsages. No...It is my hope they remember the message of our special day: God is love and He is so worthy of our praise. I will definitely be toasting to that on June 23rd, 2007.