Blissful Marriage

On Saturday, Aug. 16th, Brent and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! 5! It is hard to believe that I am old enough to say that I have been married for 5 years, but I am! We decided early last week that we would drive down to San Antonio for a long weekend! We had such a good time shopping, eating, relaxing, etc.
Without going into great detail about the weekend and all of its events...I would like to share with you how wonderful my husband, marriage, and the friendship that we share is. First, Brent and I have always been able to laugh with and at each other (although let's face it...he is typically the one laughing at me!) Either way, we have a very special relationship that I thank God for each day! It is nice to say that I married my best friend and actually mean it! For those of you who don't know Brent....he is honest (with others and himself), extremely smart, easy going (he doesn't let much bother him, which in return sometimes drives me crazy!), loves his family and friends, and often puts others before himself.
Brent has always been good at the little things in our relationship (flowers, "love you" notes, and sincerity), but he is really great at the big things (surprises, anniversaries, birthdays, etc) I love that Brent and I have always and are always taking the time to do for one another! I think that that is important in a relationship...to do for the other and strive to make them happy and feel loved and important!
I surprised Brent with Jerry Seinfeld tickets in July (which was a blast!) And, although I told Brent that his present could count for both of our anniversary gifts, he surprised me this weekend and bought me a really nice camera. Recently, I was bit by the photography bug! I know, I know, the little bug must have jumped right off of Mom and hoped onto me! I am loving this camera! I am really excited about getting to spend some time playing and experimenting with it!
All of this too say....there isn't a day that I don't thank God for Brent and our marriage! We were both blessed with parents and grandparents that were true examples of what marriage and true love and commitment are! We were so pleased to be able to honor these couples and the years of their marriages at our wedding 5 years ago! We pray that God will continue to bless our marriage, just as he did for these couples!
So, this post is dedicated to Brent! Sweetie, thanks for 5 years of a blissful marriage! I know that I am better with you than without you! You always make me smile and you truly are my favorite! I look forward to the future that God has planned for us! Happy Anniversary!

Not Ours, but God's Will Be Done!

I am a planner! I am not sure if I instinctively inherited this from my parents or if it comes to me naturally, but all of my life, I have been a planner. As a child and even now as an adult, it isn't out of the ordinary to see my mother with her list. Typically, it is a list of things to do around the house or a grocery list, but she works off of a list. My Dad is a planner, too. His just works in a financial way, most call it a budget. Laugh if you must, but now that I am an adult with financial responsibilities, I appreciate my father's ability to financially plan. So, as you can see, it is in my blood to be a planner!

However, the older I get, the more I realize that sometimes, you can't plan for certain events that may in occur in one's life. I am learning this more now in my life than ever before. Today, in our sermon at church, we continued discussing the series "The Barbarian Way." (Refer to previous post for the series description.) Our pastor, Shane, discussed that far too often we as Christians, because of our human nature, get in the way of God's plan. Not to say that God is the reason for all of life's circumstances, but that we as humans often get consumed by our own plans, that we fall in the way of God's.

I can only speak for myself, but when my plans fail, I am often frustrated, disappointed, and quickly trying to recover myself by planning yet another plan. As I grow as a Christian, I am trying to learn to stop planning so much, and to let God take control and plan my life.

Without going into detail because I don't think that it is my story to tell, my family has encountered unexpected turn of events that is affecting all of our lives plans. While we each are feeling our own disappointments and hurt, we are all rallying together and trying to fall back into God's plan.

As I get older it is more and more apparent to me that I often turn to God in moment's of despair. And, in these moments, I cry out to him to save me and to help me through these moments. And, here I am again, crying out that God help my family and me. But, because I am a growing Christian, I am also learning to cry out to God more throughout all moments of my life and ask that he take full control of my life and to bless the path that I am to follow.

So, this is dedicated to those of you, finding yourself traveling down an unexpected path, crying out to God to save you and to help you through these moments. I, too pray that God continue blessing you, giving you the strength and patience that you will need to endure those trying times, the comfort and peace to help you along your way, and His everlasting love and devotion that will allow you to grow and remain on the path in which He has planned for you!

I leave you with this...one of my favorite scriptures:
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."~ Romans 15:13