ENGAGED?!

Oh how the Lord has a way of completely changing our lives in such a short period of time. I love life! Especially life with Jesus. I am not a person that likes change and is not one to be classified as being spontaneous or impulsive, but I've been learning through this season of life that I have dived into that sometimes it's okay to just let go and let the Lord take the wheel, imagine that, uh I was just reminded of that awful over played song by Carrie Underwood. Anyways, within a week, my life has quickly been thrown into a faster pace, a pace that I was quick to assume I couldn't handle. I'M ENGAGED! My sweet boyfriend, now fiance, proposed to me on Feb. 1st. We had talked about it but I did not expect the proposal to come some quickly. The little sneak led me to believe that he had months of saving up to do. I got home from my overnight shift at the women's shelter that I work at here in town and stepped out of my truck to long stem roses which lead the way to the door of my house. I stepped into the house and to my shock and a hint of confusion, there were little tea lights and flower petals all over the floor. In my head I was screaming ,"oh my gosh, he's going to propose!" But before I walked into my room, there was a letter on the floor that read something like, I am sorry for being a jerk this past week etc. etc. this is my apology(we had been in a huge argument a few days before, which stemmed mostly from my fears of our future and we both handled it poorly by just being caddy towards each other for the rest of the week, haha lame I know). I opened the door and there were christmas lights strung up in every corner of my room, more tea lights and more flowers and of course my precious Alex, who was playing a sweet song on his guitar. At that moment, I was still lead by the thoughts that this was just his way of apologizing and that was it. I dropped my keys on the floor and kicked off my shoes and listened to him. He spoke a few words (probably more than a few, I was so exhausted that I could not catch all of it), pulled out the ring from his pocket and got on his knee and asked me to be his wife. WOW, at that moment in my head, I asked the Lord to please help me remember all that was happening. From that moment, learning to be fashioned into a wife was now on the agenda. In the next five months, I will finish up student teaching and graduate, plan a wedding, turn 24 years old, say goodbye to the sweetest season of my life as being a student of Chi Alpha, get married..all while raising funds to spend my first year of marriage overseas in Central Asia. God is good and faithful. Praying for peace as reached a whole new level. Now, as mentioned above, I am not a women of change. I HATE CHANGE! I've had the same pair of sneakers for 4 years, I just recently got "grown up" clothes and have put the basketball shorts and t-shirts away..kinda, I've lived in the same crappy, rat/roach/flea infested, falling apart, shack for 5 years, etc, the list could go on...I think it's humorus that the Lord knew that I don't like change so He is making it all happen at once so I don't have to endure the process through a long period of time. Quick but difficult is better than a long drawn out process that has the potential of being tortuous.
All that to say is that Jesus really is the Prince of Peace and no matter how fast pace life can get on us, we can trust that the Lord is constant and never changes, praise the Lord! And now let the games begins....

Central Asia

I am testifying to the fact that life with the Lord is an absolute adventure and will never make sense to those who don't know Him. As a kid I loved and thrived on adventured. Secretly, I long to live my life in a fairy-tale full of flying and fighting pirates and sleeping in a lagoon full of mermaids with no electricity, just lanterns. I love the romantic thoughts of adventure like that. But as much as I know that most of those thoughts are completely unlikely, that doesn't mean that my life can not and will not be an adventure. God himself is supernatural and the ways He works is not normal. If we walk with the Lord, these whimsical adventures don't have to be so far out of reach. All that to say is that being a Christian is not boring. Life with the Lord of the universe is an absolute party! A missionary from England came and spoke to us at one of our XA meetings and he said one of the most profound and yet simple things that I have ever heard he said, "being a Christian is not boring, if it is, then you're not doing right." It's so true! I can't imagine my life any different. What a life the Lord has given me. Recently, I have been given the opportunity to spend a year in Central Asia! Although terrified of the unknown, I am ready to let go and follow Jesus as He leads me in yet another chapter of this crazy life. And I found out that there's no sense in trying to figure out the plan because it only gets you deeper and deeper into this abyss of nonsense, because the Lord doesn't want to spoil the joy of a surprise. It's like opening all your gifts before Christmas.
So friends, I am finishing out my last semester of my college career and will then embark upon one of the numerous adventures I get to have with my savior. Life for me for at least the next 7 months will consist of sharing my vision with willing supporters, praying my face off, and probably lots of crying and brokenness.....sweet. I hope to update this blog more often as if may prove to be a good source of communication in my support raising process. For those 2 people that may happen to stumble upon this page, please pray with me. More to come...hopefully.