countdown // forty-one

this weekend was all kinds of wonderful - even the not-so-wonderful things were made good. 

i think it'd be safe to say that through our engagement we have learned more about each other, disagreed more often, loved more, cried more, and prayed more fervently than ever before. it has not been roses & glitter - but who ever said it would be, or that we were entitled to that? but it has been so good - soul good. good for me, good for you, good for us. 

friday was hard. but it ended sweetly. after the tears dried and we had let go of the stress, hurt, and misunderstanding, we were ready to be filled once again. filled first with HIS unending love. what a wake up call for me - that i often tend to depend on your love or the love of others more than that of our Heavenly Father. i haven't been feeling His love lately, i confessed. it has just felt like test after test. he tests those who he is preparing for big things, you reminded me. i nodded, knowing in my head but not feeling it in my heart. we talked about living a missional life and our mission field - not only across the world but right here, in our home, in our community. when we go out, you said, we prepare ourselves for the mission field - we don't complain, we don't whine, we are flexible and adaptable, we are fully surrendered. our marriage is also a mission, and though it will be sweet and so good, it will also be faced with challenges and obstacles perhaps designed by our Enemy to weaken us, but destined to make us stronger through the grace of our Savior. 

thank you for leading us. 

in my desperate attempt to slow time down and hold on to you before you leave, we also declared sunday a T&D day - a sacred day. a day of adventure and spontaneity. a hike through the woods, the almost fatal injury to my camera, a trip to Trader Joe's for snacks and treats, a late (LATE) movie, watching the sunset in malibu, a drive down PCH, conversations until we had no words left, a starbucks date, dinner at the diner, the good sunday morning...it was perfect. 

oh and hey, i love you. i'll miss you like crazy. 

a wedding weekend in the foothills

it's so wedding season right now, and last weekend, we celebrated the marriage of Jesse + Kelly. Jesse & T have been friends, since, i don't even know when, and Jesse & Kelly quickly befriended me after i moved down south and joined Bethany Church (thank you!). it has been a joy to watch their relationship grow and unfold over the last four years, and to see it all culminate in the most beautiful wedding day was so special. 

because T was in the wedding party, he drove up to Julian a day before me, giving my gal-pal Rachel and i a chance to explore this little foothill town on the morning of the wedding. 

everything about Julian reminds me of home - the big oak trees, the windy roads, the tall brown grass...it was so charming. we traipsed around the land of 'merica and apples, and ate sugared pastries to our hearts content (you have no idea how many times we had to say, no thank you, we'll pass on the pie. these people live and breathe apple pie, apple turnovers, apple donuts...).

 we poked around a few little shops with all of the niftiest trinkets and treasures you can imagine. 

 how charming is this? the church steeple poking over the tress, the mom and pop shops, the old historic buildings - i die. 

 then it was time for the wedding, and the entire event was so lovely, so "them." we loved all the personal touches, the authenticity Jesse + Kelly put into their day. it totally flew by, but it was absolutely perfect. 

 and one of the groomsmen in particular was pretty good-lookin too...

as we were cleaning and packing up after the grand exit, i saw THIS out of the corner of my eye and ran to the edge of the driveway to capture it. it was as if God was blessing such a significant day with the most outstanding sunset - His creation is so magnificent. 

tonight we're heading out on the road again, this time to northern california - i am so excited for a few days away with my best friend and time with my family! have a wonderful weekend, guys! 

finish well

homework is consuming my life. completely. i have never spent this much time writing, researching, and reading before. like, ever. while normal people enjoy relaxing and refreshing weekends, mine looked a little like this:

friday

observation hours

4 hours of thesis work

dinner

oh, and then i actually had some fun. T and i rented Lincoln, and oh my goodness i loved it. the little history buff in me was just dancing off the walls, while T sat there saying, "i don't really get what's going on right now." that's ok babe, that's what you have me for. and the acting just blew me away - no joke, i think i had a little dead-man crush on Abe by the end of that movie. and yes, i cried, totally, when he died. 

saturday

this past weekend was my sweet friend Kelly's bridal shower - i can't believe she's getting married in just a little less than two months! time flies, people. the whole time, i couldn't help thinking about how excited i am for my bridal shower in just over a month (selfish of me, i know). i am so excited to see what Rachel has up her sleeve, and i just can't wait to have the most awesome women in the world all together for an afternoon!

and then the rest of saturday was a whole lot of work, work work, oh and a little game time with our best friends, because we are totally the kind of people who play board games on saturday night, and that people, is how we define fun. 

sunday

church

AND TEN HOURS OF HOMEWORK

TEN!

when T came home from worship practice that evening around 9:30, i was still going strong, and that wonderful fiancé of mine brought a latte with him, because "you deserve it, love." his supportiveness on days where i have hardly a second to spare amazes me. it gets me through, and it challenges me to step outside of my little world and do the same for him. i don't know what i'd do without that guy. thank you, Jesus.

monday

TEN MORE HOURS OF SCHOOL WORK

seriously, shoot me

but when i walk across that stage and receive that diploma, it is going to feel so good, and so well-earned. that makes this final push all worth it. because i will officially be a college graduate. i will have MADE IT. 

and for all of you other graduates or hard-workers out there, grab a coffee like i'm about to do and HANG IN THERE. 

sundays

i've decided to start a little mini-series about my absolute favorite day of the week. the idea came to my while i was in church, listening to our pastor deliver, and i realized that we often hear the Word, and by the time we go to sleep on sunday night, we've forgotten everything we learned that morning. sometimes, writing things down and revisiting them later on in the day or week help me cement everything in my heart and mind. so this mini-series is a little bit for your enjoyment, hopefully, but also for me. 

yesterday was one of those sundays - you know, the kind of sunday sundays were made to be. T and i realized that we haven't had a quiet moment in God's Word together in quite a while, so we woke up bright and early and met at a local coffee shop to drink coffee, eat a bagel, and read together. it was the absolute perfect start to the day, even if we only had 30 quick minutes. 

after leading worship in the college group (i love singing and praising Jesus with him), we headed to our main service. yesterday's message was on the end of James 1 (p.s. i feel like i should re-cap last sunday, too, because it was so deeply moving - maybe in another post). we were challenged to quiet our hearts and quiet our lives down, to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. this theme of quiet-ing down has resurfaced time and time again in the last few months. in case you didn't know, i've been asked to speak at our upcoming women's retreat, and the theme for the weekend is rest - a word us women especially tend to scoff at. but as i've moved into preparing the message and preparing for the week, the Lord keeps sending me little reminders and teaching me lessons - is my heart quiet enough to hear Him, am i resting in His grace, His provision? it's a never-ending lesson. 

the second part of the message was probably where this idea came from. are we only hearers of the word, or are we also doers? how is our fruit? are we like the man, who looks at himself in the mirror and then turns away and quickly forgets his reflection?

lastly, we were challenged to live out our faith. sometimes our faith becomes so much about head knowledge, and we forget to meet the needs of those around us. James says that true religion is looking out for the widows and the orphans in their distress. as the daughter of a widow, and a half-orphan, this verse has always stuck out to me. do i pass on the love my family was shown during our time of loss to others around me? or am i keeping all those blessings to myself? 

after church, i went back into the buzzing lobby to help out with women's registration - and you guys! it's blowing up! i'm so excited. about 70 women are coming, and i am so excited to get to know each of them better, learn from them, and enjoy a weekend away with God and community. only 3 little weeks to go - which is also scary, because i still have a lot of work to do on my message. which, by the way, is also absurd - me? speaking to all kinds of women of all ages? to all of you who have been so encouraging, thank you! 

our afternoon was spent loving on sweet baby Claire and helping her parents out. she screamed, she cried, she smiled, she coo-ed, she played with us, my goodness, she's just so adorable. oh, and bless T's heart, i've officially dubbed him the Baby Whisperer. there's something to say about a man when a baby just instantly stills in his arms. i think Claire has a little crush - everyone needs a little T in their life, if you ask me ;]

on top of encouraging conversations, a spontaneous movie night, home cooked meals, smoothies to cool us down on another hot day, and a tiny bit of homework, yesterday was filled with beauty and joy, endless smiles and much-needed rest. i couldn't have asked for a better day off. 

xoxo,

deb