Cake Testing and Other Insights

It was almost better than Christmas... When in your life is it ever really okay to have three different cakes before you and be able to eat them too? Cake testing for your wedding!

Cale and I went to our caterer (our friend Rachel Altman) to try three different types: Italian Creme, Butter Cream, and Vanilla. Creative, I know. But I firmly believe wedding cakes are supposed to be white or cream colored, well at least mine is. After a fewnights of sleeping over it, I've decided I'll take the Italian Creme Cake WITHOUT THE PECANS. (I also firmly believe my wedding cake should not be crunchy.)

So honestly, I have no insights about picking out a cake. It was just a fun experience to share with my handsome man.

However, Cale and I are starting the book When Sinners Say "I Do" by Dave Harvey which has provided me with some different insights. I shared with my grandfather a quote from the book,

"...A great marriage - a God glorifying, soul inspiring, life enduring union - springs from the conviction that we are sinners." p. 15

Poppa's response: "Do you need a book to tell you that? Yes that's true, but in the midst of working through that stuff, it's a blast!"
He proceeded to share with me a memory of him and my grandmother as newlyweds. He and a friend caught a huge bag of bullfrogs and helped my Nana cook their legs. Just as he was biting into one of the bullfrog's legs at their little table, he heard my young Nana scream. From the back door, an amputated frog was crawling into their tiny apartment. Though she was livid at the time, this experienced provided them with laughter for years and years .

Poppa often thinks that his advice is always best; better than any book a person could read or sermon a pastor could give. Sometimes it might be, sometimes it isn't.

I do believe we need a book to show us our sinfulness: We need the Bible to reveal to us our sinfulness, to convict us of our sin, to call us to repentance and show us the way to freedom.

"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. " Romans 7:12-14

If it weren't for the Bible, we would not understand our sin and would not have the hope given by Jesus Christ. But Poppa is right in a lot of ways. Experiences allow us to see firsthand our sinfulness in real, tangible ways. They also allow us to practice grace, forgiveness, and love. Though Cale and I are sinners, we have the freedom to enjoy life fully, laugh together, cry together, and walk through this adventure together because of God's grace. I'm glad we have people in our lives who teach us, and preach Truth to us. I'm thankful for people who write books who teach us about how to live Godly lives. But I'm also thankful to just have a blast with Cale, facing the blessings and struggles of marriage each day as they come.

Registering Adventure

Registering was such an adventure!

We started at Target on an early Sunday morning just after Thanksgiving with the mindset that certain things had to be picked from there, other items from another store, and completely separate items from a third place. We went into to Target thinking, "no kitchen stuff here, we'll register for that stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond." It made things frustrating at times, constantly asking the question, "Should we register for the spatulas here or somewhere else?" We would get stuck.

However, once satisfied with our Target registry, we headed to Macy's and talked with a very helpful lady who gave us a lot of tips regarding how to register. It was freeing to realize that we could double register for things! People want options when picking from a registry. Once that clicked, the registering process became fun! We spent a whole Sunday at Macy's and Bed Bath and Beyond. Cale became a real pro at shooting the registry code, and we learned a lot about each other's taste for what we wanted in our home.

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all and even become anxious, too.
I remember thinking, "What if I don't get the Kitchen Aid Mixer, or all of my china sets?"
Wow.

Now, I'm not saying registering is evil; I think it is a good way to help others help you start building a home, but I realized how entitled I felt to receive all of these things I wanted. Cale and I talked about this and came to the conclusion that it is a lot of fun picking out things for our marriage, but it needs to be done with a humble heart, knowing we deserve none of these things, and whatever we do receive from friends and family will be such a blessing.

Sorting Through Things

It's like staring at a huge pile of laundry that hasn't been washed in weeks. How do I even begin sorting through everything? What should I choose to work on first? What's actually dirty and what's clean but I was too lazy to put back on the hangers after I tried it on and chose not to wear it?

Did I take the analogy too far? haha

How could I possibly write about all the amazing and wonderful changes that have been going on in my life? It is terribly unfortunate that my blog life has suffered due to this crazy new season; documenting the experiences of falling in love, being sanctified by God's gift of engagement, and planning a wedding are all things I desire to do.

That leaves me back to the question, where do I begin? Well for starters, here is story of Cale and me along with more details about out wedding. The website is not complete, but it will be soon!

The date is set: March 12, 2011

The location is secure: Our ceremony will be held at Westminster Presbyterian in Bryan with the reception at the Giddings Stone Mansion in Brenham

The dress is purchased and being altered as we speak: Agh!

The guest list (oh my!) is complete... now on to collecting addresses!

And now we've moved on to details details details: I'm anxiously awaiting the holidays so I can forget about school and focus my attention on planning our wedding.

Hopefully, I'll keep you posted blog world and not let everything pile up like this again!

A Living Prayer

Alison Krauss and Union Station
Possibly my favorite song on their album, Lonely Runs Both Ways

The Sartin's Day at the Beach

August 8, 2010

What a lovely day in Galveston with such wonderful people.

Rereading Prayer Journals is Good for Two Things

I began, by God's grace, to consistently keep a prayer journal in the Spring of 2009. Since then I've filled three of them with prayers, sermon notes, Bible study notes, anecdotes on life etc.. Recently I decided to read through them, and have discovered that doing so is good for two things:

1.Reminders of God's faithfulness as He either answers prayers, chooses to close doors, or reveals to you areas in which you've grown

and/or

2. A good laugh

For example:

"Somewhere in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,
I
lost
myself.
Abba Father I pray that I would lose myself in Your Word..." (12.29.2010)

It was a heartfelt prayer, and I think it's important to be filling my mind with things that point me to the cross and the Gospel message daily. But looking back on this prayer, I have to chuckle. Honestly I'd rather cringe and hide my face in embarrassment after such an opening to a prayer. But I think it's good to not take yourself so seriously. There is freedom in being able to laugh at yourself... and I don't think a few months of growing up will change the fact that I'll have plenty more silly conversations with the Lord.

Sunflower

"I encourage you to be like a dolphin in the sea of our egalitarian, gender-leveling culture. Don't be like a jellyfish. The ocean of secularism that we swim in (including much of the church) drifts toward minimizing serious differences between manhood and womanhood. The culture swings back and forth as to whether women are mainly sex objects or senior vice presidents. But rarely does it ponder the biblical vision that men are called to humbly lead and protect and provide, and women are called to come in alongside with their unique gifts and strengths and help the men carry through the vision. I pray that you will be stirred...to pursue mature manhood and womanhood. More is at stake than we know. God has made marriage the showcase of his covenant love where the husband models Christ, and the wife models the church (Ephesians 5:21-33). And God calls single people to bless this vision and to cultivate an expression of leadership and support appropriate to their different relationships."

-John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence