64 Days - To Do List

Here's what's left to do:

-find shoes
-get dress altered
-begin tanning?
-finish invitations
-find jewelry
-bridesmaids/flower girl/ring bearer gifts
-two showers in the next 3 weeks
-begin second round of pre-marital counseling with my pastor in April
-buy stamps ... lots of stamps
-think about: hair, makeup, ceremony details, music for ceremony, music for reception, food for reception, cleaning up after reception, yada yada yada

whew ... wanna help? anyone??

65 Days - Rest

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

So, the past week has been a blur and it's not even over yet.

Work has been crazy! Our internet/email has been down all week until today so we had to resort to doing everything old school. You know, faxing and *gasp* actually calling a human on the phone.

Monday night after work, I helped James study for his Sci-Fi and the Gospel mid-term. Tuesday night, after work I went to Moe's and Wal-mart with my roomie. Wednesday night, after work James and I taught 15 normally hyper children at his church's Children in Action program. Then I helped him study for his Apologetics mid-term on Thursday until Midnight. Lenny, one of James' best friends at SBTS is leaving to go work with a church in Chicago this weekend so we met with him at Barbara Lee's Kitchen this morning at 6:30am for a goodbye breakfast. Tonight I get to go look at a condo, work on my wedding invitations, finish the guest list. Tomorrow, work then ESL then a going-away party at Lenny's apartment afterwards.

I can't wait until Saturday morning when I can sleep in ... wait ... what's that penciled in on my calendar?! Hospital visitation ... errr ... life is busy. But God is good and that's enough for me.

Photo: Romeo, my sweet brown hound, resting comfortably on his couch at home.

67 Days-Outdo One Another in Love

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 12:10

Gary Thomas' Sacred Marriage is proving again to be a huge blessing as I prepare for marriage. He uses the verse above to exhort readers to strive to outdo their spouse in the love and service. To intentionally seek to do the things that let your spouse know they are loved and appreciated. So, I've kinda made it my own personal goal to begin doing this. Monday I stopped by James' after work to help quiz him on his mid-term that night (which he got a 97 on btw!) and I secretely snuck some Creme Savers and a little note of encouragement in his bookbag when he wasn't looking--it was rather fun!

71 Days - Helper

I think for a long time, I had a faulty view of what my role would be as a wife. I mistakingly thought that my future husband would be perfect-no weaknesses, no sins that would annoy me, that I would be in awe of his ability to do everything. However, this is not true. All people are sinful (Romans 3:23)
We all have weaknesses, which may or may not be sinful in nature. These weaknesses were present before the fall-hence the reason why it was not good for man to be alone, that he needed a helper--Eve, his wife.

Carolyn Mahaney spoke at a women's conference on "Watching Your Man". How to serve your husband by being a true helpmate-a wife who uses her strengths to help her husband, who picks up the slack where he falls short, and gently encourages him towards godliness even when that involves rebuking/correcting.
Here are some of the main points:

1. God made woman to be a helper for man.Marriage is about love and friendship-part of friendship is helping each other. Proverbs 27:6

2. Know how to correct and how not too. Avoid self-righteousness, be respectful. God commands us to inspect our own heart before inspecting his. Humility is far more important than insight. Being humble will help your husband accept your insight.

3. Know what to correct and what not to correct. We have four options: overlook, forebear, lovingly drop it, and persist. Must distinguish between important and non-important. Ask God for wisdom to pick our battles.

As much as I love James, he is sinful and he has weaknesses. I must admit that I, too, have many weaknesses and am quite sinful.

God has already showed me how our individual strengths and weaknesses work quite nicely together. For example:

James is Mr. Detail-Oriented, especially in the little things. Each purchase he makes, each gift he gives, each project he completes has been combed over thoroughly. I, on the other hand, am a fast-paced worker-I tend to value efficiency over quality in the details, which has been one of the criticisms I receive most at work and school "slow down Melissa, take your time and pay attention to the little things." Sometimes deadlines are present and we can't pay as much attention to little things, but must focus on the big picture and often it is the little things that make a big difference and they shouldn't be overlooked.

James can't multi-task at all. He is the typical boy-one thing at a time. Often this annoys me as I get discouraged when he can't follow my conversation as I jump from item to item. I however pride myself as little Miss Multi-tasker. Sometimes we need to be able to multi-task and other times we need to focus.

James is patient, beyond words and kind beyond belief. I must confess to being passionate to the point that I often over-react. Both of us need to strike a balance between when to be patient and when to act.

I thank God for creating me with gifts and talents that will compliment James' gifts and talents. I pray daily that God prevents me from being prideful of my gifts or being critical of James' weaknesses, but focus on how I can best serve him and improve my weaknesses and avoid my personal sins. I truly do long to be a good helper and need God's help to do that.

Game Night

Enjoy these snapshots from last Friday's ESL Game Night with our Cuban Friends :)

Eric, Eduardo y Madelyn

Laura Beth, Rachel y Madelyn

Melissa, Eduarito y Emanuel

The Roomies

Twister!

Emanuel y yo

73 Days-Apartment Hunting

Can we say stressful? So, I looked at four different places to live yesterday. Three all within 2 hours of getting off work! One of them I LOVED, but it's a little expensive. Two of them are definite no's and one is a maybe. We're checking out two houses to rent today between getting off work and going to church. Woo Hoo!

75 Days - A weekend home and brake work

I had a wonderful time in Nashville this weekend. Woke up bright and early Saturday morning and drove straight to my sister's house to take my neice shopping for her bridesmaid dress. David's Bridal was rather chaotic, but she has it narrowed down to two dresses, both of which she looked gorgeous in! After dress shopping, we headed to Academy Sports so she could get new volleyball shoes and boy was she excited. I mean girls typically are excited about new shoes, but new volleyball shoes! Then I spent a couple of hours at my sister's house playing with my nephew Woovens while Sharon & Chuck slept, Angela did homework and Andrew played video games. It was a great time!

Then I drove down to Scottsboro to spent the rest of my time in Nashville with Marvin and Kay. We had a great time-just relaxing together and catching up on each other's lives. Marvin's getting a new boat! How exciting!

Then when I got home on Sunday and headed to school to change cars with James (He asked me to drive his car since it is more reliable) I found my sweet guy all covered in grease and grim. Apparently my brakes were leaking brake fluid and Pep Boys wanted $70 in labor plus parts to correct the leak. James was industrious and did it himself. So, I treated him to some great fried chicken at Cracker Barrell. I hated seeing him work so hard, getting so dirty with my old car-but he was more than willing-stating, "If all the baggage you come with is an old car with bad brakes, I can handle taht." He's too kind to me!