My hubby and I read this to eachother during our wedding ceremony, and I thought I'd share.
Here I set my face unto you.
Here I speak my heart's true vow.
Here I choose to walk beside you,
loving only you,
my heart speaks true,
for evermore from now.
I will love you in the dawning
and in the bright noon-day,
I will love you in the evening
Every day I live,
my heart I'll give.
I'll love you from my grave.
I have heard God in your laughter,
I have seen Him on your face.
And it's clear now what he's after
for he wrote your name
on my heart in flame;
it's a wound I'll not erase.
We will mount the wings of morning,
We will fly before the wind.
We will dwell within the mystery
of the glories of Jehovah's love,
a circle with no end.
We will pitch our tents towards Zion,
in the shadow of His love.
We will covenant between us,
We will covenant with the earth below
and with heaven up above,
We will covenant with the dust below
and the Spirit up above.
- Thigpen's Wedding, from The Celtic Book of Daily Prayer
Sunday, October 19, 2008
September 27th, 2008
Beautiful day in the low 70's, not a cloud in the sky....but plenty of no see 'ums.
Woohoo, party time!
Little bit softer now.....
Can you tell my mom was happy to be done with the planning and craziness??
One of the 3 different centerpieces that I did with my gorgeous ( and free!!) Dahlias.
A Little About Me
I'm probably a little tardy in doing this, since I'm rather new to the blog world...but I wanted to introduce myself and recap some recent happenings. I was married 3 weeks ago to my best friend, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. The wedding was planned in 2 1/2 months; and we endured many questions as to whether I was..er...with child. But no, that was not the case, my sweetheart and I have known each other a long time- and had decided we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. The proposal happened July 5th, 2008 on our way home from Cornerstone Festival where hubby was so overwhelmed with the need to ask that he simply pulled off the road, in tears, and asked me to be his wife!
So, the insanity, I mean fun, began. First came picking a ceremony location- both of us wanted to be outdoors, in God's creation. The only problem is; we live in Central Illinois and the weather is entirely unpredictable. We settled on September 27th because I've always wanted a Fall wedding, and Adam wanted to get married before it got cold. We just happened to stop out one afternoon at a local lake that he grew up around, and stumbled on the perfect spot.
In case of bad weather, we reserved a tent and got on with the rest of the preparations.
Like Making Invitations
And picking out food.
A friend of my dad's grows the most beautiful Dahlias, and offered to let us use as many as we wanted for centerpieces. My mom and a good family friend, who was my florist, went with me to pick out which flowers we wanted to use.
Isn't his farm beautiful? Behind the Dahlias he has an orchard with every kind of fruit tree imaginable, has pigs, cows and raises turkeys too! That's where we get our Thanksgiving turkey each year and it is yummy.
Showers
And a wonderful, but slightly ehm....embarassing bridal luncheon.
Rehearsal
Dinner
Yes, I know I had the cutest flower girl in the whole wide world...
Staying up into the night doing never-ending seating arrangements and getting pretty.
....and that pretty much brings you up until the day before...this wasn't intended to be a 5 million picture post, but that's what its become. Next: the Big Day.
So much stuff, so little space
Church and lunch are over, and the hubby is in Chicago at the Bears game. I have the house all to myself...what to do? Oh right, clean. When we moved here we didn't do exactly a bang up job in the organization department ( think stuff thrown in boxes at random) and our spare bedroom paid the price. I'm ashamed to say, it is piled nearly to the ceiling with boxes and random junk we didn't want to deal with at the time.
So, I decided today I was going to tackle the mountain o'stuff, because I'm tired of having to hide that room from guests. Problem is, I've never been one of those type A personalities who has organization down to a science. The room is quite small, with one sliding door closet and that's about it. No shelves, just one tiny built in with two small drawers. Ideally, I'd like it to be a place where our desk, computer, printer and such can sit..and I'd love a place to store our bazillion books. I dragged everything out of there to start from scratch, and I'll try to post some before and after pictures.
Anyone out there live in a space-challenged home and have ideas on how to maximize the square feet available, and keep it nice?
I've got a whole other post in mind about how we stumbled upon this little home and what lessons God's taught me through it, but first...to the mountain I go.
So, I decided today I was going to tackle the mountain o'stuff, because I'm tired of having to hide that room from guests. Problem is, I've never been one of those type A personalities who has organization down to a science. The room is quite small, with one sliding door closet and that's about it. No shelves, just one tiny built in with two small drawers. Ideally, I'd like it to be a place where our desk, computer, printer and such can sit..and I'd love a place to store our bazillion books. I dragged everything out of there to start from scratch, and I'll try to post some before and after pictures.
Anyone out there live in a space-challenged home and have ideas on how to maximize the square feet available, and keep it nice?
I've got a whole other post in mind about how we stumbled upon this little home and what lessons God's taught me through it, but first...to the mountain I go.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Two Pink Lines
...and no, I'm not pregnant.
As my husband and I were discussing ( pre wedding) what our plans for our family would be, many ideas came up. The pill, the patch, the ring, the shot..so many options. I researched, and then we'd talk each idea over. In the end, we went with none of the above.
No, we're not trying to get pregnant.
We settled on a more natural type of family planning..one that involves charting, and taking temperatures and all of that. When friends ( and family!) have asked us what birth control we were going to use, this is the answer they were given. Then came....
Blank stares.
" Wait, so you're trying to have a baby?"
While natural family planning can be used to help figure the best time to get pregnant, it can also be used to figure out which times to not be together in order to avoid pregnancy. Yes, it can fail..but so can the pill, a condom, or any of the other methods. We just decided that for our family we want to avoid hormonal contraception, and be open to what God has for us- whether thats a bunch of kids, just one, or none at all.
Its been very interesting to see the reactions from people, because from what I've seen, according to most it would be THE end of the world if we got pregnant. I realize that in the end, it is our choice- and we just didnt like hormonal bc for many reasons, including health ones.
It's a little scary-I don't know anyone here locally doing the same thing..but we'll figure it out. I had a very planned out, prescribed path for my future- one involving a precise timetable for children. At this point I'm not sure if I feel ready for children, but I know that when/if God chooses us to bless us with a child, it will be a wonderful thing.
So those two pink lines are just an ovulation predictor kit ( because I wanted to test my charting skillz and see if my predicted ovulation time was correct)...and here we go into the NFP wilderness.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Analysis of the 'American Dream'
Well; it's inevitable. The onslaught of the commercial Christmas season is creeping in..I was picking up a few things and while there were some fall items-the lights, oranments and yard stuff were already encroaching on the Halloween section. Soon it will be talk of Black Friday specials ( because who can resist getting a DVD player for 20 bucks, even if you have to stand in line for 2 hours and clothesline little old ladies in the process, right?) and Christmas shopping countdowns.
Sigh.
I love the holidays, but I can't help but be depressed at the thought of family and friend relationships being reduced to cheap, crappy, commercially produced items that nobody will remember by next year anyway. We have decided to try to by the least amount of presents possible this year- instead make gifts ourselves. They will probably involve some sewing and craft projects, baking and other things.
But as I ponder this...I can't help but think about the fact that the best parts of the holidays always involve community-family or friends, doesn't matter. Community...the thing that America doesn't know a whole lot about.
The American Dream- I was raised to idolize and strive for it. Make money, save money, have a nice house, nice cars, a pretty little family. Many people do have those nice new homes and nice pretty lives- yet are lonely, so lonely. How can that be? We isolate ourselves in climate-controlled comfort, living through TV and video games, cozied up in our private worlds. I work in the medical field, in a hospital, where people are at their worst. People attempting to commit suicide out of lonliness, people who make themselves sick so they can at least be around others. Elderly folks who die alone, every single day. Parents completely overwhelmed by caring for a diabled child, at their wits end because family and friends feel too uncomforable around an 'abnormal' child to offer any help or support. Prosperous, comfortable, successful and yet utterly alone.
Could it be that the American Dream is nothing more than an illusion? Could it be that happiness comes from our relationships with others- through everyday interactions, support through good times and bad...leaning on eachother? Early Christians understood this- they lived and worked together, shared money and resources. Where has that gone? Why is it that the church is just as influenced by consumer culture as the general population? I find it quite interesting that the common model and structure of a modern church looks eerily similar to that of a business.
What if? What if people lived and worked together in intentional communtiy-forgoing 'independence' in favor of inter-dependence? What if we said no thank you to mega churches with plasma tv's and 8 pastors on staff and a budget that could feed and clothe and support hundreds ( if not thousands) of local people in need..but is instead spent on a new addition or new 'program' for the kids, a new associate pastor or a church growth plan?
Mainly what I wonder is how the American Dream morphed into the American Christian Dream. Seems to me....Jesus' plan for a Christian's life looks quite different.
Sigh.
I love the holidays, but I can't help but be depressed at the thought of family and friend relationships being reduced to cheap, crappy, commercially produced items that nobody will remember by next year anyway. We have decided to try to by the least amount of presents possible this year- instead make gifts ourselves. They will probably involve some sewing and craft projects, baking and other things.
But as I ponder this...I can't help but think about the fact that the best parts of the holidays always involve community-family or friends, doesn't matter. Community...the thing that America doesn't know a whole lot about.
The American Dream- I was raised to idolize and strive for it. Make money, save money, have a nice house, nice cars, a pretty little family. Many people do have those nice new homes and nice pretty lives- yet are lonely, so lonely. How can that be? We isolate ourselves in climate-controlled comfort, living through TV and video games, cozied up in our private worlds. I work in the medical field, in a hospital, where people are at their worst. People attempting to commit suicide out of lonliness, people who make themselves sick so they can at least be around others. Elderly folks who die alone, every single day. Parents completely overwhelmed by caring for a diabled child, at their wits end because family and friends feel too uncomforable around an 'abnormal' child to offer any help or support. Prosperous, comfortable, successful and yet utterly alone.
Could it be that the American Dream is nothing more than an illusion? Could it be that happiness comes from our relationships with others- through everyday interactions, support through good times and bad...leaning on eachother? Early Christians understood this- they lived and worked together, shared money and resources. Where has that gone? Why is it that the church is just as influenced by consumer culture as the general population? I find it quite interesting that the common model and structure of a modern church looks eerily similar to that of a business.
What if? What if people lived and worked together in intentional communtiy-forgoing 'independence' in favor of inter-dependence? What if we said no thank you to mega churches with plasma tv's and 8 pastors on staff and a budget that could feed and clothe and support hundreds ( if not thousands) of local people in need..but is instead spent on a new addition or new 'program' for the kids, a new associate pastor or a church growth plan?
Mainly what I wonder is how the American Dream morphed into the American Christian Dream. Seems to me....Jesus' plan for a Christian's life looks quite different.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Back in the Blog World
It's been a crazy few months.
Since I last posted, I became engaged, planned a wedding in just over 2 months, got married, took a brief honeymoon, and am now in the process of adjusting to married life while working and going to school. Whew.
Now that life is starting to settle down a bit, I am hoping to start blogging more and putting my thoughts down. So in the next week or so the blog should start to look a bit different, and I've got some ideas swirling around in my head. Looking forward to lots of reading and discussion!
Since I last posted, I became engaged, planned a wedding in just over 2 months, got married, took a brief honeymoon, and am now in the process of adjusting to married life while working and going to school. Whew.
Now that life is starting to settle down a bit, I am hoping to start blogging more and putting my thoughts down. So in the next week or so the blog should start to look a bit different, and I've got some ideas swirling around in my head. Looking forward to lots of reading and discussion!
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