Dance classes
Jamie and I have just finished taking ballroom dance classes. We loved it!! It is so much fun and I think every couple should do it together. Just ask Jamie, he thought he'd have to suffer through it but ended up loving every minute we danced together! We had so much fun that our faces would hurt from smiling too much. :)
We learned the foxtrot, the cha-cha, the waltz (which is more complicated than just 1-2-3, 1-2-3) and even some swing moves!
In fact, we love it so much that we dance whenever we can!
Ballroom dancing: 10 out of 10 and highly recommended!
My maman: the Photo-grapher
Fantabulous tulips
A beginning of spring
Sunset... who knows where...
Zorra: our adorable rottweiler
My mom is the one who has taught me to look for and appreciate small, beautiful things in life.
A bird on a branch, a peculiar rock on the ground, unique flowers and random trees... All of God's creation has got to have something fascinating and beautiful in it.
Merci Maman.
Juggling...
Talk about changing seaons... Nature isn't the only thing changing from winter to summer! The dryness and impatience is gone, replaced by fresh water and fullness of life. I praise you God for your faithfulness! I'm in this in-between stage where I'm out of the dry field, running down the beach towards the water ready to throw myself in. Woohoo!!
I am currently juggling wedding planning (my own), planning to MC Nat and Nome's wedding, and organizing the next 3 weeks for the outreach team. Life is good, my friends, good and full. Song in my head: Whisper to me words that make my heart burn Give unto me Water for which my soul yearns I will awaken the dawn Praise like a fountain cascades down I will love You like I did at first Earthen vessels fail to quench this thirst From the womb of dawn I will come And give a worship that befits the Son
I'll make Your praise glorious
I wish you could hear the music as you read... Sing it loud!
I'll make
Your Praise
GLORIOUS!!
Cracking the Dating Code
Out of my previous post have come a couple of conversations that have prompted me to write on this next subject: dating, which is the approach our society has taken to guy/girl relationships. Having been through 2 years and nearly 9 months of it myself, and now looking forward to finally being married, I wanted to share some reflections with you.
I don't like dating.
I don't like having to watch how much time I spend with Jamie, and whether or not we're alone and have to continually monitor how our physical relationship is doing. I don't like seeing him even as much as I do and having to say goodbye, because I want to be with him all the time!
I love the time I've spent with Jamie, but I don't like the concept of dating. There were many times when I wondered, there must have been another way that God intentioned for a guy and girl to meet, fall in love and get married. A way where you don't have to stress about physical temptation or get burned by succumbing to it, and where there isn't that pattern of getting together with someone, then breaking up, again and again and again!
Think of your friends, and how many girlfriends or boyfriends they've had, and how hurt they've been when the relationship broke up. Where does this desperation for companionship come from?? Are we handling it in the right way? This is a deep issue that is really hard to discuss on a blog...
Sometimes I think there must have been some beauty and truth in the way they did weddings thousands of years ago. Two sets of parents got together and decided that their children would be betrothed, and when they were of age, they got married, often without ever meeting. Then they would start their life together, get to know one another physically after the wedding, which to some seems unthinkable. But guess what: they stuck it out. Compared to today's, the rate of divorce back then is hardly worth mentioning.
I'm not saying that we should go back to that extreme, but I am saying that the dating pattern we've set for ourselves today does not seem to be bringing glory to God, or us the fulfillment we seek.
Let's put our heads together. What are your thoughts?
Jepthah's daughter: Intense purity
I was reading this passage in the Old Testament not long ago, and I was struck by the purity in Jepthah's daughter. Read this passage before I continue. (Jepthah has just defeated the Ammonites)
When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter--his only child--ran out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "My daughter!" he cried out. "My heart is breaking! What a tragedy that you came out to greet me. For I have made a vow to the Lord and cannot take it back."
And she said, "Father, you have made a promise to the Lord. You must do to me what you have promised, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. But first let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin."
"You may go," Jephthah said. And he let her go away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. When she returned home, her father kept his vow, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah's daughter.
~~~
Wow, it amazes me how someone would treasure their purity so much as to be willing to die without compromising it. She mourned 2 whole months because she would never marry or have children and then willingly submitted herself as a pure sacrifice. What would you have done in her shoes? Run away? Gone out and lose your virginity to the first guy you find? Our world doesn't make it easy for us to value our purity. But it is possible if we follow Jepthah's daughter's example and guard it fiercely.
I'm going to write from my heart, even though it's personal.
Jamie and I have come through quite a journey with the whole physical temptation thing. We decided we weren't going to have sex until we were married, so we had to fix some firm boundaries that we've kept to this day, such as keeping our clothes on. But we somehow managed to get around them and still arouse one another, which is when we realized it's not just about not having sex, it's about living in purity. We've had to go on "lock-down" several times, which means that we limited it to hugs and short kisses. When we got engaged, the initial response was to be more physical, but we realized right away that it wasn't good at all and that in fact, the opposite needed to happen or we'd go crazy. So now we're on lock-down and very much looking forward to 53 days from now. It's been hard, but the sacrifice every time to hold back has been worth what will surely be sublime.
I know it might be shocking for some to read this, but I believe that so many fall into sexual sin and get burned by it because we don't talk about it. I think we need to talk to each other about our stories and our struggles so that we can encourage and build one another up.
If anyone would like to talk about this more, you can email me or we can get together.
A couple great books on this subject are "Every Young Woman's Battle" by Shannon Ethridge and "Authentic Beauty" by Leslie Ludy (see link on the side)
