August 11, 2009

Date Night

When my husband and I had our premarital counseling, we were taught the importance of date night. No matter what we had been going through, we had to set time aside for date night.
It's easy at the beginning, or at least it was for us. It still is, only now we're starting to get a lot more busy.
So we pick at least one night a week that we're going to do something fun, just the two of us.
One night we had been painting all day so we ordered a pizza and had a picnic in the living and we rented a movie. Another night we just went for a walk around the neighborhood.

Spending time together just talking, trying to focus on nothing else, can be amazing.
I am so happy that neither of us has forgotten date night.

So tonight is the night! DATE NIGHT!
We're driving out to where there are no lights, bringing along some blankets and watching the meteor shower!
Tonight shall be grand!

August 8, 2009

Define Family

Lately, my husband and I have been going through some extremely difficult family situations. Right now, especially. And so a few nights ago we were talking about family. About what really defines family and how we, as a couple know who to consider family.

Curiously, I looked up the "real" meaning of the word.
Dictionary.com defines family in many ways. Some of the definitions were obvious and exactly how someone pictures the word "family." It's like in children's storybooks about the mommy and daddy with their kids. They also include any blood relative such as any of the parent's siblings or Nana and Papa. But that's not what I meant. I didn't mean "relatives," I meant "family."
The more unusual definitions were those describing the Mafia "family" or the classification of plants and animals. But still, not quite what I was looking for. So, after reading on, I finally came across part of a definition and decided to add to it.

In my opinion, family should be a group of people who love, care for and support each other. It's a group of people who aren't necessarily blood relatives but are people who share the same attitudes, interests, and/or goals.

So, who is part of your family?

In the midst of all that my husband and I have gone through, separately and together as a couple, there have always been those few faces that always made us feel better. They are the people who are with you through the good and the bad. They are the ones you can rely on. And they know the real you.

So, we want to thank you. All of our family who has been there for us. Who has cheered us up when we were feeling blue and to all of you who have kept faith with us. Christ will surely bless all of your lives for all that you have done for us. We could never thank you enough!


To any one else reading this, please pray. Pray for our family and our relatives.

August 2, 2009

How We Met...

Last spring I ended a terrible relationship and swore off any type of relationship until I had finished at least one year of school. Like anyone else that comes out of a nasty situation, I craved the need for extreme change. I started making plans and even acting on some. But I mistakenly spent less time in prayer about these decisions and in turn God has His way with things.
Within the next two months I had a great visit with a friend from Minnesota. We had long talks, and one especially, that stands out in my mind. We were sitting in my room at my parent's house talking about the plans I wanted to make. I told her all about how and why I wanted the next relationship to be all in God's hands. I also expressed how I wouldn't even think of getting married until after I was 21.

That same week my friend was here, we "hosted" a kid's camp. A group from Minnesota came down and worked with about 8 different churches in order to put on this week long camp. One of the many churches that helped, was a church located near my house that I had never seen. Nor had I met any of the members before.

That week my job was Snacks! I and a few other "girls", but they were all people I knew. I never really had the chance to get to know the people from the new church. But I did get to watch some of them. One in particular was a guy from there. He was a leader of the smallest children. Every time I saw him, he was dancing around with the kids, and he always had their attention. I love kids and I've always had a heart for teaching Sunday school so this caught my attention. Little by little I heard about things this guy and his brothers were doing at the camp. They had servant's hearts and would do anything to help. They were a blessing. All three of them, along with the people from their church.

I remember telling my mom at the end of the week that I wished God would give me a husband like one of the brothers. That I wanted someone with a heart like theirs, that wanted to serve God. My mom responded in a way I never expected saying, "Yeah, how about the older brother! He's cute!" I remember laughing and telling her that I preferred the younger of the two that worked with us. [This was all joking, mind you.]
Soon after I found out that my dad told my mom that he hoped that God would bless his daughters with men like the brothers. (What?) Was I really hearing all this? I had never heard my parents talk this way and it shocked me.

The week after the camp, my parents and I traveled to southern Mexico for a missionary conference. Not long after arriving at the resort, I received a text message from what appeared to be a friend's cell phone. Wrong! It was one of the brothers. Nothing weird, just saying hi. To me though, it was again - shocking.
As the week went on, the texting continued. Even while sleeping, I kept the phone at my side.
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
And from there, other feelings began.

Even though little time passed, I knew something was different. This guy prayed for me. We only spent time with family. We shared the same spiritual beliefs. This was all very new.

After a short while, he asked my parents if we could start dating. So as of August 2nd, 2008, we were "novios." After a month had passed, he left to work in another state. We were 11 hours apart. For the 3 months that followed, we communicated by phone, email and thankfully Skype with video! It was terribly difficult, but we kept God in the middle of everything. I don't believe 12 hours passed where I hadn't prayed for him at least once or twice. He meant so much to me.

A few days before Christmas, he came home for two weeks. He was different. But I wasn't sure how. Something just didn't seem right.
The day before Christmas we went for a walk in the park and he told me he needed to talk to me. He sat at one of the tables and starting to sing and then said,

"Sarah, I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore."

(What?) A million thoughts started to fly through my mind. (Why had I waited for a guy who would do this.) (I knew I should have waited.) (I told you God!) (WHY?)

"....Sarah.... I want you to be my wife."

(What?) (Are you serious?)

From the beginning, I had been praying about the seriousness of our relationship. So, I just stepped back and let God handle it.

'Yes!!!!'


We soon picked a date and started planning.
On April 14th, we were legally married!
And well the rest is still in the works.


Many of you had asked how we met and I either never responded or I gave you a short answer.
As you can see, God had a plan. A pretty good one... And all I had to do was ask Him what steps to take.
We can't expect to live a life without problems, without struggles. But God knows how to help us, and He will solve all our problems.

I can only thank Him now. He took my "plans" and changed them ALL! He gave me everything I ever dreamed of in the form of one person. He gave me a husband that thankfully puts God first and me second. I can't ask for more than that.