No one ever overdosed from encouragement.

Oh how i LOVE my pastor. (: He is an amazing man of God and is soo inspirational and real. (:
I always think it would be hard for me to ever move because of the church that i attend. After all, its one of the main reasons why i moved here.

Yesterday my pastor said something that just resonated with me so much. He said "no one ever overdosed from encouragement." It was such a minor statement and not even a point he was making in his sermon, but it spoke to my heart. How many of us need to be encouraged?

What does encouraging someone look like exactly? How is it displayed?

The dictionary defines encouragement as: 1) to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence 2) to stimulate by assistance or approval 3)to promote, advance, or foster.
To inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence. Wow! What a thought. To encourage a person is to inspire them to their full potential. To breathe life to a place that may be gasping for air. Encouragement is bringing about courage in an area in another person that may be feeling fearful.

I know when i am encouraged in any area.... i instantly feel awake and alive. If this person can believe in me... then maybe i can!

And maybe we need to encourage ourselves. There is nothing wrong with that. This is one thing i learned from a little engine that could - i think i can, i think i can, i think i can.

After hearing that phrase at church yesterday i started to think about all the people that i encourage, and i realized i need to do it more. I want to inspire people to go after what they love. I want to encourage people to dream and live. I wish to bring about life and courage to people that i am in contact with. This is my heart. (:

There is not a person that can be encourage to much. It can never hurt, only help. (:

Encouraging words and love - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

2 weeks!

Today is a very special day for me! Today marks 2 weeks until my Fiance is home from his ministry school!!!! (: i can hardly contain my excitement! I cannot believe that this season is almost over!

My Fiance has been away since August and i miss him sooo much! The last time that i have seen him was for his Christmas break! SOOOO crazy!

Since we have not seen each other in so long and we have both gone through so much, i believe that we are given this beautiful opportunity to get to know each other all over again! (:
The Lord has been working in our lives together and separately. I cannot wait to hear all my Fiance's stories of school and what he has learned there, as well as share with him what i have been up to. We will have 3 months before the wedding to just spend time together and rekindle the love that we have for each other.

This hiatus time has been good and hard. We have had this time apart to be able to work on ourselves. Work on the insecurities we might have had. Work on our relationships with God. I think that it is important to feel secure with yourself before joining together as one with someone else.

I am sure everyone in the English-speaking world has seen the scene in Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise is confessing how he feels to Renee Zellweger with the infamous line of "you complete me." Which is a really sweet sentiment, it truly is. Even in the Bible we are taught about completion between husband and wife. Genesis 2:24 - "For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father, and be joined to his wife ; and they shall become one flesh." Which i LOVE...on my invites it says "as they join together as one".
I believe, though, being whole on your own is important. After all two broken pieces doesn't make it complete...its missing pieces! We needed to fill in those pieces before we are joined together as one flesh.

 It was important before we got married  that our relationship with God be the first priority. That is what this past season was. We were not ignoring OUR relationship...but taking time for our relationship with God. We both grew sooo much in this season. We learned things about ourselves that NEEDED to be changed before we got married. We realized our insecurities that could have caused problems in our upcoming marriage and we began (and still are) working on them with God. And you know what? Not only did our trust grow for each other (and our trust in God) but our love grew too.
Even though i never saw my Fiance and scarcely talked, my love for him never ceased....it only grew! I am confident that i am even more in love with this man then i was 9 months ago when he first left.

This was a test in our relationship and we passed with flying colors. I am confident that we can get through anything together! I know that marriage takes time, work, patience, communication, and endurance.... but i know we can get through it! (: God knocked out our faulty foundation to build a solid foundation in Christ and now its just time to build everything from that.

Foundations and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

Earth laughs in flowers. (:

So the other day i met with my amazing florist to change my flowers with my new colors (purples, pinks, and fuchsia). My florist was excited for my color change and to get something a little more interesting then JUST red roses. he he. I was too!

I decided that i really wanted to have some stargazer lilies in my bouquet. Stargazer lilies are my FAVORITE flower and my fantastic Fiance gets them for me every Valentine's Day.

He sent me a HUGE bouquet of stargazers this V-day and got them sent to my work and everything! When the flower deliver lady was walking up to my work i was totally hating her saying "oh gosh..who's are those? i just wanna go out and trip her!" lol. I didn't think i was getting anything since my Fiance and i were doing long distance. She walks in and says my name and i feel excited, dumb, loved, and rude all at the same time. A part of me felt like i needed to apologize to her...but i didnt.

Lily in Chinese means "forever in love". Isn't that soo sweet?

I also like lilies because of all the references in the Bible.  Song of Solomon 2:16 - 'My beloved is mine, and i am his; he browses among the lilies'. Actually Song of Solomon is FILLED with references to lilies (like 10 times!) And that is the book about love, romance, and marriage....oh i love it! Song of Solomon 2:2 - 'Like a lily among thorns is my darling among other young women.' THIS is what i want my Fiance to feel about me!

So the lilies were an OBVIOUS choice in my wedding bouquet.....but OTHER flowers i didn't know. So i researched how i researched all the other parts of this wedding -- google.com. I googled "pink and purple bouquets" and got lots of results. I narrowed it down and brought them with me to my appointment.

My wedding florist is this adorable older woman who lives way out in the wilderness (okay..not really..but it felt like that when we were trying to get there) who has horses and a Great Dane that LOOKED like a horse. She has her little work office apart from her house with pictures and ribbon surrounding the walls. It was a girly-girl's play room. he he.

So after going over what i wanted...and what i could afford we decided that i will have a bouquet with lilies (that are LIKE stargazers only cheaper and less fragrant), orchids, fuchsia roses, and purple filler. My handsome Fiance will have an orchid for his bout. My girls will have the fuchsia roses and pink mini-gerbera daisies with purple filler and his guys will have a mini- gerbera daisy as their bout.

Here is our inspiration:

I am very very excited!!! (:  I am thinking my wedding will be GORGEOUS!

lilies and love - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥ 

ch-ch-changes

So... after many frustrations, thinking for hours, and attempting to get an answer out of my Fiance i have decided to change my colors!

Yes! change my wedding colors only 4 months before the big day! its funny because you would think that changing my colors would make me feel super stressed..... but actually i feel more peace now then i did before.

I just could not fall in love with red like my Fiance has. Red is his favorite color. On a color palette scale for me: red is at the bottom. So trying to pick out tons of stuff in red and realizing that my LEAST favorite color was going to be surrounding me on the happiest day of my life was stressing me OUT! So... instead of continuing to try to force myself to like this color...i decided to just change it.

My new amazing (and much more pleasing to MY eyes) wedding colors are: plum, pinks, and fuchsia. I got the inspiration from www.theperfectpaletteblog.com (which i have just fallen in love with! check out the full inspiration http://www.theperfectpaletteblog.com/2010/01/pretty-in-light-pink-plum-mauve-fuchsia.html )

So...now i need to pick out new invites (the ones i ordered [which will be at my house tomorrow] are red, black, and white), flowers, bridesmaids dresses, cake (although i might keep the cake how it is...since it was basically white anyways.), and decorations. But even though i am pretty much reconstructing my wedding from scratch with only 132 days left..... i just feel excited! I dont know...maybe purples and pinks just make me smile. (:

OORRR..... it could be because in only 132 days i will be marrying my prince. (:

(it does help that my wedding will be GORGEOUS though ;] )

the countdown is on! (:

lovely changes and love. - M


♥ . ♥ . ♥

Decisions hurt my brain

Wedding planning requires you to make a million minor decisions every single day! Okay, i MAY be embellishing a little...but its definitely what it feels like.

When my Fiance and i first started dating i had difficulty deciding on a restaurant to eat at. So i am going from not deciding on tiny decisions to being forced to making decisions that will influence the most important day of my life. FUN!

We have decided on the colors (red, black, and white), the place, the time, the officiant, the invitations, our bridal party (all family), our dj, our caterer, our cake person, and our ceremony music person. ah! sooo many decisions.

I am soo blessed to be working with a FABULOUS wedding planner... because if i didn't have her i would have probably died from decision overload. She told us about the place, the caterer, the cake person, the ceremony music, and is helping with the decor. (: smiles all around for her!

Not only do i have trouble making a decision...i have trouble STICKING with a decision. Starting in January i started looking and invite samples....hundreds and hundreds of them. I got 10 free samples from different places...and still couldn't stick to an invite. FINALLY four months later i ordered some online at magnetstreet.com! hooray!

And invites weren't the only thing that i changed. My ceremony music leader most likely thinks i am the most difficult bride. I met with him and my future sister-in-law a few months ago and set up a basic music list for the ceremony. Well 2 months and 200 emails later... i don't think one original song from that first music list has made the cut. He finally had to tell me that we will hold off on deciding until my Fiance is back in town. 

At my cake testing (my future sister-in-law also accompanied me) it sounded like i had decided on the delicious cake. Not even a week later....... all those wonderful decisions came crashing down and i felt like i was back at square one again. Did i REALLY like that red velvet cake? Is strawberry cake to weird for a wedding? how DID that chocolate taste?

So...when my beloved (and way better decision maker) future husband is back in town we will be revisiting all the vendors who have learned (by now) i am terrible at decisions, to go over everything. And who knows?? We may go with everything that i already decided on. I guess we will see.

Decisions and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

On bended knee

I recently got engaged on December 25, 2010.

It was probably the most surprising and exciting moment to date!

I woke up Christmas morning to my boyfriend's mom's voice at about 6:30am. I sprung up sooo excited for the day and to spend time with my AMAZING boyfriend... who i hadn't seen or really even talked to since he left for ministry school in August.

I ran out of my room into the living room where the tree was, with what looked like HUNDREDS of presents were perfectly (and imperfectly) wrapped. All of us started unwrapping our gifts from one another with anticipation on our faces. The wonder and curiosity we had when we were children instantly came back full force. "Oh wow", "Thank you!", "Awesome!", " You're welcome" were being said in between the sounds of ripped papers and struggles through tape. The floor was completely covered in boxes, red & green wrapping paper, toys, and gifts. We were getting to the last gifts and i was looking at all the wonderful things we had received. As i relaxed on the couch my boyfriend gets up and grabs a little bag with a bow from the top of the tree. He hands it to me and sits on the edge of the coach with anticipation. His mom, in all the commotion, had forgotten the camera and stops me right has i pull out a little jewelry box.

The camera is set, and i see my boyfriend on his knee as i open the tiny maroon-colored velvet box. I read the tiny piece of paper that so sweetly and simply asks "will you marry me?". I was in complete and utter shock and amazement. This was NOT what i expected to happen this Christmas. After a few seconds i say yes and hug him with tears in my eyes. My wonderful boyfriend (well then Fiance. hehe) places the ring on my finger and all i can do is hug him and smile.

A moment i had waited and prayed for my entire life FINALLY became a reality. And reality is soo much better then a dream!

So the date is set for August and planning is now in action. After Christmas break, my Fiance ( hehehe) had to go back to finish up his ministry school and will be home in one month!

Looking back on our relationship and all that we have been through i can't help but smile and praise God. We went through some tough stuff (the long distance probably being the toughest) but we were able to get through it, heads held high. I can happily say that i have found the one whom my soul loves (Song of Solomon 3:4). (:

Engagements and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

it's Christmas time.

Christmas is literally right around the corner. Driving down the streets all i can see are twinkling lights, gorgeous decorated trees, and red & green everywhere. You cant help but smile and be excited about the season of Christmas and winter.

Christmas is also a time when people can reflect on their lack. Lack of money, lack of family, lack of sanity...whatever. With the pressure of spending time with family (that you may not get along with the other 364 days of the year), pressure of spending money on tons of presents (checking the list twice to make sure everyone is covered) and pressure of spending energy on keeping up with the traffic on the streets and at the local stores is enough to make any sane person start to curse the holidays. With frustration at an all time high (because you forgot to buy your brother's wife's nephew a present or because you just got cut off AGAIN in traffic) we can start to forget the reason behind all this craziness.

Roy L. Smith said "He who does not have Christmas in his heart, will never find it under the tree." We always say or hear people say what the real reason of Christmas is all about.....but do we actually ever truly think about it. Christmas isn't about presents, Santa, decorated trees, or lights...its about the birth of our Savior - the One who was sent to save the world. My favorite Christmas song is 'Oh Holy Night' and one of the reasons for that is because it depicts the reason for the day we all widely celebrate. Some of those lyrics are: "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn." That just illustrates such a beautiful picture of what happened on that day! We needed a Savior...we NEEDED Jesus Christ to come. The other part of the songs says "Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, let all within us praise His Holy name." I pray that none of us will forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Take away the expensive gifts. Take away the lights and the colors. Take away the trees and the stockings. Take away Frosty, Rudolph and Old Saint Nick. And there is STILL a reason to sing - because Christ is our Lord.

Merry Christmas and when you see the trees, the colors, and the lights I urge you to praise His Holy Name. (: