Colombia!

Hey gang,

I'm sitting here in my cousin's bedroom, getting ready to knock out; I'm not officially married yet (48 hours!) so I guess it's okay for me to blog.

This will probably be the last thing I post for a while (if you see a something up here next week, it's probably a bad sign), but I had a lot on my mind, and thought it would be cool to look back on the kinds of thoughts that were going through my head in the days before Steph and I got married.

Simply put, this is turning out to be one of the best weeks of my life. Everywhere I look I see my family united and celebrating in a way I haven't seen in ages. I think the coolest thing about it is the realization of how blessed Steph and I truly are. Two years ago when we determined the direction our courtship was going to go in, I don't think either one of us had the slightest idea that the kind of moments we're experiencing this week could even happen. 

It's like God took what, at times, seemed like a tedious amount of obedience and went to work blessing it in masse. 

And now, in less than two days, I get to walk into a marriage more sure than I've ever been that this was the way it was always meant to be, that it was always going to be her. Moments like today as we rode in a carriage together through the old city in Cartagena are reminders that obedience is so worth it, that we didn't keep ourselves pure in vain.

I'm reminded that all of the bone-headed habits and self-centered ways of thinking that I'm having to break myself of daily are worth it because the effort puts me in a place where the kind of marriage dreams are made of isn't just a pipe dream, but rather becomes a distinct possibility.

I was talking to Matt at our table this evening (he's the officiating Pastor, by the way. I haven't done any fact checking on this, but all the same I'm pretty sure he's the first Arkansan to ever preside over a wedding in Colombia) about the whole thing, and we both realized how grateful we are to work at a church under a leader who teaches us to never quit in the pursuit of our full potential, and nights like tonight confirm that yes, it's worth it.

I realize that I'm writing this now to the young guy or girl who's wondering if pursing a relationship the way God asks us to in his word is worth it.

Please trust me when I say that it is.

This week is proof of it.

Thought Avalanche

I am sitting in my room trying to wrap my brain around the events that have transpired over the last week, but it's not really working.

Let me try again.

Did I really see almost 50 people experience a college ministry Monday night that not even a year ago was made up of 12 people in my backyard?

And Thursday? The night where Steph and I got to go have dinner with Matt & Jenn and talk over what our wedding ceremony is going to be like? That was fun in all kinds of ways, because it's no longer just me or just her, but it's starting to become an us. 

And then of course Friday night just blew my mind right out of the water....if you weren't there,  just know that it was a ceremony (service? Send-off? Roast? I still don't know quite what to call it. Any ideas, Brian?) that I will remember fondly for the rest of my life. The long and the short of it is, that I know some world class people.

Which is why I'm okay with writing a post that on the front end may look like a laundry list of how much better my week was than yours.

Collaboration. Around FRC, it's the notion that who you do life with matters. The quality of the people you spend your time around (or who allow you to spend your time around them on less endearing days) affects the quality of your life.

And thus, this week.

I get to lead a college ministry along with a crew of passionate and sharp people who practically run the thing like they were getting paid to do it, and so together we get to experience more relational success than we've ever had and the launch of a multi-campus college ministry.

The day Steph and I get married is going to be that much more special because the guy who's officiating it has been my friend for years.

And then Friday night was pretty much a culmination of all the things I love about the people I get to do life with. Steph and I are launching into married life knowing that we are surrounded by the best community of people we could ever have asked for...

So, yeah, this post can pretty much be summarized like this: the right people can make all the difference in a life.

only fifteen more days...

work, run, wedding, sleep, work, run, wedding, sleep, work, run, wedding, sleep.....

Holy cow!

It's May 1!!!! 

You know what that means??

I'm getting married in 22 days!

I feel like this cat right now: