If Charles and I don’t end up going to Australia, I may end up having to look for another job. Although I love this one, I think people are starting to realize that, at least right now, what I’m doing really isn’t full-time work. I have so much downtime it is gross. But I hope they don’t do too much about it until I hear what is happening with Coffs . Although I’m praying for God’s will to be done, I really would love to start my life with Chuck by going on some crazy adventure together.
For my second thought, weddings are absolutely beautiful. I love to go and see the beautiful dresses and flowers and share in the joy of the couple making such a difficult, but beautiful commitment to each other. Weddings are real tear-jerkers, I tell you.
What you don’t see is all the blasted work that goes on behind the scenes. Good grief. Wedding prep can be fun but is also one of the most annoying, time- consuming things on the planet! It has its pros. It really brings people together. And it is fun to plan for a beautiful wedding… but ALL THE DETAILS…. Yuck.
Eloping would be so much easier.
Then again, it would be sad to not celebrate such a joyous occasion with family and friends. I would regret not having a wedding.
I would NOT regret spending all the money, working out all the details, and trying to get along with everyone at the same time.

But really, despite my seemingly negative post, it has been fun and it has created memories that I will always cherish. And Charles has been a doll about everything. I am marrying a real winner! (silly, lovesick grin)
For my third thought, yesterday was my Granda’s 81st birthday. You would never know that from looking at him. He is so healthy and strong and in good health both physically and mentally. I mean c’mon, how many 80 year olds are out loading and unloading 500 hay bails (and not little ones) everyday.
Yeah. I’ve got some good genes!
But I don’t think it is all genes. I think so much of it has to do with his character. The Bible talks so much about those who follow the Lord live a long and prosperous life. I think Grand has certainly experienced that. He has got to be one of the wisest, godliest men that I have ever met. He loves God so much and follows him wholeheartedly. Granda and Nanny both have such a love for people and a gift for evangelism. I think they have talked about God to everyone they’ve ever met. And it’s never in a pushy, obnoxious way. It is sincere and people see that and respect that. They have so many more friends and know more people than I could ever dream of. I want to be like that. They don’t care what people think about them. They just love people. And God.
When we were all in Ireland together, Granda ran into an old friend from grammar school. Of course, they are both getting up in years, and Granda talked to him about the importance to giving your life to God, and that it’s never too late. He certainly gave that man something to think about. And he gave me something to think about. And he gave me a wonderful example to follow.
God has blessed me with an amazing family, on both sides. I pray that I will never take them for granted but will learn everything I can from them. I have prayed since I was little that Granda would live to see my wedding day (I am the first of the grandkids to get married) and that the man I marry would have the honor and privilege of knowing Granda and hearing some of his wonderful lectures! God has been so faithful to our family! I am blessed and full of amazing and abundant joy!!
So I’ve been very challenged lately and have had to do some major thinking on what I believe in regards to Trinity, and who God is, etc. I am part of this incredible Sunday School class. Very very good. Highly intellectual. Good thinking material. Challenging material. I’ll write more when I get more a little settled in this brain of mine that is going crazy.
Last thought – my weekend was awesome! I took some time for myself. I need to do that more often! I hung out with some of the young women in my church and I hung out with Kate and we watched a movie and talked and visited a home contractor together --- good times.
Ok, last thought for real. A guy from work let me borrow a few CD’s. One was supposed to have this old song that I love, that has been one of my parent’s songs through all of their marriage. But when I looked at the case, I thought he must have gave me the wrong one. Anyhow, mom and I were skipping through the songs to see if perhaps it was on there, and we came to a song called “Danny’s song.” (My dad’s name is Dan.) I thought to myself, “there is no way that could be it. That would be too ironic and weird.” Lo and behold, that was it! My mom had no idea! What a cool little irony!
I think it made her day! It made mine!
I’m such a sappy romantic! Haha.
Anyhow…
God is so good! Life is so good!
So that’s it for my random post. I’ll blog again when I have something more thought provoking to say. (Thought provoking for me, that is. You can think about whatever you want.)
Ciao!

By the way – check out chuck’s blog! (www.mrimperial.blogspot.com)
There are some incredible pictures of his last Australian adventure. I sure wish I could’ve been there. But I chose to stay home and work and live vicariously through him. Hahahaha.
Nah. Besides, I would’ve hated that tree-top thing. I would have passed out or cried the whole time. The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House at Disney World scarred me for life. Yup. It’s sad, but true.
Anyway, check it out.
My favorite is the one of him in the green shirt! (wink!)

Yes. But is this a day that the Lord has made? YES!!! So let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it!!!

Well it is friday again!! Happy-happy-joy-joy!!! This has been a fairly long, very difficult week for me. But i am out of my little selfish funk, I am loved by an amazing God and wonderful husband-soon-to-be, I have fun things lined up for the weekend, (it's about time i did something besides work and wedding), and to top it all off, i had a beautifully made broccoli and cheese baked potato with sour cream from Wendy's for lunch. Doesn't sound like much to be excited about, I know. But when you pack your lunch every day, a hot potato is just wonderful and soothing. Especially on a rainy day. Which it is. The air was crisp this morning but the sky was sunny and beautiful and now it's raining. BUT... it's not snowing and for that (amongst thousands of other things) i will jump up and down and praise the Lord from whom all blessings (big and small) flow!

"The more I know your power, Lord, the more I'm mindful
how casually we speak and sing your name.
How often we have come to you with no fear or wonder,
and called upon you only for what we stand to gain.

God forbid that I find you so familiar;
that i think of you as less than who you are.
God forbid that I should speak of you at all
without a humble reverence in my heart.

Lord, I often talk about your love and mercy;
how it seems to me your goodness has no end.
It frightens me to think that I could take you for granted,
though you're closer than a brother, you are more than just my friend.

You are Father, God, Almighty,
Lord of Lords and King of Kings;
Beyond my understanding,
No less than everything.

God forbid that I find you so familiar;
that i speak of you as less than who you are.
God forbid that I should speak of you at all
without a humble reverence in my heart.
God forbid."


~Point of Grace~

Yesterday in church our pastor was saying that in every religion but Christianity, people must work their way in to heaven. Salvation is about work. But for Christians, we know that true salvation is a GIFT. It is nothing that we can earn, nothing that we can work for… It is only available to us because the Father sent his Son to pay the price, and the Son willingly came and lived and died and rose.
Ok. All this is true. No arguments with that. I would be a fool. And I would be a fool to downplay God’s mercy and grace. Please don’t take it that way.

BUT, there is certainly a difference in people who believe that they must be a good person, and do a lot of good things, in order to get to heaven, or be in a higher position in the afterlife, or to become a god, etc.
Let me tell you know, there is a fire lit under the backsides of those people. Check out Muslims. So unbelievably devout. And Jehovah’s witnesses. We joke about them and lock our doors when they come to our homes, but c’mon – they are out there. They are going door to door. They are “working” their way into heaven, and they are living out what they believe – although it is not The Way. It is a very distorted message. The same is true for Muslims, Buddhists, etc. Try to evangelize to one. They know their stuff. They are firm in their beliefs and they are out there in the world actively trying to gain followers.

And then there are Christians. We do not have to work our way into heaven. Salvation is a free and marvelous gift. Life is about grace and mercy.

And, in comparison to other religions, we seem to be the laziest bunch of church-going hypocrites you ever did see.

No, we can’t earn our salvation. But James says that faith without works is dead. DEAD. Not dormant, not sleeping, not just snoozing on the couch or in the church pew. DEAD.
Hear the word of the Lord:
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will you, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” James 2: 14-18
Somehow I don’t think that by “action” and “deeds” James had in mind – “well, I go to church every Sunday, and I pray before meals - even in front of people. And I don’t go to the movies on Sunday (which many Christians do), and I skim verses in the Bible once a week or so. And I certainly have faith in God’s grace and that he has redeemed me, a sinner, and I feel that I am living the victorious Christian life, and that my deeds are matching my faith. I mean, at work everyone gossips, and of course I participate, but that isn’t wrong. I’m concerned about the well-being of others. And I just flirt a little bit although I’m married. It’s harmless, and it doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s all in fun. And when I slip and curse, I’m just joking, really. Everyone does it. I don’t mean it. Besides, I have freedom in Christ.”
We enjoy our R-rated movies and dirty, but funny, sitcoms just as much as the next person. (I am certainly guilty of this as well.) We feel bad for those in need, and we would like to help them but we just don’t have the means because, well, we still are making payments on our modest 27” television. We don’t live extravagantly. No way.
Yes, being a Christian is about loving God and others and accepting the gift of grace and salvation offered us. But it is not about just sitting and basking in the grace of God. Look at Jesus’ parables. They were about the relevance of love and Jesus and the Kingdom of God in our every day lives. It should affect our practical living, and our habits, in every possible way. Not just how many times we go to church on Sunday, or pray, or read the Bible. Although those should not be neglected. We need those to learn how to live as Jesus did, and as he commands us to.
Jesus didn’t request that we “go make disciples.” He commanded it. And some people truly are. God bless them. And some of us are afraid too because, face it, we may be persecuted for it. And when we do witness to people, what kind of disciples are we making? Those same lazy Christians that we are ourselves? Or are we making disciples like Jesus’ disciples? They were INSANE. They didn’t care what people thought. They were crucified upside-down, and sawed in half for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of LOST PEOPLE. They were different. They were hated.
If we aren’t being persecuted, is that saying something about the way we live? Perhaps not. But are our deeds TRULY matching our faith? If they are, then some of us need to evaluate the level of our faith - and search the scriptures to see what God demands of us. If we truly understood the gift that was offered us, it would certainly light a fire under us, and change our lives in miraculous ways.
We are to live and walk by faith. But that should show itself in action.

So go ahead and lock your door when the next Jehovah’s witness comes to try and “save” you.
But maybe you should think about why people aren’t shutting the door in your face.

So the Astros are going to the World Series!!! I think that’s pretty darn cool, and I don’t even really like baseball. I think they play too many games and 9 innings is way too many! Haha.
But Charles loves them and it’s hard not to be excited when he is so out of control happy about it! So I’m psyched. I might even watch a few games since I’m going to try and tape them for him since he, being in Oz, won’t be able to see them.
I’m trying hard to be a good, supportive fiancée. (Pat myself on the back!)
So Barb is back now – the lady I was covering for at work. That means the next little while I won’t be so busy and may have a little time to blog again. I think that work is the best time to blog. I don’t have any other distractions when my work is done, since,for the most part I work alone. so I have plenty of time to think, and I can’t go anywhere. When I’m home, I am just too busy or am too distracted. So this works out well.

I’m excited about today. I know hearing about my wedding must get old… but I’m so excited that I can’t help talking about it!!!! Anyhow, today after work, Aunt Karen and I are stopping to get stuff for the “bridal tea.” Haha. That should be interesting. All the aunts wanted to do something a little different from a normal bridal shower. I said we could send out baby shower invitations. That would make it different! :) but they vetoed that idea. So a bridal tea it is. I think it will be cool. And elegant. And I like tea and cookies. As long as people don’t wear old dresses and big frilly hats. I can just see my family show up that way. They are nuts. Very cool, but nuts. I remember when I was in elementary school I had a friend over and we had a tea party. I wanted a little miniature tea set more than anything in the world, so I got one for my b-day or something. I can’t remember. But it was beautiful. I still have it somewhere. Anyway, we wore silly dresses and dorky hats and drank tea out of cups that were so small that they shouldn’t even be called cups… and we probably even stuck our pinkies out, trying to fool ourselves into believing we were very prim and proper. And we probably looked very silly. But we were kids, and that is what most normal little girls do. so mom went along with it, acting like it was the most exciting day in the world for her, as well. And it probably was. Because I think good moms really do enjoy helping their little girls fulfill their dreams, ( and that was probably my grandest dream at the time - and I do have a good mom!). She was also probably very happy that I was having a tea party and not giving my barbies buzz cuts and throwing them out the window, pretending I was Godzilla, like i was most of the time. (I always did like GI JOES best.) And I remember that I had an adult who I had really connected with come over, and she was very sweet and good natured as well… acting like it was the most normal thing in the world to drive an hour to have a tea party with a 9 year old. But I remember her taking me to my bedroom, since I said that was my favorite room in the house, and praying with me. She prayed a beautiful blessing over me - that I would always love God and follow Him all the days of my life. She also gave me a HUGE rice krispie treat in the shape of a Hershey kiss. That was cool too. Thank God for putting wonderful, godly women in my life who were willing to drop everything in their busy day to have a tea party with a little girl and pray with her, encouraging her to seek the Lord always. I hope I will be willing to do the same for some other little girl someday. How funny though, to think that that tea long ago left a little boy-crazy girl longing to grow up to be a godly woman and a good wife, and the tea next month will lead the same girl, now a woman, into the next stage of life where she will strive to be that godly woman and wife.
wow.

Ok. Sorry for that detour down memory lane.

ANYWAY ---
Also, my aunt joan is going to come over tonight to start working on my FREAKING AWESOME bridal cape tonight. That’s right. I’m going to be super bride! Look out Charles! (wink, wink!)
I guess I was going to write more, but I just got some work to do, so I’m going to get to that. :)
Catch-ya-later, alligator.

AND GO ASTROS!!!!

time seems to be really flying these days. it's a nice change, but is a bit overwhelming. It is only 2 months and one day until the wedding! AAHHH! i'm so excited, but scared to death. we have so much to do. Tomorrow afternoon is devoted completely to invitations. they need to be sent out ASAP... and there is always something else important to do, it seems, so things never get done fast enough. At least for me! :) but then again, i'm impatient.

so tonight before work i went and hung out at kate's house with some of my high school buddies. I am so blessed to have such a core group of friends. People always told me "you will stay in touch with your college buds way more than your high school buds." that is so not true for me. We all get together probably 3-4 times a year. at least. it is so neat to get back together and see where life is taking people and how it is changing people, and who is being added to the group. (like spouses and children.) it's so nuts and it makes me feel so old! some people never change... some people change so much it's frightening! :) i just love to be back with them and laugh and reminisce about life and school. They are a great gang!

i have officially decided after tonight, however, that i don't really like the game Cranium. it's just not my cup of tea.

My brain has been so fried lately, it's hard to take the time or energy to write anything terribly deep. So you'll have to bear with me and my shallow posts for awhile, until my brain kicks back into gear. Hopefully it won't be long. It doesn't help that the only time i have to really blog is on the overnight shift at about 4am... so anything i did say would probably be quite incoherent anyway.

I will say this before i say Sayonara... i really miss Charles. Being there tonight with 2 married couples made me long for the day when i can bring my spouse along. it's less than 2 months til he comes home. Thank God. Life just isn't the same without him around. It's still good but it will be oh so much better when he's back.

Chuck: I can't believe this is happening to me.
Cherith: Hmm?... what honey?.... Who did you say won the game today??......


THE BUFFALO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I love you, Eddie!)

That's right. Today the Bills beat the Dolphins 20-14 in a real nail-biter of a game! It didn't start out that way but Miami got their act together in the second half. I was hoping for a shut-out, but it's ok. The Bills still pulled it off.
Buffalo needed this.
I needed this.
Especially since Chuck is a fish fan!
We have a little deal for when we are married that is designed to keep us from killing each other during football season. ;) I would definitely be taking advantage of this win right now!!

Other than football, today has been a productive day so far! Although I only got 3 hours of sleep today, I got up and super cleaned my room. I mean, i made my bed, vacuumed, even re-folded my clothes and organized my drawers. Go me!
Well, I have many things that i want to say, but my brain is so dead right now that i think i'm gonna try to catch a nap before my parents come home and we start working on invitations.
Plus, i want to talk to my love tonight.
I want to leave you with an infamous quote by Dan Fuller (said in an awful WNY accent):

"LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!!!!"

It has been awhile since i've had a chance to post. (I never have to worry about not having something to say.) Life has been pretty crazy these days and work is no longer the relaxed, quiet, occasionally busy place that it used to be. Now my days are crazy hectic, filled with all kinds of lists of things to do, that gradually get longer as the day goes on, no matter how hard i work to get things done.
But i'm not complaining because it's good experience, good money, and it makes the day for faster, that's for sure.
Anyway, i think, for the most part, this is just going to be little catch-up blurbs

The wedding is moving steadily closer! Less than 2 months now until charles comes home! i am so unbelievably excited!!! The invitations are in. The problem now is finding the time to work on them and send them out. They need to be out in the next week-week and a half or so. yikes.
My dress is in!!! yay!!! I had a ton of fun shopping for shoes and stuff the other day, but didn't find anything. i have to get something before thursday. double yikes. the pressure is on.

I am falling more in love with my amazing fiance every day. Every day he gets sweeter, and kinder, and more thoughtful. I am completely overwhelmed and awed at the way God is working so powerfully in his life and it's cool to see the effects it is having on our relationship! I wish i could really express my feelings on a page, but i can't. No words, no :) smiles are sufficient. My heart is exploding! Sometimes i just want to sit down and weep with joy, and with love, and with excitement, and with anxiousness! God is SO good and he has blessed me so abundantly. I can't say that enough.
Although the distance has been difficult sometimes, i think this was the best thing for our relationship! God is using this time apart to strengthen us in neat ways, as well us draw us closer to Him, teach us some awesome new things and do some much-needed work in our lives! I know these ways that He is changing us are only going to make our marriage stronger and more God-focused, and I am EXCITED to be sharing my life with someone so passionately in love with the Father, and pursuing Him just as he is being pursued! To God be the glory - great things he has done, and is doing, and will continue to do!!
Love is an awesome thing. As a concept, it is so huge that when i try to think about it in it's wholeness, i get competely overwhelmed. There is SO MUCH to it. God's love is amazing and uncomprehendable, and the little bit we can grasp is mind boggling. And the love that he enables us to feel for Him and others is astounding as well. And the coolest thing about love is that you never max out. The more you seek to love with a godly, perfect love, the bigger your capacity to love becomes. That's the neat thing about friendships and marriage. There is always more to strive for. There is always more to feel, always more to know... You can always be more in love. I am very in love now. i can't wait to see how in love i am after 50 years!!

This weekend was Homecoming at Houghton. My first homecoming as an alumna. So weird. I stayed at my roommates house last night and we watched a movie and went out for coffee and then today we went to homecoming but we missed the parade, and everyone else who was supposed to go ditched out on us. And it was cold, as houghton homecomings usually are. But we had a good time together! It was good to talk to K, and catch up a bit. I sure miss having her around. It's weird to talk so little after living together for 4 years. And it was nice to see some of my other friends! Plus, i got my yearbook. my last yearbook ever. I have 17 total. wow. it's kind of sad, in a way.

I started giving piano lessons this week. It's hard to come in and start teaching kids who you don't know at all, and who really haven't been practicing a whole lot lately. But the little boy is just a doll. He is so cute, and he is playing my favorite song from when i was little. For some reason the Indian songs were always the most fun! :)

Swing dancing is great fun! i think we should go back to the days where everyone learns how to dance! And fun, good dancing. Not that stupid club dancing. The other is WAY more fun!

That's all! I'm going to do some reading, and work on wedding music tonight! Only 51/2 more hours to go! yippee!!!!