Updates and Thoughts

Hi to anyone who is reading our lovely blog! :) A few little things to update anyone who is interested in our wedding planning progress. Both of our wedding bands are sized and ready to live on our fingers. I had a hard time taking mine off at the jewelry store and now my engagement ring is lonely. :( This was our first week of school and apart from it being tiring, I think it will make us both more productive. It seems like the more things you have to do (like waking up at 4am and not getting home til 10) makes you get a lot more done.

We are scheduling a time to meet with our wedding officiator/pastor next week. We both hope that he will provide us with marriage counseling because he is one of the wisest men I know. Another bridesmaid got her dress last night. That means 3 down, assuming Kacie ordered her dress. :) Our charity:water shower is in the works for February and we are both really excited to donate our monetary gifts to the cause. I honestly can't imagine what it's even like to have to worry about not having water or getting raped or attacked carrying a huge jug of water miles upon miles to my family. This brings me to a small but saddening point. Starbucks has joined with many other wonderful businesses who are taking donations for the Haiti relief fund. Although we have had many customers joyfully give their money, I must say how disheartened I have been with the majority of peoples' refusals to pay. One man angrily told me that he has 6 kids and people like Bill Gates need to help out. My immediate thought, though I unfortunately couldn't say it to him, was that if he and his family are that short of money, why is he at Starbucks spending unnecessary money on such a luxury like coffee. Another man when asked for a donation replied with 'That's ok I'm good.' Of course you are..you aren't the one lying in the middle of the street with debri and fallen parts of buildings lying on top of you and your cut off limbs.

Sorry about the sidetrack. All week the baristas have been dealing with customers grumpily refusing to donate $1 to the fund, yet they spend $4 on coffee 1-2 times a day. Americans simply must get their priorities in check, and if an awful situation like Haiti won't do it, there is nothing stopping God from causing a similar disaster here in America.

I must say that though it is very easy to angry and annoyed with these people, I used to be one of them. My thoughts were on my life primarily, not globally as they should have been. That is where meeting Mark has increasingly enlightened and opened my eyes and heart to what is going on in the world. I've never seen anyone care as much for people who are hurting, suppressed, etc. as Mark does. Though I probably don't tell him this enough, I really do want to have a heart like his one day. Unfortunately my little heart hurts for stray animals I see on the sidewalk instead. When it got really cold here in Memphis I was worried that all the stray animals and homeless people would freeze to death. Thankfully Mark is helping line up my own priorities and open my eyes to see this vast array of people who are terribly hurting that I never really cared about until now. It's true that you want to marry your best friend, which I can %100 say that I am doing, but I am also blessed enough to marry someone who exhibits the love of Christ so apparently that I can't help but want to emulate it. So yes, I know I have rambled on and on...and not really even about wedding stuff. I promise the next post won't be as long. :)