NEW blog for RB Soap Company, Inc. (linked to this blog through my profile as well)
www.rbsoapcompany.blogspot.com
all current information for that part of my life can be found here from now on! :)
30.3.09
22.3.09
1 year ago today...
i can't believe that one year ago today, around this time, i was putting on the wedding gown i'd dreamed of wearing my whole life, and i was about the marry the man of my dreams as well
about to walk down the aisle
the train of my dress and vail
my sweetheart waiting for me
all my girls waiting on me...some of them were already crying!
finally at the other end!
so happy :)
getting married!!!
you may kiss the bride!
taking communion after saying vows and kissing (first act as husband/wife)
today is somewhat melancholy for me...although my heart is bursting with love and joy because of the gift of marriage and the gift of Paul that God has given me, i'm also heartbroken that i cannot spend the day with him...
however, God has still blessed us in more ways than i thought...my sweet husband was given the evening off of work in Iraq by his wonderful Chaplain, and we were able to talk for several hours today online...i wasn't sure if we'd get to talk at all, since Sundays are the busiest days for a Chaplain's Assistant! so i am praising God for that
i also recieved a large package in the mail, that i brought with me to Kentucky (i came up to attend a weekend seminar) and it about killed me having to wait to open it, haha...but i sent a package to Paul also, and we got to open them together and see each other do it through Skype...we both cried a bunch, but thank God for technology!!!
this weekend has been hard for me being away from him, but thankfully i was able to stay with a wonderful friend while here...this has a made a HUGE difference in how i'm feeling, because today is HER 1 year wedding anniversary as well!!!! yes, that's right, we were married the same day, about the same time, and we are the same age...and we have a lot more in common than that...so being with her and her husband some today will help a lot :) they are so gracious to let me stay here!
in honor of our anniversary, i want to share some pictures with you all from the wedding...it was a spectacular event, and i will never forget how much i loved my DH on that day...yet now, today, i love him 100 times more, and marriage is so much better than the wedding day in my opinion...even with Paul a million miles away, i feel more loved right now than i have ever felt in my entire life by another person, and i am praising God with all my heart for sending me someone who, to me, looks just like Him
here are a few of my favorites:
big beautiful Bible at the alter that my friend Erin read from...1 John 4:7-19!!!
i had to take pictures first of course...
waiting to walk down the aisle!
about to walk down the aisle
the train of my dress and vail
my sweetheart waiting for me
all my girls waiting on me...some of them were already crying!
finally at the other end!so happy :)
getting married!!!
you may kiss the bride!
taking communion after saying vows and kissing (first act as husband/wife)
people coming to lay hands on us...
friends and family laying hands on us...i wish more of our friends had come up who love the Lord!
Paul signing the covenant papers!
me signing!
lighting our unity candle!
going back up to be pronounced!
walking back down the aisle, so excited!!!!
taking pictures afterwards :)
love this one!
the whole crew after!
me and my honey again!
just beautiful... 
love this man...
aww...special moment
one of my favorite pictures...so sweet
my absolute favorite...this is the one i wrote about a few posts back that has the rainbow at the top, but you can't see it here
another favorite...
he makes me so so happy :)
i like this one alot too, but i wish he'd have smiled more!
haha, thats my lovie...
when he first asked to court me, he said he wanted to hold my hand for a lifetime...so here is the start of that!
the reception site...it was breaktakingly beautiful
first dance with my precious husband...
yay for kisses on the dance floor :)
about to have something to eat, although we didn't consume much, haha
cutting the beautiful cake...it was one of my favorite things at the wedding/reception!
getting my garter! hehe, i love this picture, and i love my DH
my cutie pie having a blast on the dance floor with his friends...they did the "pimp" dance from the movie Hitch, haha
friends and family laying hands on us...i wish more of our friends had come up who love the Lord!
Paul signing the covenant papers!
me signing!
lighting our unity candle!
going back up to be pronounced!
walking back down the aisle, so excited!!!!
taking pictures afterwards :)
love this one!
the whole crew after!
me and my honey again!
just beautiful...
love this man...
aww...special moment
one of my favorite pictures...so sweet
my absolute favorite...this is the one i wrote about a few posts back that has the rainbow at the top, but you can't see it here
another favorite...
he makes me so so happy :)
i like this one alot too, but i wish he'd have smiled more!
haha, thats my lovie...
when he first asked to court me, he said he wanted to hold my hand for a lifetime...so here is the start of that!
the reception site...it was breaktakingly beautiful
first dance with my precious husband...
yay for kisses on the dance floor :)
about to have something to eat, although we didn't consume much, haha
cutting the beautiful cake...it was one of my favorite things at the wedding/reception!
getting my garter! hehe, i love this picture, and i love my DH
my cutie pie having a blast on the dance floor with his friends...they did the "pimp" dance from the movie Hitch, haha
time for one last dance...
we were drenched with jasmine buds...they were everywhere!
getting in the car cause its time to go!!! :)
17.3.09
life these days...
wow, things have been crazy here at Further Up and Further In HQ (headquarters)...so busy that i haven't updated this thing in almost a month!
i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything going on in my life, but God continues to give me grace just the same
first, being away from Paul is just as hard today as it was the first day he left...i think about my sweetheart 24/7, and pray for him without ceasing...i still cry, especially at night, because that is when i miss him most...i hate going to bed alone :( BUT, we get to talk almost every day, although there are some weeks we go 2-3 days without talking, and those are the hardest...somehow i love him more now than the day we were married, and my love for him continues to grow as though he were here...it amazes me...but i give the glory to God for that, because on the days i feel the emptiest, i recieve the most love from Him, and more love for Paul pours in as well...AND, our 1 year anniversary is this coming Sunday!!! can't believe that...
oh, and in honor of my sweet hubby who is 1/8 Irish (his maternal great-grandparents were full Irish), HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!
second, seminary classes are causing me to stay up all hours of the night just to finish classwork and papers and reading that is due...however, i will FOR SURE be graduating in December!!! halleluiah, never thought this day would come...and Paul should be home in time to see me walk :) i'm going up to KY for one last time until then, this weekend actually, to take a 2-day seminar class on ministering to children of divorce...should be good!
third, my soap business is growing like crazy...i had several large orders this week, 1 order for 51 soaps, 1 order for 31 soaps, and another order for 30 soaps! thankfully 2 of those orders don't need to be filled right away...needless to say, God is helping me find the time to do this, although i don't know how...i'm going to expand soon and my "crew" and i will start making Dead Sea Bath Salts, along with the soaps! the actual salt comes straight from Israel, will be all natural, and will also be available in the same scents as the soap...if you haven't done so yet, head on over to www.rbsoapcompany.etsy.com and check it out!!! many of my customers have already told me that these soaps have cured different skin problems (and i believe them...the Oatmeal and Milk cured the rosacia on my own upper arms!)...so don't be daunted by the price, they last a long time and are totally worth it!
fourth, i am now the "official" unofficial (meaning i'm not hired to do it) youth pastor/leader for the church i grew up in...this has been interesting to say the least, and a total joy at the same time...i had no idea how badly a good youth program was needed here, but there was literally nothing in place (there wasn't a youth group when i was there either)...so i'm basically starting from scratch...however, God is providing financially, spiritually, and in so many ways! i've started a youth worship service (called Watchnight, after Wesley's Saturday night worship celebration early on in his ministry), and we have 2 trips planned for this summer, 1 fun trip to see The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, and another mission trip to build houses for the poor with hundreds of other kids at an event called The Weekend of the Cross! please pray that i can reach these kids for Christ, and that God would give me to tools to do so!!! thanks :)
and last, but definitely not least, Paul and i are starting to look at/pray about mission agencies...its still going to be about another 4 years after December before we can actually go, but we want to start getting involved immediately, perhaps visiting a few places next summer sometime...we are specifically looking at Peru...Paul lived there for several months as a missionary, and God has truly placed this country on my heart in the past month or so...i keep having dreams about it and can't stop looking at his pictures from his time there...however, we have a heart for all of Central/Latin America, so who knows except God where we'll end up! prayers are appreciated for that as well
well, thats about all of an update i can give you all right now, but let me leave you with this awesome reading that i read last night in my devotional by Oswald Chambers (the second one of his, called Devotions for a Deeper Life)...it speaks so much to my current situations and my future:
"God demands separation. Sometimes He wants us to separate ourselves from what we consider a good set of circumstances. That is exactly what He did with Abraham.
Jesus demands that we have freedom in Him by becoming detached from a particular set of opinions, from the way we look at things on the basis of our upbringing, and from our own ideals and ambitions. Jesus requires separation from the most sacred of relationships. The most loving eyes that look on you will never understand. The tenderest hand that ever caressed you will not understand. Yet consecration to Christ entails this kind of separation.
Does this mean, then, that I must leave my country, my home, everything, just to prove my love to Jesus? No, that is not what Christianity is about. It may mean staying in your country. And this may require more sacrifice than leaving."
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." ~ Hebrews 11:8-10
be blessed!
i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything going on in my life, but God continues to give me grace just the same
first, being away from Paul is just as hard today as it was the first day he left...i think about my sweetheart 24/7, and pray for him without ceasing...i still cry, especially at night, because that is when i miss him most...i hate going to bed alone :( BUT, we get to talk almost every day, although there are some weeks we go 2-3 days without talking, and those are the hardest...somehow i love him more now than the day we were married, and my love for him continues to grow as though he were here...it amazes me...but i give the glory to God for that, because on the days i feel the emptiest, i recieve the most love from Him, and more love for Paul pours in as well...AND, our 1 year anniversary is this coming Sunday!!! can't believe that...
oh, and in honor of my sweet hubby who is 1/8 Irish (his maternal great-grandparents were full Irish), HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!
second, seminary classes are causing me to stay up all hours of the night just to finish classwork and papers and reading that is due...however, i will FOR SURE be graduating in December!!! halleluiah, never thought this day would come...and Paul should be home in time to see me walk :) i'm going up to KY for one last time until then, this weekend actually, to take a 2-day seminar class on ministering to children of divorce...should be good!
third, my soap business is growing like crazy...i had several large orders this week, 1 order for 51 soaps, 1 order for 31 soaps, and another order for 30 soaps! thankfully 2 of those orders don't need to be filled right away...needless to say, God is helping me find the time to do this, although i don't know how...i'm going to expand soon and my "crew" and i will start making Dead Sea Bath Salts, along with the soaps! the actual salt comes straight from Israel, will be all natural, and will also be available in the same scents as the soap...if you haven't done so yet, head on over to www.rbsoapcompany.etsy.com and check it out!!! many of my customers have already told me that these soaps have cured different skin problems (and i believe them...the Oatmeal and Milk cured the rosacia on my own upper arms!)...so don't be daunted by the price, they last a long time and are totally worth it!
fourth, i am now the "official" unofficial (meaning i'm not hired to do it) youth pastor/leader for the church i grew up in...this has been interesting to say the least, and a total joy at the same time...i had no idea how badly a good youth program was needed here, but there was literally nothing in place (there wasn't a youth group when i was there either)...so i'm basically starting from scratch...however, God is providing financially, spiritually, and in so many ways! i've started a youth worship service (called Watchnight, after Wesley's Saturday night worship celebration early on in his ministry), and we have 2 trips planned for this summer, 1 fun trip to see The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, and another mission trip to build houses for the poor with hundreds of other kids at an event called The Weekend of the Cross! please pray that i can reach these kids for Christ, and that God would give me to tools to do so!!! thanks :)
and last, but definitely not least, Paul and i are starting to look at/pray about mission agencies...its still going to be about another 4 years after December before we can actually go, but we want to start getting involved immediately, perhaps visiting a few places next summer sometime...we are specifically looking at Peru...Paul lived there for several months as a missionary, and God has truly placed this country on my heart in the past month or so...i keep having dreams about it and can't stop looking at his pictures from his time there...however, we have a heart for all of Central/Latin America, so who knows except God where we'll end up! prayers are appreciated for that as well
well, thats about all of an update i can give you all right now, but let me leave you with this awesome reading that i read last night in my devotional by Oswald Chambers (the second one of his, called Devotions for a Deeper Life)...it speaks so much to my current situations and my future:
"God demands separation. Sometimes He wants us to separate ourselves from what we consider a good set of circumstances. That is exactly what He did with Abraham.
Jesus demands that we have freedom in Him by becoming detached from a particular set of opinions, from the way we look at things on the basis of our upbringing, and from our own ideals and ambitions. Jesus requires separation from the most sacred of relationships. The most loving eyes that look on you will never understand. The tenderest hand that ever caressed you will not understand. Yet consecration to Christ entails this kind of separation.
Does this mean, then, that I must leave my country, my home, everything, just to prove my love to Jesus? No, that is not what Christianity is about. It may mean staying in your country. And this may require more sacrifice than leaving."
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." ~ Hebrews 11:8-10
be blessed!
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