The Journey Nears It's End.....

It's hard to believe that my wedding is just 5 days away.  I find myself thinking about the journey it has been to get to this moment.  It really hasn't been quite the journey I expected when I started.  Somehow I think even despite all of the lessons I've spent the last 5 years learning there was still a part of me that kind of fell into the trap of thinking that getting married suddenly transported me to some fairy tale world as I planned this mystical moment I'd been waiting for.  I'm not sure why exactly, but for me planning a wedding hasn't really been this awesome, wonderful experience of feeling like a princess.  My experience with wedding preparations has been more a journey of self discovery on a new level.  It's been growing closer with Dustin as we tackle so many difficult moments, decisions and choices.  To be honest, I'm glad it's coming to a close.  I'm ready to be done with this part of my life and to move on to the next chapter.  Don't get me wrong at this point I wouldn't really change what has happened over the last 7 months.  I've grown in so many ways from it, but at the same time I don't know that I would have taken this route to get to the altar had I realized exactly what it entailed in July...  Maybe that's why God leaves our future so unclear to our present view.  If we were given the opportunity to see exactly what even the immediate future held I think it would be a little overwhelming.  I think one passage that has become very real to me through all of this is 1 Corinthians 10:13.  I like the way The Message words it as it really expresses well what I've spent the past 7 months learning first hand

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face.  All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.


To me this has meant that God didn't throw at me month 1 of the chapter of my life called engagement what I wasn't ready to handle until month 7.  It's been this gradual journey of him molding me and making me into a different person.  In looking back over the moments I've set on the floor crying because I couldn't stand I realize that God wasn't pushing me past what I could handle.  He was taking me right up to the moment he was going to use to change me into yet another way that forms the bigger picture of what he has in store for me.  Looking at month 1 or even 3 of this engagement if I had been told God would be asking me to give up the job that was suppose to help pay for this wedding and sit unemployed for 6 weeks as part of that next step I think I would have run the other direction, but he didn't.  Instead he tested not only my faith, but Dustin's as well in leading our wedding in a direction that was beyond what we could manage in our own strength and finances and then proceeded to provide for even more than we dreamed would be possible.  It's funny, but through this I've learned to appreciate the little things.  The unexpected things that come along.  Saving $10 here or $20 there whether its on wedding supplies or groceries has an entirely new meaning now that I've realized those things I took for granted before are actually little ways God chooses to bless the decisions we make in other areas of our lives.  I've learned that he sends people into our lives with special skill sets that in and of themselves are blessings.  For some it's talking me through a crisis moment, for others its the ability to give me a beautiful hairstyle for that special moment and for others its skills in organizing so I don't have to worry about how things are going to turn out every moment of my wedding day.  All of that said if you ask me at any given moment my answer to any question related to my wedding will be I'm so ready to have this over with.  For me it's been this roller coaster that I'm more than ready to get off so the fact that the ride ends this weekend is so alright with me!  Of course I realize that what follows is adjustment and learning to live and function together as a couple in a way we haven't experienced yet, but I'm ready for that chapter to start.  It's funny as different well meaning friends have told me that all of this stress of the last months and the hard moments won't matter at some point or I won't really remember anything surrounding that moment later I have tried to listen and believe in that, but I think that deep down inside I know myself and I know that it's important for this day to express the story that Dustin and I share because I believe I will remember much of that day.  I really don't consider myself someone that has a photographic memory or at least it hasn't served me well in the area of study and school, but I remember important moments.  I remember the life changing moments like they were yesterday so I think more than anything it's important for me that our wedding express our story and that it's about us and I do have to say I think from the prelude music to the recessional to the reception our wedding will do just that for which I wouldn't trade even one painful moment of the last 7 months.  You see just like the pieces of our unconventional dating period the moments that make up the last 7 months have forever changed me and have laid the foundation of the relationship that we build on after we say our vows.

Exciting moments....

Today has been a super exciting day for a variety of reasons.  A few weeks ago I posted about my unemployed status.  Today I get to share some exciting news about that.  I am once again numbered among the employed!  I have accepted a position with our church to come on staff as an interim worship coordinator which is hugely different and exciting for me!  It's definitely a different direction from nursing, but one that I've been hugely fortunate in having Dustin's support in taking.  It's so funny when I stop and think back to the nearly 2 years ago that I first entered Mooresville Church of God to meet Dustin.  I don't think I ever would have imagined that one decision would have completely changed my life.  When I think that a few short months before meeting Dustin my sole goal was finding a guy and getting married it seems like I was aiming so low.  I'll never forget the October evening at Capital City Baptist Church when I finally came to a place I could hand my obsessive dream of marriage over to God.  I'm not really sure I completely understand exactly why for me God needed that specific dream handed over to him before he could bring Dustin into my life, but I do realize that it was one moment of growth that was only the first of many.  Somehow in handing that dream over to God I handed the biggest thing in my life over to God that was holding me back from becoming the person He wanted me to become.  Today in church as somehow the realization hit me exactly how much God had changed me over two years I realized that God had actually been setting this chain of events that would lead to this exact moment into my life in place years before I understood what he was doing.  He sent Kirby into my life years before I would ever take the first step through the door of the church, He sent Kirby into Dustin's life months before Dustin and I would meet.  All of the little moments such as being "volunteered" by Kirby for the first Easter choir I took part in, being stirred by the vision of the pastor I now find myself calling "boss".  Down to the timing of God asking if I was willing to join him in an unknown future that involved quiting a job with no obvious answer for what comes next to the position I find myself now accepting with excitement.  Even more so is the blessing of Dustin.  In Dustin, He's given me someone who doesn't just support me, but encourages and pushes me when I don't see something in myself that he sees in me.  If it's telling me he sees that I show ability in an area or if it's encouraging me to pursue a dream whether it's leading worship, writing a skit or thinking maybe I could make my Mary Kay discount into a profitable business, in Dustin God has given me a cheerleader when I need it and a moment of truth when necessary.  I never dreamed that day in January 2010 that I was walking through the door that would change my life forever!  I'm so glad I walked through that particular door!

Love....

Early on in my relationship with Dustin I read a book titled Sacred Marriage.  The premise of the book is the idea of what if God designed marriage to make us more holy than happy.  I found it an interesting concept and after reading it decided to try to implement it in my approach to my relationship with Dustin.  It was a totally foreign concept when compared to the way I had at one time devoured fairy tales and romance novels in an attempt to find the "meaning of true love".  I will say that I believe reading that book was one of the best things I could have done for our relationship.  It made me take a more balanced approach to dating with the goal of marriage.  It made me plan more long term and not focus so much on the instant gratification of the moment or on what I felt at the moment.  I find in many ways it has made a huge difference in me.  It's easy to fall into the trap sometimes of thinking I've waited 32 years for this. I deserve ____ (insert what I'm wanting from Dustin at the moment).  However when you start to focus on marriage or the relationship being about what God is using this other person that you have joined or are getting ready to join your life with to teach you it somehow changes things.  There's part of me at times that wonders exactly what it looks like after marriage because it already feels like I'm learning so many things about myself, but then God throws in the twister of letting me understand more about him through some things that happen with Dustin.  This weekend was a case in point.  I've developed a tendency over my life of holding things inside, through counseling I've learned to process through them, but I find that there are times when I still pull into myself to do that processing.  I'm not completely for sure why I've developed that rather interesting coping mechanism, but Dustin and I both are learning about that particular quirk of mine and how best to deal with it.  I learned something very interesting through it this weekend though.  I have to say that Dustin is good about letting me work through whatever it is I'm dealing with and supporting me as I do it even if it means I'm not quite ready to talk it out yet.  This weekend as I waded through the mess of emotions surrounding me the pulling into myself had a different effect than it's had in the past.  I found myself feeling incredibly lonely.  Here I was even with Dustin present during parts of it, but feeling isolated.  In the middle of it all I did find myself asking God exactly what it was I was suppose be learning in this.  It's taken me a couple of days, but I find myself looking back over the experience feeling that with the combined experience of Dustin and myself I have a visual of how it really should feel to us when we are experiencing distance and separation from God.  Now I by no means am implying that Dustin and I are some super spiritual couple, but this weekend was an amazing experience even in the middle of the sadness and loneliness that I was experiencing.  I mean the reality is that I knew all along that Dustin was there wanting to help me, wanting to offer his support and love, but for a period for whatever reason that I really don't understand even now I couldn't let him.  I'm not sure if I thought I had to get the answer myself or maybe it was I felt I couldn't bother him with something so trivial, but the truth...  He wanted me to bother him.  He wanted to be there for me even if he couldn't fix it he wanted to experience it with me.  It makes me see a little differently the idea of how it looks when we act like God doesn't need to be bothered with things from us.  It's like having a comparison of what it's like when we pull away from God to try to deal with things on our own.  He's sitting there waiting patiently, asking us occasionally are you ready to let me help yet (yes, Dustin asked multiple times if I was ready to tell him what the problem was).  There was something this time in seeing the look on Dustin's face each time I couldn't bring myself to share what it was that was bothering me when he asked that has me right now as I write this crying for a couple of reasons.  I realize in a relationship perspective that it hurt Dustin in a way each time I couldn't bring myself to share, but even more is the thought that the look I could see on Dustin's face is nothing compared to the agony it causes God when I try to push through every day life without him.  The moments when I push him away like a 4 year old saying "No!  I can do it myself!"  The interesting thing I found out after I finally was able to open up and start to process with Dustin rather than internalizing everything was the view that Dustin's perspective adds to complete the pictures.  His very simple response that made me pause was that he didn't like the feeling of separation and distance.  It sounds so simple, but it's so profound!  That's exactly how God feels when we push him away and don't allow him to be a part of our every day existence!  I know that the love that Dustin and I share is nothing compared to the love that God has for each and every one of us individually so if this is how Dustin and I experience this one moment in time how much more does God experience that distance and separation on such a large scale?  And He still doesn't leave us on our own!  It's pretty incredible!  I still feel like I've only scratched the surface on the magnitude of the realization from this weekend, but even that little tiny piece that has me understanding God just a little differently makes me so grateful that He has given me Dustin to learn these lessons a little better!  

Lessons Learned....

I love it when I have that sort of "Ah ha" moment.  The moment when some things that I didn't quite get fall into place.  A few weeks ago I was asked to lead worship at church while our associate pastor was away.  Today was the day that happened.  Now it might seem a bit strange that on a blog regarding my bride-to-be status and wedding that I rather randomly throw in this, but this has been a pretty amazing experience.  You see...  When I went to church to meet Dustin over a year and a half ago I had no idea the events that God was setting in place.  In some ways meeting Dustin was this entirely new beginning to my life.  There were things that happened and people that had become a huge part of my life prior to that, but somehow God used Dustin as this catalyst to take all of those moments that had happened over the course of my life and make them start to come together to make sense.  Somehow from the moment I stepped into a church for the sole purpose of meeting this friend of a friend my life changed.  In other posts I've mentioned the impact of that first message from the man that would become my pastor that day.  I've mentioned Kirby and Jaimy and just a few of the lessons God has taught me through them.  Today I find myself thinking about the impact that our associate pastor has had on me.  Jeremy was one of those people that when I first started going to Mooresville Church of God that because of the nature of his involvement in and surrounding the service I really didn't interact with a lot in that first month or so.  The interesting thing about my "big brother" Kirby is that you don't stay uninvolved when you adopt him as a brother and the church needs choir members for Easter....  Yes, I was volunteered...  A month and a half of attending church and I found myself in the choir for Easter.  That was how God brought Jeremy into my life in a totally different way.  Choir involvement led to filling in over the summer on the worship team which ended up turning into long term involvement in the worship team.  I think it's amazing how God brings people into your life at just the moment you need that relationship to develop so it's at the exact place it needs to be for a certain moment of time.  Somehow the last couple of weeks have made me realize exactly how much Jeremy has affected my life in this subtle way that I hadn't totally realized.  In tackling the challenge of leading worship something that in all honesty scared me to death at times and having come through it with the realization that it wasn't perfect, sure I could stand to build some confidence where leading is concerned, but with Jeremy's help, encouragement and faith in me and most definitely a large dose of God's intervention I did something that even a year ago I would never have been able to even think about taking on without having a full blown panic attack.  You see I love music.  I love to sing, play and listen.  I love the moments when music makes me feel close to God on some level.  I also have a tendency to fear failure.  To worry about the fact that I might hit a wrong note or mess up the word to a song and then (in my mind at least) that's the only thing anyone is going to remember.  I will have looked bad and failed.  Those are the fears I have struggled with.  In some way that I'm not sure I even understand completely God has used Jeremy in a nearly indiscernible way at times to teach me ways to deal with and turn those fears over to God.  Through Jeremy I've learned how to worship God in song.  I've truly learned that God doesn't want us to act like we're sucking sour pickles while singing Holy, Holy, Holy or How Great is Our God.  He wants us to experience his Spirit in our song.  Now believe it or not I truly do feel that these lessons I've learned from Jeremy do blend with the overall theme of my blog.  You see, these subtle lessons that God has been teaching me through Jeremy help me discover and learn more about who God wants me to be.  There is truly no way to describe the freedom I felt today after the church service was complete.  The best way I can describe it is that there was a sense of victory in being able to walk away and realize it wasn't perfect, I need some practice, but with God's help I did something that I never dreamed I could do.  I was able to give my fear and apprehension to God for him to show me exactly what He's capable of doing in my life if I will let him use me.  He will give me the courage to face the fears I have and in taking the first of many steps in learning that lesson it impacts my relationship with Dustin.  My life isn't divided into separate compartments.  What I do in one area impacts all of the areas of my life so when I can learn a lesson in worship from Jeremy, directly or indirectly it impacts my relationship with Dustin.  It's a pretty amazing thing when you think about it! 

Fine or Fabulous.

This week has been very encouraging and productive!  My to do list is growing smaller and it begins to feel like things are under control.  The tuxes have been selected.  My wedding dress is ordered.  Gift registries are set up as is the wedding website.  Save the Dates were mailed today after we had our engagement photos taken.  The church is spoken for.  The reception venue reserved.  Invitations and RSVP cards are nearly ready for printing and my bridesmaids dress are all purchased.  I have shoes and the wedding bands are ordered.  Yes, I'm very happy with the way things are coming along.  It's very exciting to see God working things out in a way I never dreamed I would experience!  I'm not sure what exactly I thought wedding preparations would be like, but it wasn't anything like this.  I don't think I ever expected them to literally become an act of faith.  I had my way I wanted things to work, but they were all things I could control and make happen.   Last Saturday I attended a Beth Moore simulcast.  The thought I walked away unable to lose over the last week is this.  God didn't call us to "fine".  He called us to faith.  The idea being that a life that is fine can be explained by human reasoning.  A life of faith defies explanation,  It helped change my approach to this wedding.  All of the sudden I found that piece of me that could depend on God that what he has in store for my and Dustin's wedding is beyond explanation.  That it is far more than just fine.  It's fabulous!  It seems that after that moment I started to realize the little things that are falling together and find myself in awe every time we try to rework the budget!

Priorities and Steps of Faith....

I have a feeling of accomplishment tonight.  It feels like we're actually getting somewhere in the planning process.  Save the Date cards have been ordered and have arrived, my wedding dress is ordered, tux style selected and today the wedding rings chosen in a rather unexpected trip to the jeweler.  Somehow the selection of the rings makes everything seem real.  Sometimes it's easy to feel like I'm just a little girl playing wedding.  To feel that even when I'm planning certain things or choosing certain things that it's not really me or for me that I'm just planning a party of sorts.  The rings somehow make it seem real.  I think it's maybe because ultimately the rings are the physical symbol of the purpose of the entire day.  Oddly enough to the point that me the one who spent the first 2 months of our engagement freaking out and ending up with headaches every time the budget was mentioned or the cost of things had to be discussed without a moments hesitation found myself stepping up and telling the jeweler we'd take the ring that I could tell Dustin really wanted when he started to settle for his second choice.  This from the girl who in the fist month of our engagement slashed through the wedding budget like it was an expendable extra in a horror movie cutting every conceivable extra expense.  Yep!  I'm the one who made the call to go over our budgeted amount on rings.  You see there are some things that I find to be non-negotiable in the big picture.  The wedding rings are one of them.  Everything else from that one day pretty much goes away.  The tux goes back to the store, my dress gets put away in a box, the decorations go away to be re-purposed, but the rings... Well, since neither of us plan to make a habit of repeating this event every few years the rings become the one thing that remains when the day is over.  The Gift of the Magi is a story that while it always struck me as cute and sweet is one that with Dustin in my life I've come to appreciate in a way that I haven't before.  I understand why the couple in the story were able to part with their most prized possessions.  It meant that it made the one they loved more than anything happy.  I find that is a large part of the reason that I love having Dustin involved in every area of planning the wedding.  I love to hear what he likes, what's important to him and if it's something that I realize I don't have the passionate connection to that he does I find it easy to turn over that part to him to turn his dream into reality.  Some of my happiest moments in wedding planning happen when I stumble on an idea that gets him excited because by listening I found a way to incorporate an element that makes that day even more ours in its uniqueness.  I realized the moment I could look at the one doll I consider the prized doll of my collection, the one that I've always said is the last one I will ever part with and say that if making a certain part of a dream Dustin has come true means I need to sell it that I would part with that prize possession that at one time I never thought I'd be able to let go I realized that the value of things has changed.  I've found the one earthly thing that is more important than that beautiful little doll.  It's the way that a certain smile lights up Dustin's entire face when I do something that makes him happy.  It's the way that smile leads to excitement that nearly has him bouncing like a little boy on Christmas morning.  Thankfully, while I've definitely indicated to God that I am willing to part with that little doll if necessary he seems to be planning on letting me keep it for the moment as he continues to expand the potential budget in a way that Dustin and I can't quite make sense of...  Every time we make a decision that is made with the thought we do this and we'll look at the list of things we could cut and we'll cut something else God seems to send the money to cover the step of faith moment in a way that causes us to take the next step of faith just a little easier the next time...

Keep Calm and Get Married...

Today I had a rather fun moment...  It's sometimes easy to lose sight of the fun pieces that are suppose to come along with a wedding, but spending the day with my adopted nieces has a way of changing the adult approach to a wedding to helping me remember why my wedding was something I wanted and looked forward to planning.  The adult pieces that come up and scream to be dealt with drowned out the fantasy of the little girl.  The fun thing about a day spent with those nieces...  They are at that age that thoughts of a wedding bring the fun thoughts of patterns, dresses and colors to mind.  The thoughts of where the money comes from to pay for those things are light years away.  There's something in their enthusiasm and excitement.  In hearing their plans for their future weddings discussed in interesting detail that brought back the memories of my own enthusiastic thoughts of my future wedding through the years.  The memory of the blurry face that always faced me at the thought of my wedding that would be waiting for me at the end of my walk down the aisle.  Now that face isn't blurry anymore.  It's a familiar and loved face.  It's a face that rather than just some blurry tie to a moment I wanted more than anything to make it to it's a face that has shared some of my deepest fears and concerns.  It's a face that has looks that bring certain shared moments to mind.  There's a certain child-like approach I found myself able to enjoy today that I haven't had the chance to experience.  It was seeing my wedding through the eyes of two young girls that have no opinions, suggestions or seriously intended advice.  It was like having the chance to see my wedding through the eyes of a younger version of myself.  There was something about hearing the over the top suggestions of things I really "needed" to incorporate into my wedding, the things that Dustin "would like" if I added them that gave me a chance to laugh in a way I haven't necessarily felt able to yet.  It was a day that felt like it put me in touch with my younger self enough I purchased a reminder of the day.  In the Old Testament, there are numerous instances of God instructing his people to set up markers to remind them of the moments He did something for them so that in the future they could look at that and remember what He had done.  Today I did just that.  In finding that inner little girl again from my day spent with Della and Keera I found myself buying one of the items the girls pointed out as a necessity.  You see, they might not have realized it, but the funny little cheap button pin is a necessity.  I need that reminder it provides for the future.  I need the reminder of the day, but also as the pin reads, I need to remember to "Stay Calm and Get Married".  I'm thinking more "fun" days for those reminders will be in my future, but today was definitely a needed moment!

Triumph...

So I've finally found my way out of the pit of burning desire for a wedding planner...  I've relinquished my dream of David Tutera showing up to and taking the planning of my wedding out of my hands.  (Ok, I'll confess to a degree that it's in part due to the fact that I now own the My Fair Wedding Visions and Revisions book...)  But even more so I think I've found my groove for thinking about planning a reception.  I have to say that when God sent Dustin into my life he sent the perfect man to deal with me during this rather chaotic period of my life.  I don't completely understand myself at times over the last month and a half, but Dustin somehow takes me in stride.  When I'm in tears and can't figure out why he has a way of making me believe everything is going to turn out ok even when I don't feel it at the moment.  When I came up with an idea in the middle of the afternoon he was the one to jump to looking for an answer.  He jumps to the task at hand, but he also celebrates the moments that matter with me.  When I finally figure out what the nagging thing that is sending me over the edge is he's there as my own personal cheerleader happy that I've made progress.  In some ways as stressful as it is to struggle with somethings when I get through the moment I can't help, but be glad it happened.  It brings us closer together as a couple, but also somehow makes me more secure in his love.  I already know in the moment I'm stressed out that I don't feel lovable or worth the effort so the fact that Dustin continues to go out of his way to make me feel cared about changes my world.  It strikes me that those moments that I experience that unconditional, undeserved love from Dustin give me a very personal and up close image of what God wants to be to us.  He wants to be there to celebrate the moments of triumph with us.  He wants to comfort us when we are hurting.  He wants to lift us up when we despair.  But if He is to do so He has to be included in those moments.  If I never share the moment when I'm discouraged with Dustin then he doesn't understand the moment of triumph over that thing that caused me to despair.  That's exactly how God is.  He wants to share all of those moments, but he won't force himself into the moment.  He's waiting for us to open ourselves up and share it with him.  And just as I find my moment of triumph over the thing that discouraged me doubled by the excitement that Dustin experiences along with me, our moments of victory can be blessings beyond measure when they are shared with God.

To Live....

The last few days have been interesting in the thoughts I've had.  Somehow a celebration of the life of a little 4 month old who has impacted so many people leaves you considering your own life and what's important.  Since God's timing is always perfect I don't think it's any coincidence that my moment of clarity came the day before I spent two days absorbing the impact of this little guys life on so many others.  Somehow that realization of what Logan's little life meant to so many people had me re-evaluating some things.  I found myself making the observation to Dustin that it left me with the realization that in relationships there are some moments you only have one opportunity to be there for someone.  If you miss that moment you never get it back.  I found myself going to a celebration of life on Tuesday for that exact reason and was so glad that I had found a way to take the time to be part of that moment.  There was something about being part of that moment as my friends Chris and Amanda told their little son good-bye in their own special ways that made me realize that there are so many possible continuing chapters to Logan's story.  This is not a story that ends with that moment on Tuesday...  Chris and Amanda have their chapter to continue, but there's a chapter in my life titled Logan as well and my story builds from the moment this little baby entered the world to the moment God took him home and the unique lessons that I learned from this special little family that God put together adds a chapter to my life that will forever include little Logan Christopher Thorne.  I might have never had the chance to meet him, but none the less he became part of my life and story.   I find myself with a new appreciation for the lyrics of a song I've grown fond of in the last few months as Logan gives them new meaning

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

I suppose in a way Logan makes me realize that life is short.  As Proverbs 27:1 points out we don't know what a day brings, when we begin to take life for granted we act as if nothing will change.  I think this tiny little boy and his parents really make me realize the importance of making those moments count.  It leaves me with a feeling of purpose.  A need to treat each moment as if it's precious.  To approach my relationships with more purpose.  To live life with a little more abandon and truly learn to live as if each day could be my last....

Flowers for God....

I've found myself thinking for a few days about comments made in regards to Dustin being thoughtful.  I think it struck me not because of its content as much as the way it has made me review in my mind our relationship.  It's a comment that has been made not by just one person, but a few as different things he does on occasion make older, more experienced married women kindly give that word of warning that it doesn't last so don't get too used to the thoughtfulness, flowers and gifts, it won't continue after marriage and kids come along.  I do have to say I think those that say that would be right if this were the first part of our relationship and he were overwhelming me with presents to impress, but the way our relationship has developed means that these presents and the thoughtfulness are not something that come from an attempt to impress and wow me.  It comes from someplace deeper.   They are acts intended to show me how I'm loved.  They come from a caring and love that has grown slowly and gradually like a well build fire rather than a brief flare based on surface attraction.  Do I think he will always be this paragon of virtue that continues to shower me with thoughtfulness and gifts?  No, not anymore than I will be the perfect little June Cleaver.  In other relationships I noticed it was this approach of shower me with presents to impress, but don't bother to really get to know me.  With Dustin he invested in getting to know me first.  He took time to truly understand what makes me feel loved and cared about.  Dustin has an interesting approach to nearly everything.  He studies it.  He figures out what makes it work and our relationship and myself are no different.  By truly getting to know and understand me (let's face it there's still the fact I'm a girl which makes that a subject to change at any given moment...) he knows that in the big picture I don't need flowers on a regular basis to feel loved and cared about.   What he does know is that there are times it helps.  Presents might not be how I feel loved on a regular basis, but when you combine them with other things it takes a time when I'm struggling and serves as a physical reminder when he can't be there that I'm loved.  Dustin has studied me even when I haven't fully realized it to the point that he picks up on little things that no one else would.  Again... I'm back to my theme from yesterday as the idea of how God feels at times when we do something that makes him feel loved and cared about.  When we actually get that something we do hurts him and don't just act like it doesn't matter, but do something about it.  I suppose it strikes me that in the larger war we are part of Satan can't get to God.  He's already tried to kill God's Son and we've seen how that works so what is he left with?  He's left with hurting the heart of God through us.  The things I mentioned in my post on Grace.  Those are the little things he uses to separate us which hurts God.  I truly believe that the Heart of God hurts at the things that separate us.  He doesn't go on his way unaffected by the distance.  I couldn't when there was something between Dustin and I so why would I think God is any different?  He grieves...  It's a thought that leaves me with a greater desire to make him feel the way those flowers make me feel...

Grace...

Ughhh... Sometimes I frustrate myself beyond all measure!  My week in general has been a challenge, but tonight was the last straw!  I found myself mad at Dustin.  Madder than I think I have ever been knowing all the while there was no really good reason for it.  I suppose a large portion of my attitude began by the fact that when I settled down enough to think rationally I realized that pretty much my entire life this week has consisted of work and my apartment.  I think unknowingly I'd been living for this evening.  Unconsciously I had made it my goal.  If I could make it to that moment on Friday night I was good.  I would have time to relax and just enjoy Dustin's company for the evening.  Well, the unexpected last minute change of plans that I feel necessary to point out I suggested should probably take place for some reason sounded like a really good idea until an hour and a half later when I was sitting in my apartment going out of my mind because I was alone yet again.  Now I must admit I find it rather curious that I've been at home alone by myself for nearly every evening for close to 10 years now.  So it really makes no sense as to why over the course of the last year or so I have found myself increasingly distressed when I find myself alone.  I think possibly that the periods of extended alone time serve to remind me of a time in my life I struggled with depression and didn't even completely realize it.  It reminds me of a period that felt very hopeless at times.  My adorable little Winston filled the emptiness and loneliness some, but there were so many nights that I found myself sitting alone waiting for the evening to finish so it could repeat itself the next day.  I think that's what I struggled with reacting to today.  I'm engaged now.  No we don't live together, but somehow I think I thought I wasn't suppose to be alone.  The other thing I find interesting is that this consuming anger that had me slamming car doors (something I NEVER do) comes just over 24 hours after walking in and being surprised by flowers, a clean house and a dog that was already taken care of for the night.  The distressing thing was that in the moment I couldn't even figure out what exactly I needed to take to God.  All I knew was I was angry!  I swear there are sometimes I really do wonder exactly what Dustin sees in me that makes him want to marry me because times like tonight I just feel exceptionally ugly.  I don't like the way anger makes me feel and even less the way it makes me act.  Tonight my struggle was with the desire to lash out with every single thing I knew that would hurt him.  I was hurting and if I couldn't have company to help me forget part of me seemed to want company in the pain itself.  Somehow God must have heard the cry for help hidden somewhere in the anger because gradually I started to settle down.  I have discovered one thing since Dustin and I began dating.  When he starts to try to figure out what's bothering me no matter how angry I want to stay at him I can never fully manage it.  There's something about the effort that goes into searching for those answers of what is bothering me that won't let me stay angry and distant.  Maybe it's the prayer and thanksgiving that goes into the good times or the down times that I can manage to beg for help that causes God to help out during the times I can't bring myself to ask for it aloud.  Or maybe it's just grace.  His grace that I don't screw the relationship up completely.  Grace that God gives Dustin to love me even when I feel pretty unlovable.  It kind of brings to life Jeremiah 29:13...You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Israel angers God, but when they seek him and look for him earnestly he doesn't stay angry.  He doesn't punish them for what they have done in the past.  It stays right there in the past.  He allows himself to be found.  Now I am by no means comparing myself to God, but if our intimate relationships are suppose to be things that draw us closer to God maybe the moments like this are designed to show me a side of God I've overlooked before.  Yes, He's both a God of Love and Judgement equally, but the Judgement is brought about by our wrong doing, (the truth one simple text would have changed my reaction to the circumstances), but the Love allows Him to be found when we seek him out of love (despite the irritation and the anger the love and caring in sorting out the misunderstanding and showing me I mattered to him made it impossible to stay angry).  So I find myself walking away from a couple of very trying and emotional hours with a greater understanding and appreciation of what it feels like to God when we are actively seeking him out of love and trying to maintain that closer relationship with him.  If he feels anything like I feel at the moment it makes me ashamed that there are times I don't seek after him deliberately, lovingly and constantly...