The Rules of Engagement

Mimicking my last post, I will say again that it has been a long time since I've posted and that I deeply apologize. I am sure that all fourteen of my followers have been worried sick about me.

But please, cease your worrying.

I'm fine.

In fact, I'm better than fine. I'm engaged!

My being better than fine due to my engagement is following the logic that since I am a woman, all I want out of life is to be married. Ergo, I am doing quite well. Marriage follows engagement. It's nice to know that all my desires have now been met, and that I've nothing more to want from life for the rest of my days...

All kidding aside, being engaged is great. However, I have to admit that I wasn't entirely prepared for it.  I'm not really the dreamed-about-my-wedding-since-I-could-walk type, so when I got that pretty little ring...I had no idea what to do next. Therefore, just in case any one of the fourteen of you ever has some perfect man put a ring on it and you find yourself questioning the next step, I give you:

The Rules of Engagement


(Like my fancy wordplay?)

Okay, here we go. Rule number...

1.) Say, "Yes." 
         Yup, it's the first step. Honestly, when he knelt down and popped the question, I was a little shocked. So much so, that it was not until several moments later I actually said yes.

             So, ladies, do the right thing. Get it settled right from the bat.

2.) Set a date...but not right away.
         Dan and I got engaged in Atlanta, and all we talked about the entire drive back to Michigan was dates. In fact, even before we got engaged we talked about dates.  Finally, we came to a conclusion, settling on a later weekend in May. But if you got our Save-the-Dates...

         Yeah. For those of you keeping track at home, the first weekend in June is not the same as a late weekend in May.  Because here's the thing about setting a date...there are a LOT of variables to think about. Consider, for instance, whether your wedding party will able to attend. In our case we had to think about a few other weddings (a cousin of mine got engaged the same week Dan and I did), several pregnancies (not mine, don't worry), graduation parties...and that's just for starters. After we had sent out our Save-the-Dates it occurred to me (via the critical "no's" of several owners of beautiful wedding venues) that we maybe would have benefited from checking for available dates at potential wedding venues before we finalized our decision.

3.) Don't take your ring off.

             Honestly, I did not know this. Apparently taking your engagement ring off (for any reason other than getting it appraised and/or cleaned) is a big no-no in the Rules of Engagement. The first time someone asked to see my ring, I took it off and held it out to her. She responded well...and yet it was very clear to me that I should never, ever do that again. 

4.) Don't freak out...this isn't really all about you.

            If you expect to talk about yourself and your wedding during your engagement...quit that. Your engagement is the opportunity that every other married woman has been waiting for--the one chance they have to talk about their wedding.  As soon as we made our wedding plans known, everyone else made their wedding plans known, even if it had happened thirty years ago. It seemed to me like every conversation started with, "Congratulations! At our wedding..."

           All cynicism aside, this is not a bad thing. It threw me off a little bit at first, but now that I'm used to it, I don't mind it at all. In fact, I don't blame them at all...if this same thing happened to them during their engagement, it's totally understandable. I can't wait until someone else gets engaged so that I can talk about my wedding. 

           Okay, NOW, all cynicism aside, it really isn't a bad thing. The heart behind this sharing of wedding successes and traumas is one that desires that a newly engaged couple learn from the past.  Why wouldn't I want to know where to get a great, bank-friendly dress, or where not to hire a DJ? After all, a wedding is only one day, but apparently it is one that is so chock-full of memories and lessons that it takes an entire lifetime to tell all the stories. Listen, and love it. 

5.) You will ignore your wedding timeline. 
           My future sister-in-law gave me a wedding planning book, my cousin gave me bridal magazines, and a friend referred Dan and I to a wedding website.  All three of these include detail wedding timelines--instructions and suggestions about when and how to get done all the things that are required for a wedding come together. On my wedding website timeline I have 150+ to-dos....and 45 of them are overdue. I'm optimistic, though. I think we will probably still get married.
          From what it sounds like, this happens to everyone. So I'm not going to freak out about it. I'm just going to enjoy being engaged.

 


          That is the best I can offer to anyone newly engaged.  I think it's a solid start, though.


Note: This will not become a wedding blog.  This is still a spot for me to come and muse, and it will remain that way.  The fact that I will be musing about my wedding from time to time over the next few months may lead to another wedding related post or two, but I'll stick around after I'm married, too. This is just what's currently on my mind. :)

El Salvador...the Update post.

So, it has been...

...way too long.

And I'm sorry.

I came here several times before to try and let you know how it all went down, I promise, I did, but...I just didn't know what to say.

Have you ever had a mountaintop experience?

I have. Actually, I've had several. Actually...I've had one particular mountaintop experience where I was literally on the top of a mountain.

see?

Just me and the besty, climbing rocks in CA. Four years ago...

Anyway, the mountaintop. A mountaintop experience is something beyond memorable.  You certainly will remember it for the rest of your life, but it is so much more than that. It changes who you are, how you think, what you do. It's something that you have to work for, it includes the grueling climb and the glorious view from the top...and the let-down and release of having to walk yourself back down to flat land. It is specific, and definitely your very own--someone else may have climbed a mountain before, but they did not climb what you climbed, or how you climbed. They did not see what you saw. Your mountaintop experience is your very own...and that makes it dreadfully precious.

It also makes it dreadfully difficult to talk about.

My trip to El Salvador was certainly a mountaintop experience.  I spent two weeks in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, at a Palabra de Vida camp facility.  During the weekdays, our team went into public schools and performed skits and songs for the student body.

 

After that we were allowed to go into the classrooms with a translator to present the Gospel on a more intimate basis. 

I could give you details...so many details...and the names of team members, and of the schools, and stories and jokes about our time there...but I could not do it justice. I could try to reproduce the situations and moments that meant the most to me, the times when I knew I was learning, when I knew I was climbing...

But you still wouldn't be on my mountain.

The big stuff, the stuff that has to be shared, that which must be shared in order that it really gets fleshed out, that will come out in later posts. You can pretty much count on it. There are things that I have got to write about...so I will. I won't do it here, now, because I would be writing forever. And you would be reading forever.

Here's what you should know right now, though:

We were able to share the gospel with over five thousand people.

Over two thousand of them claimed to accept Christ as their Savior.

I've never before been more struck with how unworthy I am to be involved in the work of sharing the Gospel.
Neither have I been more aware of the fact that sharing the Gospel is the only work in which I should really be involved. That's my identity. It should be, anyway.

I'm not a numbers person, at all. I'm a cynic by nature, and who knows what people are really thinking or committing to when they make commitments.
That being said, though, those numbers rocked my world.

It was my mountaintop. 

Thanks for taking part in it (if you did...). Thanks for praying, thanks for supporting....Thank you. It changed my life. 

And again...sorry it took so long.

El Salvador: Part IV

For those of you who are praying for my team and me as we acclimate to the environment in El Salvador...
















...stop it right now.















!















Just kidding. Mostly. The thing is, we're not in quite in El Salvador yet. Yes, I know, I can hear the shock in your voices now:



"What?! All this time we've been praying for the safety of your flight on the twenty-fifth, praying for a welcome reception that day, praying for you to go to El Salvador!!!"



Well now, my shocked prayer warriors, take heart. Everything is fine. It's just behind. We got to the airport yesterday just in time to be told that our flight had been cancelled. After a moment or two of scratching our heads about what to do next, our team gathered together for a word of prayer, and then left it to our fearless leader to....fearlessly lead.







After a little broken English, a little broken Spanish, a little more confusion, and a little more prayer, we gave all fourteen of our passports to a little lady with a nametag on a lanyard, and hopped on a shuttle to the Hampton Inn.


Yup. Just gave her our passports.  Some things just don't make sense unless you're following God. 



The airline (Taca) put everyone from the flight up in the hotel for the night, gave us vouchers for dinner yesterday and lunch today, gave us a $200 voucher in case we had any luggage that was overweight, and put us on a flight for five o'clock today. 




On the busride to the Inn, Miss Fay and I were able to talk with a lady named Roxanna.  She is going to visit her family in El Salvador.  She was struck by Miss Fay's testimony of having a son who is a missionary in Indonesia.  Who would let their children be so far away for so long?  Someone who knows that God's love and glory is worth it.

The restaurant we ate at, a Colombian joint "Patacon," had incredible food, and an opportunity for me to use a little of my Spanish.

The beds and showers at the hotel are....awesome.


The experience as a whole? One to chalk up as a win, I think.

Praise de Lord.



Is there a lesson to be learned here? Oh yeah. All kinds of lessons.  Let's list them, shall we?

1.) The best thing to do in a crisis situation where one is traveling internationally is to give your passport to a stranger as soon as possible.
2.) Stressfully powering your way to get what you want/need does not always work...we can probably say that it's generally unneccessary. And that's because...
3.) God is in control.
4.) Matching t-shirts and good attitudes are a great testimony for Christ.
5.) The mission field involves every moment, every day. There's no need to wait until you hit foreign soil to testify of God's importance to you.




Alright, so some of that is a little facetious in nature (you can sort out which parts) but the moral of the story is: God wins.  Our plans and schedule are all in his hands.  The extra night of sleep here provided some much needed energy and rest for members of the group who have been feeling a little under the weather. 

"He's got the whole world...in his hands..."



I have greatly exceeded the fifteen-minute limit on the "Business Center" computers in the lobby of the hotel, so that's all I'll write for now. 

Hoping to write again soon! Pray for us. :)

El Salvador: Part III (Written right now, on a real laptop, and not on my iPod)

Today. Today, today, today.

I can't even tell you how much I'm learning, how much I'm enjoying my time here, how much I'm being encouraged.

Word of Life is such a special place.  It is such a blessing to be able to get away from "the real world" for a little while and go to...a bubble. Sometimes people refer to WOL as being bubble-esque (Bubblicious?) in a negative way...but I can only see it as a gift.  We aren't called to bubbles...we can't just spend the entirety of our Christian lives in total avoidance of unbelievers...but I do believe that we are called to periods of refreshment, fellowship, reprieve, focus...you know.  There is so much going on in our lives--work, school, socializing, sports, meetings, reunions, shopping, errands, banking, laundry--it can be so easy to get discouraged and distracted.  How beautiful a gift to be able to come to a setting where the Lord uses every conversation and song and meeting to re-direct my heart to the fact that I am here to serve Him, only.  That is my only purpose in life. Serving God.  Loving God.  Serving God by serving people, loving God by loving people.

That. Is. Why. I'm. Here. On this earth. I have no other purpose. Everything else I do (work, school, socializing, sports, meetings, reunions, shopping, errands, banking, laundry) should be a manifestation of my service to God.

I love being reminded of that. I need to be reminded of that.

So. In case you haven't caught on, I'm appreciating being back at Word of Life for a little bit of focus.

(And to clarify...WOL hardly avoids unbelievers.  It is currently filled with 400 campers, 66 of whom came forward on Saturday night to talk about making a salvation decision, and more of whom are asking questions about the Lord every day.  This isn't like The Village or anything, there is plenty of interaction with the outside world, plenty of ministry.  It's just nice to be in a place where the focus of the staff and the establishment is to glorify the Lord.)

Ahhhhh I have less than ten minutes before practice and SO MUCH MORE TO SAYYYY!!!!


(Did I just put extra letters in my word for emphasis? That's gross.)



Okay, well, I'll leave you with one very exciting tid-bit from today.


...



I LEARNED TO MAKE BALLOON ANIMALS!!!!!!

Well, "animal," actually. Just a dog. I can also make an apple, a pirate sword, and a regular sword...but none of those are animals.

How great is that? Now I can be a missionary/teacher/clown. :D

El Salvador....here we come. 

El Salvador: Part 2 1/2 (Written very very late on Monday, or very early on Tuesday...)

Details, details, details. It has occurred to me that there are just some things that you really need to know...like all of the Word of Life acronyms, the names of my team members, our trip dates...some of the details.  Well, consider this post a "Map Key" of sorts.

WOL acronyms. Know them, love them. (Or just know them...it's not particularly necessary that you have any feelings about them.)

WOL: Word of Life
HBPAC: Harry Bolback Performing Arts Center (One of the buildings on the FL campus, used for GP.)
CC: Conference Center
YC: Youth Camp
GP: Gospel Productions (WOL puts out two productions a year, "The Sights and Sounds of Christmas" and "Jesus, Behold the Man")
GTAC: George Theiss Assembly Center (The building in the YC which all of the BI classes are held during the schoolyear, and where the meetings and rallies are held during summer camp.)
BI or WOLBI: Word of Life Bible Institute

I think that list will give you enough to have a working acronym vocabulary to maneuver your way around this blog. :)

Now, my team members. I am traveling to El Salvador with the WOL 2010-11 Ensemble.  This consists of eight BI students, four boys and four girls, and their director and his wife.

Girls: Ashley Harwell, Brittany Shipton, Tori Emerson, Holley Vann
Guys: Micah, Ethan, Kyle, Josh (boys don't have last names...do they?)
Tom and Fay Phillips are the leaders of the ensemble.

(I was on the ensemble when I was a BI student in 2007-08.  It was an experience that left me with lifelong friends, tons of stories, and lots of growth.  Their going on this trip was what made me initially interested to go along.)

There are also three high school students traveling with us:

Lauren (from Ft. Wayne, Indiana)
Olivia (from Maryland)
Nate [the Great] (from Manasses, Virginia)

Matt Melville is a missionary who works at WOL New York with short term missions.  He has been teaching our classes and will be our fearless leader on the trip.

And then of course there's moi....serving as the "Unit Leader" for the girls.  I get to pour into the lives of these six ladies for the next three weeks in an uninhibited way.

It. Is. So. Awesome. Getting to know them, praying with them, encouraging them, teaching them, learning from them...praise the Lord for His family!!!

And the missing member of our team is Josiah.  He's currently in Argentina (because wouldn't you know it, there's a WOLBI down there, too!) and will meet us in El Salvador.

We will be leaving on Saturday, June 25th and coming back on July 9th.

Hoorah!


That's all, folks!