i love my siblings!! Lainey tried on some flower girl dresses the past couple days and she is super cute! :) she gets this huge grin on her face and she will model and do whatever you want her to do! lol! she will walk one way and then walk towards you very lady like! :)
i would put a picture but i haven't figured out how to yet on this blog....lol ;)
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A lasting kiss.....
"You may NOW kiss the bride!"
What an odd statement to throw into a wedding ceremony! Why give a couple the permission to kiss on their wedding day, when they've most likely already done this a thousand times?
This traditional line seems strange to most modern couples. We live in a world where intimate kisses have lost their sacred essence. In some relationships a kiss is carelessly given away only hours after having a first date, others it is treated as no more than a formality of showing romantic interest. No wonder we've lost an understanding of saving such intimate ways of showing love until God's perfectly timed moments.
The history of this seemingly strange tradition of "NOW kissing the bride" comes from the forgotten paradigm and the understanding of physical touch, was one that reserved all intimate expressions of affection for the wedding day and beyond. So when the groom was "allowed" to kiss his bride, it actually meant that the time had come for him to kiss her FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
God teaches us to entrust things of value in our life only to those who have first proven that they are worthy of such a trust. And of all these things of great value in our life, one of the most precious is our body. It's the equivalent of the holy of holes in God's temple in Jerusalem. It's the set apart place of our beings, and beyond the presence of God, it is reserved for only one person to ever access.
God has already defined who we can allow to enter this sacred place of our being. It's one who has proven that they will value it and protect its sacredness as their most prized possession-one willing to give up everything in covenant to show they truly mean it. That one person is your spouse.
Now I'm not saying that saving kisses for your wedding day is a requirement to lasting love, but I am in favor of allowing God to be the orchestrator of the progression of sacred touches in your relationships. A sensual kiss, when orchestrated by God Himself, is a statement of covenant intent. It should hold deep meaning and significance and not simply be a catalyst for sensual things.
God intends a wedding day to be the Christmas morning of a couple's romance. It's the day the sacred gifts are given as a means of celebrating the newly born covenant bond. A couple can experience a certain dimension of intimacy prior to their wedding day, but God intends intimacy to blossom into a burst of springtime color on and beyond the wedding day.
A kiss is a physical representation of what marriage is and what a wedding day opens up for a lifetime to follow. That's why a wedding day is such an important training ground. If a couple learns to guard and preserve the sacred elements of their physical relationship prior to marriage, they already have a foundation upon which to cuild for success after they exchange vows and in the years to come.
"The longer your 'no big deal' list is before marriage, the shorter your 'very special' list will be after marriage” (quote from Joshua Harris).
You're probably why I'm writing about this....well, I've been questioned and teased about my saving my first kiss with any man for my wedding when the pastor says to my groom "you may NOW kiss your bride!" Both before I ever met Andy and even now that I'm engaged to Andy. Some have said "it's no big deal" some have said I "can't possibly love him because you've never kissed each other (or kissed anyone else)" when asked about this topic. Quite the opposite....it's because I love him that much that I saved my first kiss for him before I ever met him and am refraining from kissing him until our wedding day! Do I care what others think? No, but I thought I would take this opportunity to somehow attempt to put into words why I have done this! This still does not fully explain, but this is the short version with some explainations of it taken from Eric & Leslie Ludy and Joshua Harris.
~Whitney~
What an odd statement to throw into a wedding ceremony! Why give a couple the permission to kiss on their wedding day, when they've most likely already done this a thousand times?
This traditional line seems strange to most modern couples. We live in a world where intimate kisses have lost their sacred essence. In some relationships a kiss is carelessly given away only hours after having a first date, others it is treated as no more than a formality of showing romantic interest. No wonder we've lost an understanding of saving such intimate ways of showing love until God's perfectly timed moments.
The history of this seemingly strange tradition of "NOW kissing the bride" comes from the forgotten paradigm and the understanding of physical touch, was one that reserved all intimate expressions of affection for the wedding day and beyond. So when the groom was "allowed" to kiss his bride, it actually meant that the time had come for him to kiss her FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
God teaches us to entrust things of value in our life only to those who have first proven that they are worthy of such a trust. And of all these things of great value in our life, one of the most precious is our body. It's the equivalent of the holy of holes in God's temple in Jerusalem. It's the set apart place of our beings, and beyond the presence of God, it is reserved for only one person to ever access.
God has already defined who we can allow to enter this sacred place of our being. It's one who has proven that they will value it and protect its sacredness as their most prized possession-one willing to give up everything in covenant to show they truly mean it. That one person is your spouse.
Now I'm not saying that saving kisses for your wedding day is a requirement to lasting love, but I am in favor of allowing God to be the orchestrator of the progression of sacred touches in your relationships. A sensual kiss, when orchestrated by God Himself, is a statement of covenant intent. It should hold deep meaning and significance and not simply be a catalyst for sensual things.
God intends a wedding day to be the Christmas morning of a couple's romance. It's the day the sacred gifts are given as a means of celebrating the newly born covenant bond. A couple can experience a certain dimension of intimacy prior to their wedding day, but God intends intimacy to blossom into a burst of springtime color on and beyond the wedding day.
A kiss is a physical representation of what marriage is and what a wedding day opens up for a lifetime to follow. That's why a wedding day is such an important training ground. If a couple learns to guard and preserve the sacred elements of their physical relationship prior to marriage, they already have a foundation upon which to cuild for success after they exchange vows and in the years to come.
"The longer your 'no big deal' list is before marriage, the shorter your 'very special' list will be after marriage” (quote from Joshua Harris).
You're probably why I'm writing about this....well, I've been questioned and teased about my saving my first kiss with any man for my wedding when the pastor says to my groom "you may NOW kiss your bride!" Both before I ever met Andy and even now that I'm engaged to Andy. Some have said "it's no big deal" some have said I "can't possibly love him because you've never kissed each other (or kissed anyone else)" when asked about this topic. Quite the opposite....it's because I love him that much that I saved my first kiss for him before I ever met him and am refraining from kissing him until our wedding day! Do I care what others think? No, but I thought I would take this opportunity to somehow attempt to put into words why I have done this! This still does not fully explain, but this is the short version with some explainations of it taken from Eric & Leslie Ludy and Joshua Harris.
~Whitney~
Monday, November 8, 2010
and the countdown continues.....
250 days until i get to marry Andy!!!!! =) yay!!!! *happy dance!!*
Dear July 16th,
please come soon!!!! i am trying to wait patiently, but i can hardly wait to marry my best friend and get to see him everyday and begin the rest of our lives together!! remember....please come soon!!! i'd be ok with sooner than soon too!!! ;) hehe!! thanks!!
~Whitney~
Dear July 16th,
please come soon!!!! i am trying to wait patiently, but i can hardly wait to marry my best friend and get to see him everyday and begin the rest of our lives together!! remember....please come soon!!! i'd be ok with sooner than soon too!!! ;) hehe!! thanks!!
~Whitney~
Friday, November 5, 2010
i really need to post more often....lol
Wow...it's been like a months since i last posted anything! i really need to post something more than once a month! lol!
life is crazily busy right now! currently i'm working full time as a CENA (nurse's aide) at the life care center here in plainwell, studying lots to take my NCLEX (nursing state boards) for a third time, wedding planning during my study breaks and on my days off, plus everyday life. definitely looking forward to when i pass my state boards so i don't have to study anymore and so i can finally do what God first called me to do when i was like 2 years old!
Work: i love what i do and the residents i have the opportunity to work with! ready to switch to nursing though! plus, once i switch to nursing i will get a new work schedule and will be able to see Andy more often and spend more time with my family in the 8 1/2 months i have left living with them! as of right now i pretty much only see Andy every other weekend on my weekend off between my work schedule and his work/school schedule (other than last week when i saw him like 3 times since he had a break from school).
Studying: Seems like i've been over the same material a thousand times and i sometimes wonder what i should be studying or if i'm missing something. i know i know the material, it's just transfering that knowledge to the computer when i take the test. i'm such a hands on/visual learner so computer tests are not my area of expertise obviously. trying to stay positive though and learning what God wants me to through this. patience is apparently once of them. :)
Wedding planning: love it!! so much to do and it's kind of overwhelming at times! there are moments here and there thought that i wish i didn't have to worry about so many details! i knew planning weddings took a lot of time and thought, etc, but this is a lot more than i thought! lol! it's ok though, it will be worth it! :) besides....as long as the end result on July 16th is that Andy and i are finally married, that's what really matters!!!! =) i love him!!!! *happy sigh!*
speaking of Andy....being engaged to someone so amazing is fabulous!!! he truly is God's biggest blessing in my life and my other half!! (and the better half too!!) 253 days until i get to marry him!!!! yay!!
Prayer requests: 1.) that i would have continued motivation to study and that i would pass the NCLEX (my nursing state boards) this time!! 2.) to continue learning new things that God wants me to learn. 3.) that i would be able to continue to be a good witness to my co-workers at work (there's a couple girls that have been talking to me more now and asking some questions and one girl is actually going to church now, and then a guy that i think is a new believer, but is asking me questions too).
blessings to you all!
love,
~Whitney~
life is crazily busy right now! currently i'm working full time as a CENA (nurse's aide) at the life care center here in plainwell, studying lots to take my NCLEX (nursing state boards) for a third time, wedding planning during my study breaks and on my days off, plus everyday life. definitely looking forward to when i pass my state boards so i don't have to study anymore and so i can finally do what God first called me to do when i was like 2 years old!
Work: i love what i do and the residents i have the opportunity to work with! ready to switch to nursing though! plus, once i switch to nursing i will get a new work schedule and will be able to see Andy more often and spend more time with my family in the 8 1/2 months i have left living with them! as of right now i pretty much only see Andy every other weekend on my weekend off between my work schedule and his work/school schedule (other than last week when i saw him like 3 times since he had a break from school).
Studying: Seems like i've been over the same material a thousand times and i sometimes wonder what i should be studying or if i'm missing something. i know i know the material, it's just transfering that knowledge to the computer when i take the test. i'm such a hands on/visual learner so computer tests are not my area of expertise obviously. trying to stay positive though and learning what God wants me to through this. patience is apparently once of them. :)
Wedding planning: love it!! so much to do and it's kind of overwhelming at times! there are moments here and there thought that i wish i didn't have to worry about so many details! i knew planning weddings took a lot of time and thought, etc, but this is a lot more than i thought! lol! it's ok though, it will be worth it! :) besides....as long as the end result on July 16th is that Andy and i are finally married, that's what really matters!!!! =) i love him!!!! *happy sigh!*
speaking of Andy....being engaged to someone so amazing is fabulous!!! he truly is God's biggest blessing in my life and my other half!! (and the better half too!!) 253 days until i get to marry him!!!! yay!!
Prayer requests: 1.) that i would have continued motivation to study and that i would pass the NCLEX (my nursing state boards) this time!! 2.) to continue learning new things that God wants me to learn. 3.) that i would be able to continue to be a good witness to my co-workers at work (there's a couple girls that have been talking to me more now and asking some questions and one girl is actually going to church now, and then a guy that i think is a new believer, but is asking me questions too).
blessings to you all!
love,
~Whitney~
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
our engagement story!!! (from my perspective!)
let’s see.....well that morning (a saturday morning) i was upset with him because i felt like he was scheduling our time together around him and David watching the MSU football game that afternoon and i hadn’t seen him for two weeks because of my work schedule and his work and school schedule. mom was joking around with me as usual whenever i was gonna go see him that “maybe today will be the day!” and i told her that it was definitely not going to happen that day. hehe....little did i know. i thought he wouldn’t do it that day because i knew that whenever he asked me, it would be just us two with no one else around, and we were going out to breakfast, then running errands, taking a walk (and at first i thought, well maybe he would ask me during our walk, but then he said he was bringing Jessie their dog, so then i knew he wasn’t going to), and then i was supposed to see the new really nice camera he bought me for my early wedding present and then i was going to head back home so him and David could have some guy time and eat pizza like they planned. so i couldn’t see any way that he could propose that day. so i left my house at 9:00 in the morning to meet him at the Colonial Kitchen off of Drake Rd. in Kalamazoo! i was so happy to see him though and i forgot about being upset with him and we had a lovely breakfast together and shared some laughs as always! then we went to Lowe’s to look at some paint stuff for future apartment stuff, and once we were done there we walked over to another store to pick up some hair hilighting stuff for me to try on his hair when i was supposed to cut it the next day (sunday). after that we headed to target to buy and SD card or the camera he was going to give me and get some hair conditioner too. then we headed to Menard’s to pick up a brake light for his car since one of them burned out. after we finished the errands then we went back to his house so he could put the new camera battery on the charger while we went for a walk so that once we got back i could try out the new camera! so we headed out for our walk and took their dog. i always love going on walks with Andy! love it! so we had another lovely walk together and on the way back i saw a grey thing that looked like a pinecone “rolling” towards me....or so i thought it was a grey pinecone until it was coming straight at me and i realized it was a small furry grey creature! yikes! i screamed and jumped towards Andy and squeezed his hand since i had been holding it....ahh!! it definitely scared me! we had a good laugh about it after i had settled down from my scare a bit though! once we got back to his house, there still wasn’t anyone at home and there’s always someone there when we’re together, but i didn’t think that much about it because i was leaving in a few minutes once he showed me the new camera! so he went downstairs to his room to get the camera (and the ring which obviously i didn’t know)! he brought it upstairs to the kitchen and i started playing with it to start learning how it worked! then i wanted to try taking some pictures with it so i took a few of Andy, then took a few looking out one of their windows in the dining room, then i headed outside to try a few more things with the zoom lens and then came back inside and took a few more pictures of Andy! (he was probably wanting to hurry up and propose, but couldn’t because his ladyfriend was having so much fun with her new camera!) I then thanked him for his gift to me and gave him a big hug!! i just love hugging him! he’s basically a head taller than me so when i hug him my head comes to his chest and i can hear his heart beating! it was beating pretty fast, but again i didn’t think anything about it because we had just come back from a nice long walk! (he told me after he proposed that he was surprised i didn’t guess it was coming because he was nervous and his heart was racing then! i had no clue though!) he then said several lovely things of which i can only remember that he told me that he cared about me very much! then he started reminicing a bit about when we first met and how after just a few times of being with me and talking to me a little bit that i was a girl he was going to go after! then he said that he had made a rule for himself that he wasn’t going to give me the camera until he gave me another present. i thought he was talking about something else for the camera (which now i know he meant the engagement ring!), and then he said that he had broke that rule though. i was puzzled and later on he said that i had a confused expression on my face when i looked up at him....hehe! i don’t remember much of what he said, but he said a few other things that was also confusing to me then because i didn’t know what he was referring to (hehe! i know now!) and i remember saying something like, “what are you saying?” he then went on and said several other things i don’t really remember but some were special things he says to only me one of which was that i’m so beautiful (which he does say that to me often, but i love hearing it every time!)!! then he pulled the ring from his pocket and got down on his knees and said even more lovely things which i wish i could remember but i was so happy and busy looking at him and listening to what he was saying then and then he asked me if i would do him the honor of becoming his wife and marrying him!! happiness!!!!!!!! i said yes and nodded my head!!! (he said i said yes like 7 times throughout the time he was saying things and asking me!! hehe!) i hugged him and then he put the ring on my finger!!! he told me that he loved me and i told him i loved him!! we have obviously loved each other for a while, but it was the first time we said it to each other and it was so special!! i think we just hugged each other for like a half hour straight there in their kitchen!!! he was like, i know the kitchen isn’t the most romantic place, but that’s how it ended up working out (i was oblivious and was too busy playing with the camera in the kitchen so that’s where it happened)! i don’t care that it was in the kitchen!!! i loved the way he proposed to me and it was simple like us and i am very happy!!!! he then told me that his friend David was coming to not only watch football with him, but to take a picture of us on the new camera since David knew about Andy planning to ask me that day!! Andy wanted the first picture to be of us on the new camera and of my ring, but i had already played with the camera lots!! i told him, that it was ok, the first picture on our new camera was of the person that i was marrying!!! him!! :D So before David got there we took a few pictures of the ring on my hand and then once David got there he took a picture of us!!
Monday, October 4, 2010
!!!!!!
I'm engaged!!!!!!!!!! ahhhh!!!! soooo exciting!!!!! and to the best man a girl could ask for!!!!!! Andy!!!!! =) *happy dance!!!* October 2, 2010!!!!!! *happy sigh!*
Saturday, September 11, 2010
life....
well....life for me has taken another unexpected turn....i retook my NCLEX (nursing state boards test) on August 31st....2 days later i found out that once again i didn't pass it. i was crushed....i studied so hard for 4 months and have had to pay $250 every time i take the test....not to mention i've put off working full time, spending extra time with friends and family, and wedding planning. now i have to work full time so i can pay for my car and school loans so i don't have to drain my savings account on top of still having to study and moving on with wedding planning since the date we have chosen and booked is about 10 months away and i am definitely not a last minute planner. so yeah....i don't understand God's reasoning, but i know that His timing is best no matter what i think. it's just disappointing to still not officially be a nurse even though i have my degree and had a job waiting for me. i feel like a failure even though i'm not. i know i know the material....i think maybe it's just the actual taking of the computer test. i don't know....i'm planning on talking to my professors soon though so we'll see what they have to say! :)
~Whitney~
~Whitney~
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