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July 14, 2006

International Night and Other Updates

one last form of getting the word out...

so, we're hosting the 2nd annual international night at knapp st on saturday night. i'm so stoked! my fantabulous roomies and i went through the final planning last night. and i've been hearing from lots of folks who are bringing lots of GOOD food.

to preview the selection...

...a quesedilla bar
...mini paninis
...mofungo
...a japanese dish
...and much much more!

plus, the creative members of the rukleink ministry team (a.k.a. some of the friley-ites) have been on a film making kick, so we might even get to have some fun footage of the evening to look back on.

anyway, come one, come all, 6:30p.m., the knapp st house, saturday night. we're providing all the beverages (this is non-alcoholic folks), plasticware and paperware.

plus, we'll have games...AND if people end up wanting to join us (i'm sure my roomies and i will watch it), we'll be watching mad hot ballroom (feel free to screenit if you'd like, but it's a movie about inner city minority students learning to ballroom dance).

okay, so in other news, we finally bought our tickets to puerto rico (...and there was much rejoicing), we're taking my ring in to be resized today, and we're in the process of calling reception halls about dates and such.

we'll keep you posted!

Posted by Autumn at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

let the grace begin...

so, to top off getting engaged this week, i also get to plan a two week vacation to puerto rico...

jensen and i had been talking about doing this since we hung out with his family over the holidays, but with the fast, planning (and even the reality of the trip) had been put on hold. but God gave it back!

i have really had a heart to make sure this trip was God's and not just some vacation. in fact, i realized part of why God was withholding this trip from me was because i was putting my hope in it for rest and restoration. for those of you who don't know me as well, let me tell you, i am NOT a good rester. i am always crazy busy. my job demands crazy hours a lot (especially with two national conferences this summer).

this past school year was the most demanding i've experienced and so has this summer as a conference manager. i had been hoping that if i just busted my butt and pushed through, i would make it to august and then be able to breathe.

THANKFULLY, God showed me over the last month that he wanted me to have rest here and now. the fast really allowed for that. i spent hours just resting, praying, getting in the Word, being with people. it was so good.

but anyway, so back to the vacation...

i really wanted to see God's hand in this and surely i have already.

1. i asked off from july 24-august 16 and ACTUALLY got it. that's crazy.

2. God's sovereignty in our tickets. so get this...

we go to look at tickets again sunday night. we run into jensen's friend abel, who sends us to a website where he said tickets were really cheap. we go to the site and it looks like tickets are $100 cheaper than any of the other sites (yes, if it looks too good to be true, it is). we, foolishly, decide to plunge ahead and buy them.

we go through all the steps and it gets charged to my credit card. as we are looking at the itinerary, jensen says, "wait, we didn't type in my information." stomach drops out. oh my goodness. we only bought ONE ticket. this ticket was $200 MORE than other sites, not $100 less for two tickets!

now folks, this was a $600 mistake. less than 12 hours after we get engaged. amazingly enough, neither of us freak out (believe me, we are not even-keeled people, this IS a miracle). we email the company to tell them i need to cancel my reservation. i had actually read the terms and agreements before we bought it (which i NEVER do) and i knew it was refundable with a $75 fee.

so, we were bummed about the fee. that's $75 down the drain that we could have done something useful with. but we go on with life.

the next morning, when i get to work, i get an email from the company saying that since i contacted them so quickly, they weren't even going to charge me the $75! can you BELIEVE that?! God covered our first $600 mistake for free.

whoa.

now i shouldn't be shocked. i mean, look at the cross, folks. God is obviously in the business of covering debts. but dang, sometimes (ALMOST ALWAYS) i forget it has nothing to do with desert, and everything to do with him.

yeah, so God's grace is ABOUNDING. and, i'm even more convinced this trip is in his hands and he knows exactly what he wants out of it!

so, pray for us. we need it. but we're still excited.

Posted by Autumn at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2006

laughing hysterically...

well, for those of you who don't know, that i haven't been able to get ahold of, or who are out of town, here's the official word...

...jensen and i are engaged.

now, i know i haven't blogged in the longest, so i feel that i need to back up a bit before sharing the obligatory proposal details.

this relationship has been a crazy ride. out of the blue. out of the box. just the way God likes it i think. God has done crazy things and bore much fruit. spiritual fruit. relational fruit. character fruit.

has it been fun? yes.
has it been hard? definitely.
have i been stretched? oh yeah.
have i been humbled? undeniably.
have i been blessed? without a doubt.

you may or may have not known that jensen and i had been fasting from one another for the last month. in a very God-ordained conversation, not intended (on my part) to be about our relationship at all, a pastor's wife asked me to consider praying about how God might use the time if jensen and i gave our relationship time back to God.

insert hysterical crying.

but after much prayer, reading, crying, and repeating this cycle, we decided we had nothing to lose by fasting and everything to gain.

confidence in our willingness to suffer for the other.
growth in our individual character.
confidence in God's leading in the relationship.
growth in our relationships within the body.
confidence that our relationships with God were of top priority.

and the list goes on...

but nevertheless, with great relief, God allowed the fast to come to an end after a LONG month.

this past WEEK had been great. at the end of the fast, i was starting to feel like a kid anticipating Christmas. i had claimed John 15:2 for the fast, knowing that God wanted to bear fruit, and i was just eager to know what that fruit was and how it was going to play out in our lives.

haha, keep in mind, that when i say great, i don't mean it's been easy in all aspects. i'm not sure what jensen or i would do with ourselves if everything was going smooth and easy. i'm convinced with both have strong spiritual calves from all the uphill climbing we've done in life :)

anyway, so back to the proposal...

he decides we're going to go out to eat in des moines yesterday. i really didn't think too much of it because we hadn't had a date time since we'd been off the fast. we decided to go to a mexican restaurant because i HEART mexican food.

everything's going pretty good, i'm nice and oblivious, and then BOOM! as soon as i slide into the booth at the restaurant, i get this "ahhh! what if he asks me?" keep in mind, i had NO reason to suspect this, it wasn't a crazy nice restaurant, it was a sunday afternoon, etc.

so i start making random STUPID small talk (this only going to be amusing if you know jensen and i's continuous awkward interactions, haha, but read on...).

"wow, these chips are big."

"hey, what should we get to drink?"

[staring wide eyed into the aisle] "WHEN is that waitress coming back?"

so, i'm sure the poor kid was freaking out because he knows me well enough to know i was certainly freaking out about something. but anyhoo (oh, and it's important to note that jensen is VERY sincere, but not smooth or charming...which i love), jensen starts to launch into a perfectly wonderful, proposal speech, meanwhile i'm trying to stare at the menu (no joke).

he finally gets me to look at him. asks me a few questions and says, "can i ask you one last question?" sure. "will you be my wife?" POW! ring box on the table. AHHHH!

insert hysterical laughter.

no, of course i wouldn't be the typical girl and start crying. i start laughing hysterically. until he asks, "well?"

"yes!" insert more hysterical laughing.

and that's pretty much how the rest of the day went. i'd call someone. they'd scream. i'd start laughing.

so, yeah, at least you can be pretty guaranteed you'll get some comic relief at our wedding. no exact date picked yet. but we're shooting for may.

if you see jensen, be sure to congratulate him. and tell him laughing is perfectly normal :)

boy, he picked a crazy girl...

Posted by Autumn at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)