T minus 20, and counting!

Less than three weeks until I'm a married man! Thank you, Lord. I'm so excited! I know I've said it before, but this has been such an incredible experience for me. The things that God has taught me, and has taught Naomi and I as a couple, have been amazing. And this is just the beginning!

Naomi has been a constant source of encouragement to me. These last few weeks have been a bit difficult, and there has been lots of seeking God's will in some decisions about our wedding. To be honest, it has been really tough. I have been in tears before God numerous times. Tears of desperation, tears of repentance, tears of fear and hurt. God was teaching me an awful lot about trusting Him and waiting on Him, even when from a human perspective, that seemed to be a foolish thing to do. Lots of people that I know and respect felt that I should make a decision on my own. They didn't all come out and say it explicitly, but they seemed to think that I was wasting valuable time in putting off this decision until I had clearly heard from the Lord. It was hard, and I came close to doubting that God had a plan for all of this. But He did, and He does, and regardless of what the outcome is, I am so very thankful for the things He has taught me 'the hard way' through all of this.

What I am also so very, very thankful for is the way that Naomi responded to all this. Though I explained to her as best I could how I felt God leading me, she didn't necessarily hear the same things from Him. Looking back, I can see that this might have been a lot more about my relationship with God than it was about a specific decision. But the amazing, awesome part was that she stood by me through it all. Even though she had to listen to people questioning our wisdom and timing even more than I did, she was so very supportive of every decision I made for us. She showed grace to me time and time again. She stood right beside me, content to follow me as I followed God's leading. What an incredible encouragement she is to me! And what a Godly example!

God has given to a husband the responsibility of spiritual leadership, and by His grace He has allowed me to take up that role. To a wife He gives the responsibility of followership and obedience in Christ to her husband, and He has blessed Naomi with the patience and faith to fulfill her role as well. Praise be to our Almighty Savior! I cannot wait to marry this girl!


Lord, thank You so very, very much for the struggles You place in our lives. There are so many opportunities to grow closer to You through the hard times. Thank You for blessing me with a fiancee who is faithful to You, who loves You with all her heart, who strives to serve You as her Lord and Master. I couldn't ask for a better woman to spend the rest of my life with! You have blessed us so richly, Father!

28 days... three saturdays left

Three Saturdays left of being a bachelor! And I'm ready for that! Nine months or a year ago, had you asked me, I wouldn't not have said I was ready to be married. Both for the fact that I felt there were still things I wanted to 'accomplish' as a single guy, and that I felt physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally unread to be seriously thinking about marriage. Now there has been nothing that I've physically changed about myself, but God has done great work in me and through me, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that in four weeks from now when I pledge before Him to take Naomi as my wife and to love her forever, that He will have me in a place where I can truly and honestly say those words to her, and through His power, keep that promise to her and to the Lord.


There is nothing that compares to serving the Lord. Nothing compares to the riches of His love. But even in the hard times, even when to us as imperfect humans the 'fountains of blessings' may seem a litte dry, He is still worthy of all our praise.


I have more to write about, but I think that like last weekend, it'll have to wait 'till I'm back up in Raleigh. I just seem to have way too much to keep me busy during the waking hours when I'm down here. :)

I lost count... no, wait... 36 more days!

So I might not get a chance to post a 'real' something today, but I wanted to update the countdown and keep the trend going, at any rate.

As soon as my classes are done today I'm heading down to Waxhaw to see my beloved fiancee, and spend the weekend with her and my family. We're going to get our marriage license this afternoon, which is cool, and then we've got a date planned tonight, which I'm also looking forward to. With all this wedding planning going on, it seems that recently we've been spending a lot of time 'doing stuff' instead of spending time focusing on developing our relationship. So this is good.

That's something I really, really don't want to lose. I think it's not so easy to keep up the 'dating' mentality once a couple gets married. All the little special things they used to do for each other when they were dating fall to the side. The difference can be pretty huge between 'girlfriend' and 'fiancee' and 'wife'. And yet God calls us me to love our wives as we love ourselves, and to me, that means stepping it up a notch, not letting back down.

Anyway, there's lots more I want to write, but don't have time right now. So in the meantime, here's a couple of posts from some good marriage blogs I'm reading.

• Marriage Actually - Say What?
• The Art of Intimacy - Twenty Five Tips to Stay Married
• I Am Husband - Sex Begins in the Kitchen

Lord, grant me your love today, and let me show that love to Naomi as I spend time with her this weekend. Give me words that build up, that bring her closer to You, that encourage her. Let me be an example, and a leader in our relationship. Lord, I can't do this alone. I invite you once again into my life today, and I give you complete control of my thoughts, my words, and my actions. Let me be an example, an encouragement, and a witness. Let me be a mirror that reflects your Light into the world.