Playing Catch-Up On Thanksgiving

Michael and I do not have access to a computer any longer, therefore we are only able to access the internet via our iPhones. I just recently got my iPhone back in October at the North Carolina State Fair. Apparently I am not able to write on my blog as faithfully as I want to because my phone won't allow me too access it. It's stupid. Just recently I have been able to get back in contact with my brother, Jonathan, and we have talked every single night except for one. Why is this so fantastic? Because I haven't talked to him in over a year before this. The first time I was able to talk to him I was shaking because of the Adhrenaline rushing through my body. I have also started writing a book. Not a book on on a computer or through my iPhone...no, I mean literally writing a book...by hand...with a pen and paper! It is going to be a fictionalized version of my life. Obviously with things added, left out, and changed. Michael and I have been married 6 months now, and have celebrated each month on the 19th by going out to eat, and then doing something fun afterwards. This is our first Thanksgiving toggether. We are spending it in Raleigh, and we plan on spending Christmas up here in Raleigh as well. Hopefully, I haven't talked to Michael about it, we can spend Christmas with my family. (We've spent Christmas down here in Raleigh for the last three years). I have a job at a local Deli called "McAlister's" and I am in training right now. It's minimum wage and then, depending on my performance, I will get an increase in my pay rate after 60-90 days on the job. We'll see how I do. I hope I will get a raise. I need it. Michael's job is going well, and he is in the process of getting promoted into an Assistant Manager's position. We just don't know when that will happen. Well, I guess that's all that I can think of to catch you up on! We are going to go eat Thanksgiving Dinner, and then the girls are going to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Part II) and the guys are going to watch Skyfall, the new James Bond movie. =) Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Down with the Constitution...?!

I'm not sure how true some (if any) of these are, so don't yell at me. I'm just copying and pasting something that almost made me vomit. IF these are true, excuse me while I run to the bathroom and get sick. "JUDGE KITHIL IS THE 2ND OFFICIAL WHO HAS OUTLINED THESE PARTS OF THE CARE BILL. Judge Kithil of Marble Falls, TX -highlighted the most egregious pages of HB3200 Please read this........ especially the reference to pages 58 & 59 JUDGE KITHIL wrote: ** Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. ** Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. ** Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN). ** Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?) ** Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees. ** Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age. ** Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception. ** Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an "end-of-life planning" seminar every five years. (Death counseling..) ** Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. HAD ENOUGH???? Judge Kithil then goes on to identify: "Finally, it is specifically stated that this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system, and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick 'fix' to make the plan financially sound for their future." - Honorable David Kithil of Marble Falls , Texas"

New Year's "Resolutions"?

We all have them. New year's resolutions I mean. They are something we "resolve" to do before the end of the year. They are usually in the form of:
"Reading a book",
"Losing weight",
"Working out",
"Keeping a clean house",
"Beating an addiction", etc.
However, tonight in church I was thinking about everything I was planning for my New Year's Resolution list. They were pretty generic for me.
Read through the Bible in a Year
Lose a pound per day until the wedding...ok, maybe that's too much, but it's a good thought to lose weight right?
Walk each and every day to the Wadesboro Park and walk/run the 1 mile loop
Then I started thinking about my prayer life. It was there, but...it was definitely not in the shape I wanted it to be. Something was missing, I knew that, and I knew what, but I didn't know how to change it. What was missing? I wasn't Thanking God for things? I mean, it was very general, like, "Thank you for this day" etc. However, I wasn't really THANKING Him, nor praising Him for blessings and other things. But another thought struck me. I'm also supposed to thank God for trials. I'm supposed to THANK Him!? I'm supposed to Praise Him...WHAT?! He wants me to be GRATEFUL when something HORRIBLE happens? Something is wrong with this picture. VERY wrong. However...not really.

In His Word, He says to "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." ~ Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice evermore." ~ I Thessalonians 5:16. It doesn't say "Rejoice if things are going well for you." or even, "Rejoice if most things are working for you." or even, "Rejoice when at least you're not dead.". It says, very plainly, Rejoice in EVERYTHING. I am afraid I don't do that! I'm afraid a lot of us don't.

We treat a trial that God puts us through as a thing to be dreaded. Why? It's like what Pastor Dave at Calvary Baptist Church in Cheraw, South Carolina tonight said in his message. He said, (and I'm paraphrasing), "The greater/more severe the trial or testing is, God's grace is as equally great." I Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]." We might not think it, but, even when God seems a million miles away, with his back to us, He's right there beside us. He's listening as we have our hands over our head, curling up in a ball sobbing and asking, "Why? Why God? Help me! Jesus, please! Help me." I can imagine Him listening to us plead with tears in His eyes, and a hand we can't feel around our shoulders whispering, "I'm right here. Breathe. Listen for me. I'm calling for you to lean on me! Come to me. I'm right here." Sometimes we pull away, sometimes we lean on Him. The point is, how we respond is the important thing. Do we lean on Him, thank Him for bringing the trial into our life, accept it, and try to learn something from it? Or do we pull away, become bitter, deny the "problem" in front of us, and refuse to acknowledge anything is wrong?

Some would say that God doesn't bring them into our lives. I don't know...I believe He brings some trials into our lives simply to help us grow and become more like His Son. Do I believe we should just sit there and say "Woa is me, I'm going through this trial that is from God..."? No. However, at the same time, I don't believe we're supposed to fight what God is trying to teach us.

However, I'm starting to go off on a rabbit trail. My point in this note is this. When it comes to my prayer life, I'm going to start writing verses and sticking them above me on the head of my bed, or else on the wall. That way when I start to pray, I won't be able to help but be reminded to thank and praise Him. Now whether I am reminded to praise and thank Him in EVERYTHING is a completely different story, but I do know this, and I keep saying this, "Everything in life is a choice." If I choose to get discouraged in the middle of a trial, I have chosen to pull away from His loving hands. But if I run to Him, the trial won't be nearly so difficult to bear because I might be bearing the test, but Jesus is carrying me. If that isn't a wonderful hope, I don't know what is!

God Bless as you start 2012!!! Keep looking up!

For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord...

The State Fair in Raleigh, North Carolina was this past weekend. However, the Lord had something that we didn't count on in store for us. As we were preparing to leave Raleigh to come back home, Michael's jeep decided to continue having trouble with the transmission. Michael put his jeep into Neutral and rolled into a Hospital Parking Lot. Putting his vehicle into Park, he got out, and put his hands behind his head and tried to breathe normally.

Katie went off crying because of the lack of money available, and feeling that she was responsible to pay for the transmission repair. Her mom followed her, and Jonathan wandered off by himself while Michael's dad called a tow truck. Standing to Michael left, I hugged his arm. Sighing he started talking. "I don't know why every time something good seems to be happening, God feels like he has to punish me by doing something bad." Looking up at him, he simply stared straight ahead of him. Coming around to the front of him, I put my arms around his neck. Waiting until he looked at me, I asked him, "Why? Why question Him now? Why only question him when something bad happens? Why not question him when something good happens?" He sighed, shut his eyes, and whispered. "I don't know. I...I'm just so tired of having my hopes get high, and then having them dashed with something like this happens.

I nodded in understanding and he rubbed his forehead with his fingers.



Just tonight, I was on my way back from Wal-Mart where I had returned a Redbox DVD (Soul Surfer--really good movie by the way), and Katie said, "Maybe this sounds bad for a Christian to say, but...sometimes I wonder if the Bible was really God's Word, or if it was just a lunatic that was totally wacko." I looked at her, and then went back to paying attention to my driving. "I mean," she continued, "God doesn't talk to us any more..." About half way home, Katie said, "You say that people will let you down. But God does too." I asked her what she meant, and she said, "Well, every time I pray for something, and it doesn't happen, God let's me down." "So," I started, being careful to word things gently, "You're saying that every time that God's answer is 'no' you're saying that He's letting you down?" She said, "Well, yes." The conversation went on for some time, and as I turned onto a couple streets from "home" I started thinking. "Why is it that we only question You when bad things happen? Why aren't we satisfied when you say no? Why do we feel that every time the answer isn't what we wanted, we accuse you of failing us? Why are we so faithless?"

Sunday night, before Michael left, Michael and I were standing in the living room, and Michael's dad was talking. He then said, "You could ask Kara to pray for you. And pray earnestly." Michael nodded, and rubbed my shoulder. I kept my gaze on the ground, and took in everything his dad was saying.

As I walked Michael out to the car he was going to use until he could fix his jeep, I hugged him and my voice broke as I placed my hands on either side of his face and whispered, "I am so thankful for you." and tears started rolling down my face.

I believe, now, more then ever, that Christian Men today don't need a wife who cooks, cleans, and takes care of children, rather they need a wife who prays.

Engagement Pictures

This photo was the first Engagement pictures taken by Jimmy McDonald in Rockingham, North Carolina.



This is one of my favorites. :)



Jimmy chose a great place to take our pictures.



This is another one of my favorites. The background was so beautiful.



This was a fun one to do because the pictures I'm going to upload next were taken right after each other, and you'll have to watch Michael's hand. He slowly in each picture comes closer, and closer, and closer until he finally pokes me, right in the middle of the picture being taken.



Moving in for the "kill"...



A little closer...



Ah-ha! Here he goes!!!



Caught Red Handed!



Jimmy had just told me to kiss him! lol!



I settled for a hug. :)



We took a mile long "hike" around the lake.



We sometimes don't always agree, so we settle things very maturely. :)



Cuteness!!!



This was a fun shot.



Since I hadn't kissed him, he kissed me! :) <3



There we go. :) This was at the half way point of our walk.



This is my all time favorite. :) I love how the golden sunset reflects on the water behind us.



Another "ring" picture. :)



One on the bridge.



A night picture.



Another night picture. :)



Michael surprised me and kissed me in middle of taking the picture.



This pose was a little awkward because I was supposed to be straddling his feet and reaching around him to the deck railing. Oh well, it turned out cute. :)



I like how the colors surrounding us pop.

Anyway, these are some of the pictures that Jimmy took, and I am really thankful for the expertise he has and artistic flair when it comes to photography.

Will You Marry Me?

June 6th, 2011. Approximately 10:34 am. Osceola, Indiana.

As I clicked "purchase" on the airline ticket, I thought about the fact that $273.30 of my checking account was now gone.



Later that following week as we, Michael and I, were talking on the phone, Michael said, "Hey, I bought you something today, but I'm not going to tell you what it is." I begged him for a hint. The only thing that he would tell me was "It may or may not have a lens." My mind swirled with ideas. "A camera" my mind came to the conclusion of, and I said as much. "Perhaps." Michael said with a smile in his voice. "Tell me another hint." I told him. "Well..." he dragged out, "Parts of it will be see through." "A camera." My mind told me again. I thought he was talking about the little square hole a person would look through to take the picture. "A camera." I told him again. "Nope." he said laughing. "Okay, fine. Tell me another hint." He said no, but I convinced him to tell me another one. "Okay...let's see. Oh, I know. There will be a lot of 'focus' on it." "A Camera!" I squealed at him. Laughing at my frustration, he said, "Nope!" I demanded he give me another clue, but he stood firm and kept his silence.

The days dragged by until my flight left at 8:00 am. on July 17th, 2011. This was my first time flying by myself, and I was more than a little bit terrified. I got to the airport, and was directed by some security guards, who took pity on me, to the right gate, and how to tell which gate I needed to go to when I got off my first flight and waited for my layover to wear out.

Walking through the Metal Detector without my shoes, money, tickets, and I.D., I half winced as I expected the alarm to go off at any time, seeing as I had a bad history with these things and zippers on my outfit. Not hearing the alarm go off, I let out my breath. Grabbing my backpack, flip-flops, tickets, and book from the bin, I slipped into my shoes, and walked on, thinking about seeing Michael again for the first time in 6 months.

My flight from the South Bend Airport to Detroit, Michigan lasted approximately 33 minutes, and I had a layover that lasted a good hour and a half. I called Michael as I was waiting for my flight to be called from Gate C8. "Well," I told him, "I only have one more flight before I get to see you." I said with a slightly breathless tone. "Yep." he said, just as excited as I was. We talked for a bit more and my flight was finally called.




Boarding my second flight, the only place my mind went to was a certain young man in Charlotte, North Carolina. A man by the name of Michael who was my best friend. Time flew (no pun intended) by and soon my plane was landing at the Greensboro Airport.

As we drove to Morehead, North Carolina which was along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, I heard one of the phones ring. "Hello?" said Katie, Michael's little sister. "Oh, hi Michael. Yah, we've got her. Uh-huh." They talked a little bit more and we finally reached the beach house around 8:45 pm. We unpacked, and made dinner.

At about 11:00 pm. Michael and Ray, who were supposed to meet us at the beach house, were still not there, so Katie and I went over to the beach, and went looking for seashells. We had been out for about half an hour when the phone Katie had taken with her (because mine was charging back at the house) started ringing loudly. Before answering the phone, she grabbed my hand and helped me up a "wall" of sand and rescued me from a wave that would have potentially would have knocked me over and into the salty sea water.



"Come on. Let's go." Katie called to me over the roar of the waves crashing into the sand. "What? why?" I asked. "Because. That was Michael. He and Ray just got here. They're up on the deck." she said. He was here. I was just minutes away from seeing him. No...I was SECONDS away from seeing him. I was so excited and terrified at the same time. I forced myself to walk as Katie and I made our way back to the deck over-looking the ocean. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I didn't dare look up. "Hurry up girls!" I heard Michael call. Swallowing, I kept myself in check while Katie ran on ahead and hugged her older brother.

Reaching the top step, I still kept my gaze on the floor boards. A dark figure stepped into my line of peripheral vision and I half forced myself to look up. Seeing Michael in the moonlight I heard him softly say "It's been too long." and he wrapped me into a big hug. All I could do was nod as an overwhelming amount of emotion flooded my whole body making me feel weak. Finally recovering my composure, I pulled away from him and took a deep breath. "Yah..." I said, "It has been a long time." I glanced over at Ray, Michael's older brother, who was talking to Katie.

"Come here." Michael said softly, taking me by the elbow. I resisted slightly because I was talking to Ray about something. Finally going with Michael, we slowly walked across the deck and he asked me, "So, do you want your present now?" I nodded, and he placed me in the corner of the deck and said, "All right, but you have to close your eyes." I closed my eyes, but then realized that he could see that I had my eyes shut. Putting my hand over my eyes, I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. "Okay, now." I heard Michael say. Opening my eyes, I looked into open space. I heard a shifting down by my feet and I heard Michael clear his throat and ask, "Will you marry me?" Looking down at him, my jaw dropped. There he was. He had gotten down on one knee, and now held a box in his right hand.



The glistening ring in the box sparkled in the moonlight and suddenly I felt like I was about to pass out. My head was swimming, and thought seemed to be acting as a vortex inside my head. I couldn't say anything for the longest time. Finally I breathlessly said, "Bare feet and all..." referring to my sandy bare feet from walking along the beach. Finally after what seemed like an excruciating long period of time, and several attempts at speaking but only getting squeaks out, I nodded my response.

He stood up and put the ring on my finger, and hugged me again. Suddenly I heard clapping off to my left. Looking up from the ring on my finger, I noticed the men whom Katie and I had seen earlier smoking were clapping and grinning. Feeling kind of giddy, I giggled. Michael put his arm around my shoulders and we walked over to where Ray and Katie were standing, and the two men came over and started firing questions at us. "What are your names? Where are you from? How long have you known each other?" etc. Feeling overwhelmed, I let Michael answer most of the questions.



Where are we going from here? Well...We have decided on getting married on May 19th, 2012. We will be getting married at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Morhead City, and then probably living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am so thankful that the Lord led Michael and I together when He did, and that He changed my feelings for Michael when He did. God is in this relationship, and I am so excited to merge my life with Michael's and continue to serve the Lord each and every day.

But it's not my fault!

Modesty. Yes. It is a very controvercial topic. Now, you, like many other women, and yes, I'm talking to all of us as females, may think, "I'm not being immodest, I'm being fashionable." Maybe so, but we have to look at a couple of other points as well.
When a shirt is see through guys can see a lot more than we think they can. When a neck line is too low, and we bend over in addition...believe me...it gives them an eyeful. ALL GUYS ARE LIKE THIS GIRLS! I mean, a few weeks ago when I was helping in our AWANA program. I was watching the sparky's (the Kindergarten through 2nd graders) to make sure they wouldn't misbehave. However, one of the little girls bent over to get something under neath her bench, and she didn't have any undies on. Her bottom was showing half way out of her pants. And what did I see? But one of the older boys leaned forward to get a better look!
"Well, it's not my fault if the boy's can't control themselves!" Wrong. It is our fault. No, I'm not letting the guys off the line because they do have a responsability to the Lord to keep themselves pure emotionally, mentally, and physically. However, we cannot just keep shifting the blame to our struggling brother's while we go on a "Well if you got it, flaunt it!" rampage.
Even the way we stand can send a major message to a guy. Our clothing is not the only thing that can make a guy think impure thoughts. If we say something, or do something that would encourage a sexual desire, on purpose, in that young man on purpose...don't blame him.
When have we stopped caring about the guys in our lives? When have we stopped taking into consideration the guy we might marry some day? What if the guy that you are going to marry, unbeknownst to you, walks in to your school, work place, or home, sees you flirting with guys (just for the fun of it) and dressed very provocatively? What do you think would be going through his mind? Now, if he was any decent kind of guy that wanted you for you, and not for your body, his first thoughts would not be "Oh my word! she's so sexy!" If I were a guy, and saw my future wife acting and dressing like that, I'd say, "that's my future wife? Why is she acting like that? I thought she was supposed to be mine."
Joshua Harris once described it like this. He once had a letter reach him from a friend who was about to get married. In the letter to Joshua, she said, "In the dream I was walking down the isle in my church. When I finally reached the front, my dad pulled the veil back from my face, hugged my one last time, and handed me over to David. I looked at him with tears in my eyes and smiled at him. He was such an amazing young man. As we said our vows, one by one, six other young women lined up next to David on his other side and said the vows with me. I turned to David and said, "What is this?" David looked down and then back at me. "These are girls from my past...girls that I've dated, flirted with, and given my heart to." Tears threatened to ppur down my face as I whispered, "But I thought that your heart was mine! I thought that you loved me!" "I do love you Anna," David said as he glanced at the other girls beside him. "I do love you, and my heart is yours...what's left of it."" Then Anna woke up.
People in today's culture have mistaken "lust" for "love". So many times I have heard girls say, "Yeah, we're dating now. He is so sexy!" When did we get drawn away from the "Old-fashioned" times of it was the young man's job to do the calling? Now, all the girl has to do is flirt, call him sexy, have a one night stand, and that's it! Where is the relationship in that? It sounds to me as if you were just using them!
I read this statement in a Newsletter from Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It said, "IS IT DECENT OR INDECENT? The second word, aidous, is based on the GReek term for shame and disgrace. The word is a blend of modesty and humility. When I think about a word picture that personifies this concept, I think of approaching God with eyes that are downcast. It involves a sense of deficiency, inferiority, or unworthiness. It suggests shame, but also corresponding sense of reverence and honor towards rightful authority. It is the opposite of insolence, impudence, disrespect, or audacity. Downcast eyes are the opposite of defiant eyes. So does dressing with your eyes downcast mean that you are self-conscious? No. It means that your clothing tells the truth about the gospel. Your clothing shows the world that Jesus covers your shame and makes you decent. Your clothes cover your nakedness as the clothing of Christ covers your sin. Dressing "with eyes downcast" means that you choose clothes that are decent in His eyes...not clothes that are provocative, seductive, and that honor nakedness. When you dress decently, you recognize that God ordained clothes to cover, and not draw attention to, your naked skin. You cover up out of respect for Him, the gospel, your Christian brothers--and out of respect for who He made you to be. Decency means you agree with the Lord about the true purpose of clothing and set aside your self-interest to dress in a way that exalts Christ...."
I once "interviewed" one of my guy friends for his opinion on this steadily grewing crisis in the world called "Imodesty". He said something that I've never forgotten, because I had always thought it was cute. On Jeans, or on any pants or skirts, if there is wording, lettering, or any exesive design's on the pocket's or near the...*dare I say it?* Butt, it is extremely distracting and draw's the guys gaze down there. I mean, seriously girls...who wants a guy standing behind you at Wal-mart, staring at your butt. I don't care HOW cute your butt might be, you don't need to give guys another reason to stare at it.
Now, this discussion isn't exhaustive, and I've only covered a few things, but seriously girls, before going outside...consider the guys who already struggle with their thoughts and help them by not dressing seductively. Please? We girls get enough attention as it is. Let's stop acting like "giggly school girls" by TRYING to get the boy's attention, and act like mature women who are trying to seek the Lord.