A little update for y'all

Blogging has taken a backburner these days - there is just too much going on nowadays. School is over for the semester, and I won't be going back to classes until next spring (Jason and I are taking a semester off as we are starting a life together). I am now SO glad that I only took one class this past semester... I barely made it though with a passing grade, but it's over and the class with Dr. Scott (Typical Problems in Biblical Counseling) was wonderful and the Lord used it to challenge and grow me as well.

Wedding plans are going well, but boy is it busy (countown: 28 days). Since I have been in and helped with so many weddings, I had a pretty good idea of the amount of time and energy that goes into it... but sometimes it is still surprising. In addition to wedding plans, we have been doing a lot of marriage planning/preparation... Jason and I had our last premarital counseling meeting this morning with Lisa's parents, who are pretty amazing and approachable people. They demonstrate to us how to actually develop and live in a biblical worldview on the most practical level - by God's grace, we will strive to emulate that in our marriage and family.

Things here at the apartment have been pretty relaxed now that we have all completed our assignments and we are school-free for several months... we have had opportunity to get some rest, feed our neighbors the Canadian geese (who I threaten to kill at least once a week for waking me up in the morning), and watch the film "Everything is Illuminated," a fantastic indie film that takes a different spin on WWII in Europe. Congrats to Lisa for graduating from Boyce. I know it sometimes felt like we were hobbling across the finish line, but there are no other people I would want to hobble alongside other than you all. :)

House update: we have a new addition to our little apartment home: a second parakeet named Skeeter. She is very different from Chips, who is more docile and is content to just chill on your shoulder. Skeeter's favorite thing to do it hang upside down and do flips on her perch... she is really kooky but endearing. Chips seems to like her pretty well too, and we think he will do well to have a companion during this crazy time of transition. The next project now will be to get Skeeter handtrained so we can let her out of her cage with moderate ease (we had a pretty crazy episode yesterday that we don't want to relive that included her stuck behind the futon, on the fridge, and smacking repeatedly into the glass door).

Jason and I are getting the keys to our new apartment on Wednesday - we'll start moving stuff in then and we will move ourselves in on June 24th following the wedding. The Lord has blessed so much that there is very little furniture we have to buy - only a bed and night stands, really (we purchased a bed last week to, and tomorrow Jason is picking up the pretty and functional consignment night stands that the Lord blessed us with this afternoon). It feels a little like I'm in a sort of limbo between seasons... it's weird, but good.

Also, Jason surprised me with a few hours in his friend Eddie's studio last week. We were able to record a song I had written to him, a song he wrote before coming to KY, and some songs that we have sang/played together over the last couple of years. It was really fun and I am so thankful that the Lord gave us this close bond of music to enjoy together - Jason is truly one of my best friends and an incredible man of God with deep conviction and talent, and I look forward to have the opportunity to love him and Christ together more in the years to come.

Hope you all enjoy this little update... it may be a while before you see another. Jason and I appreciate your prayers... we all experience trials, and even in this wonderful and beautiful time we have faced a few difficult ones. But what hope we have in the fact that we can trust a wholly sovereign and wholly good God who redeems and restores. We love you, Father - let your Gospel be proclaimed in those of us who call you Lord and Savior.