while there are many things to be said about dating love and engagement love, but marriage love is different. i’ve found married love is like an ocean:

you can never see the edges of it,
there are no boundaries,
and it can get infinitely
wider, and
bigger, and
deeper without your knowing it.
the horizon somehow expands.

and it’s wonderful.
and it only gets better.
how is this possible?
only through the Lord.

1. i LOVE september. it is my favorite month and b/c of it I want to name a daughter “Autumn”. it’s 68 degrees outside and rainy 🙂 and with the windows and doors open sitting here in a sweat shirt and jeans I could not be happier!

2. i think about and pray about more love. more love in this city. in the church. in families. in marriages. in this nation.
“Greater things have yet to come. Greater things are still to be done In this city.”

3. jesus ties forgiveness to love: “therefore i tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she has loved much. But he who has forgiven little loves little.” luke 7:47
–God, let us not divorce love and forgiveness.

4. when i think about how frustrating people can be sometimes or how quickly i am to assume the worst in people, i am stilled by this question: would Jesus look me in the face and say “were you justified?” or would He take my hand and ask, “did you love much?”
–forgiveness is more about me/you than it is about the other person anyway. if we haven’t figured that out yet, we should give it a try. it is incredibly freeing and that’s what God desires most for us: freedom.

5. think about dancing with your favorite dance partner. how easy it is. how you both know your favorite moves, and how your bodies move together. while recently at a wedding i stopped immediately when hit by the question in my spirit: “if you were dancing with Jesus, would you let Him lead?” would i? do i?

6. recently during a prayer meeting with a favorite mentor, she compared praying to talking things out as newlyweds. just as the Bible describes the relationship of us, the church, the Bride of Christ to Jesus, the Bridegroom, the Head of the Family. It made so much sense that, just as newlyweds throw new ideas at each other and discuss things back and forth, pleading openly without shame or regret but mere love, we throw our hopes and dreams and requests up to God. Just as newlyweds don’t know how the debate will end up–who’s reasoning will find favor over the other’s–nor do we know until time reveals how God responded to our prayers. And finally, as matters of the family are decided once and for all by the husband, the Head of the household, so matters are sorted out and covered by God’s sovereignty–He has the last word and we respect it because He is for us and not against us, with plans for our future and peace.

::For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come to Me and pray to Me and I will listen to you:: jeremiah 29:11-12

God is so freaking good. and i want MORE LOVE, more POWER, more of YOU in my LIFE.

3 of the 5 small group couples went to Panama City Beach (yayah!) for a little get away this past week: Tues-Sun. It was AWESOME!!! everything we expected and more from PCB. wish we had the airbrush tee to prove it 😉 or perhaps a tatoo :0

we had it all: a nice place, the Calypso (this is not our condo, but you get the idea and the pics are pretty ;), a cabana with seats to layout on, drinks, card games, and cable! we loved it.

the minute we set barefoot feet on the sand we relaxed. immediately. we had theme nights: dinner equipped with appetizers, more and more food, games, and costumes (yay!). we stayed up late and slept in as long as we wanted. it was a fun time of bonding and fellowship, togetherness and vacation.

couldn’t have asked for more… except if the rest of our group could have been there 😉 we missed you!

so coco and i headed out 8/3/09.

we wanted to conquer 6 states in 2 days. with no sure destination set for our first and only night away, we started out on the open road and this is where we went and what happened (Christi has posted pics on facebook).

I-75 (400 miles total!)
GA/ TN state line
Chattanooga
Knoxville
-UT, Mayberry Sheriff’s car parked on the town square, Woodruff Building Downtown Grille for lunch (freakin awesome!), Mast General Store (amazing): juicer, muscadine wines, jams, jellies, sorghum molasses, camelbaks, carharts, free stickers.
I-40
Thrift Church Store (cute!)
I-275
stop @ Williamsburg–cutest stop ever! loved the gas station
rock walls on either side of interstate
Jellico, TN (really? that’s the name of your town??)
TN/ KY state line
Hazard, KY
Lexington
-silos, Smokey Mountains, cows bathing, “Man O War” Blvd, UK: Arboretum (we took a nice long walk through this beautiful garden of flowers and trees and saw a rabbit on the path!… incredible, and yes, people were taking engagement pics just like on North Campus @ UGA), Bluegrass everything, “Turkey Foot Lane,” “Plunkett St,” “Nutter Field House,” ice machine in UK statdium parking lot… wth?, Lucille’s Lounge (yayah), Lucia’s, and “a la Lucie’s” (are you getting the feeling I’m getting???), “Transylvania University” for vamps like Edward Cullen… <333
I-64 (Purple Heart Trail)
ridiculous city names in KY: Salt Lick, Sharkey, Farmers, Wurtland, Greenup
Morehead University
2 Nuclear Plant-looking things… ???? question mark!
KY/ WV state line
state motto: “West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful” (love it)
Huntington
Beckley, WV
-Gino’s (the awesome pizza place we ate dinner in the Tri State Area: KY, WV, OH)
I-77
Econolodge (where we stayed: pet friendly with a little pup @ front desk “Bailey”)
-our friends from NC gospel got ripped off by lying old lady 😉

8/4/09
Crossing the Appalachian Trail (i heart the AT)
WV/ VA state line
Jackson River (we crossed over it 3x on the same road… whattheheck)
I-81
-stopped @ scenic view @ mile marker 100: beau-ti-ful
Monticello (aka: “Tommy J’s House”)
Thomas Jefferson loves Lucy the Librarian: “I cannot live without books” -1815
UVA
Roanoke, VA (a fave!)
-German Convention Center (awesome and huge), great downtown, St. Andrews Church (pics of this gothic style beauty), Greene Memorial UMC (took pictures in front of the big red doors and loved it)
Salem
-Farmer’s Market, Henry’s Memphis BBQ (where we had dinner. yum!), Calvary Hills everywhere
Blue Ridge Mountains
VA/ NC state line
Hickory, NC (chic fil a late night! a milkshake and an ice dream. thank you! “MP”)
Christmas songs
I-40
Charlotte (beautiful with night lights! wish we could’ve stopped in but it was late, Hannah!!!)
I-85 (300 miles total!)
NC/ SC state line
Abbott Farms
-peaches, pumpkin patches, corn maizes… we’ll be back for more!
Greenville (drove through the downtown–so similar to Athens–with Mast General’s, Trio, the park, shoppes, Cold Stone, and bars. very very impressive. a fave on the RT)
SC/ GA

We got home a little after 2am. back to Atlanta. back to reality. we should’ve called this RT the “College Tour” b/c we saw so many campuses. had an unforgettably great time–one of the best–and def made some funny memories, heard a few awesome pod casts, played fun music (and sang along loudly ;), and had some wonderful convos. love you coco!!

sorry i haven’t blogged much. bit of a crazy month. let me catch you up quickly….

1. i love the bible gateway quote of the day: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”

2. we had 4 weddings in 3 weeks and i was in 2 of them–both incredible and beautiful and different. both ladies very very special to me. it was an honor to stand beside both while they took eternal vows. un-freakin-believable. loved it. love you. muah.

3. we have not and will not spend one weekend in six in our little apt in atlanta… it will be nice even after a roadtrip, a vaca @ the beach, and a long weekend @ the lake (more to come on each later) to have a little down time here. ahhhhh.

4. i have missed kelly fitz all summer while she was in Nicaragua. i’m so glad she’s back and now we get to play for the next 6 weeks ’till she leaves AGAIN… crazy jesus-lovin kelly.

5. i recently had dinner with a few lady friends from my former job @ maggiano’s. it was SO NICE to chat and catch up. we are hopefully planning another get together @ the swan coach house (ooo la la!). totally looking forward to that!

6. stahler has officially started at The University. he’s pledging, which is hilarious and makes for great stories, and school is tough, which is also good for the lil bro. this means mama and daddy are officially empty nesters, which is both really hard and really good for them 😉 they are at a wonderful place in their lives and marriage. it’s kinda fun to double date as newly-something couples (newly wed, newly-just-the-two-of-us-again). freakin awesome.

7. things @ work are going GREAT!!!

8. i’m so excited for fall and football season! GO DAWGS!

9. more to come…!!!!