We're Getting Married!!!!

Hey Everyone!

We just want to thank everyone for their excitement with us on our engagement!!! The wedding planning is going great!!! God is already providing so so much!!!!!

I just wanted to give our friends and family an update on how things are going! We are home for Thanksgiving break right now and loving it! Its been great to be able to catch up on sleep and work on studying and homework! Benj and I have finally picked a place and date so mark you calendars.....May 30th!!!! We'll be getting married around here and we are so excited for you all to be a part of celebrating with us!!!

Thank you all again for your encouragement and excitement with us on our engagement and we would appreciate your prayers during these last two weeks of school! Finals are coming and then we'll be home again for a whole month! Yay!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!!!

~Steph

The Proposal...

Benj took me hiking last week, (Oct. 21st)! We had left after our morning classes to go back to our apartments so that we could take advantage of the beautiful weather (a great reason to skip my class, I know). The plan for the day was to take my car to the shop and then drive a ways down the road to go hiking. As we were pulling into our apartment subdivision, we followed a FEDEX truck in and I didn't think otherwise...Benj dropped me off quickly and later I found out that the truck had my ring in it!

Anyway, We didn't get to take my car to the shop so when Benj came to pick me up, we just went hiking. We got to the parking lot a little before 2pm and hiked and took pictures and hiked some more. When we got to the bottom of the waterfall, we were sitting on some rocks when another couple came up and were taking pictures. I really wanted a picture of Benj and I in front of the waterfall so he asked the man if he could take a picture of us with Benj's camera. The man took a few pictures and then as he was about to give the camera back, Benj ask if we could get just one more picture...he asked if I wanted a different pose and as I was trying to figure out how to stand a different way, Benj got down on one knee and it seemed like forever before he said something because I was so taken aback. He proposed and I excitedly said YES!!!

I had no idea that this was coming, he didn't even seem nervous or act funny! Benj did such a great job at everything...from picking out the perfect ring to planning the perfect day!!! God just blessed that Tuesday so so much and I couldn't be more thankful!!!! Later that evening after calling all of our family, we went out to dinner to a nice steak house and had a wonderful meal with great service!!! It was the icing on the cake (or rather for us...the whipped cream on our cheesecake that was just amazing!).

I hope you all enjoyed reading a little piece of our story and we are so thankful for everyone's excitement with us!!!! We can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving and Christmas break and look forward to hearing from you soon!!!

Still In Shock,
Steph

Woo...We're Engaged!!!

Hey Friends and Family!

Some exciting news here that I'm sure all of you have heard......Benj and I are Engaged!!! Yay!!!!

God has been so good to us and is faithfully showing us where to go next......I will post a few pictures on this blog and hopefully write about how Benj proposed this weekend!

Thank you all for your encouraging words and excitement with us during this time!

love you and miss you,
Steph

Half-Way Through....

Hey Friends and Family!

We just had our fall break here and I had such a restful and productive weekend! Just a quick note this week....

Please be praying for us all...Mid-Terms and big assignments/papers are this week! Please pray that it wouldn't be too overwhelming and that we would be able to stay focused and work hard!

Also, I posted some links on the right side of this page of most of the JEWELRY that I have made and that I am selling......pass the word, I am working on being ready for a party at home in mid-December before Christmas! I'm hoping for this one to have a little more of a selection and please let me know if you see anything you think people will like or that you like yourself and I will get to work on that!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Love and miss you all,
Steph


P.S.....here are some pictures from Joel and Lacie's Wedding!

Back at school....

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting on my blog lately.....a lot has happened and I have finally found a quiet moment to sit and think!

I am finally back at school and loving living off campus! Our apartment is in a great location and is quiet. Kim (my amazing roommate and friend) and I have so much fun together and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to live with right now! School and work are busier than ever it seems, but it finally feels like things are calming down a little (i hope).

Last weekend, it was just wonderful to be able to see friends and family that I don't get to see very often at Joel and Lacie's wedding! Congrats Joel and Lacie!!!! What a great time it was and I hope to post some pictures too....

Benj and I are still trying to find a church where we can really be a part of, so maybe this is a prayer request...that we would find somewhere to be a part of each week and get to know some new faces. It's hard to find around here because it's such a college age atmosphere, so it always seems packed out with our peers and not regular families, but the searching is a blessing...we are learning a lot in the process.

I have also been learning that God is the giver and taker of all things. I think, though I know He has always done this, that this is the first time I have really realized that though He is blessing me and providing for me....He is also constantly taking from me.....keeping me completely dependent on Him and Him alone....keeping me from pride and boasting. It's a constant struggle it feels like sometimes, and Satan is trying his hardest to distract me and make me doubt......but God is faithful and is showing me that if I walk with Him and know Him and live for Him, He is my true source of power and life! This is all definitely easier said than done, but I just felt like I needed to share with you all what God is doing in my life right now! He is teaching me, stretching me, making me trust Him more, to prepare me for something.

Once again, I love and miss you all and would love to hear from you!

In Him,
Steph

God is moving.....

Hey everyone!

Once again, everything is busy busy busy! I have just been working a lot and trying to get things organized and cleaned up! I really just wanted to tell you all about our Vacation Bible School that my home church held last week!

We started on Sunday evening and it went until Thursday evening. Our theme this year was "Power Lab" and it was great. I loved the songs and the teaching was right on. I had the opportunity to be in the skit each night as the crazy Professor Wilma and then was able to help teach during the Bible Story time. During my time with two other adults teaching each group that came around, we really saw God work! Our Bible Blast room was an interactive story from the Bible and let kids experience different parts of each lesson! It was hard work to tear down and set up the room each day but it was worth all the work put into it! God definitely guided our time with each group and gave us the awesome opportunity to see children come to Christ for the very first time.

I may have written some time earlier this year about how when I went to Missouri for my training the first week I felt very out of place. I was surrounded by people who had been in ministry with children for years (and some for just 1-2 years) that were leading hundreds of kids to Christ. I felt as though I was a little embarrassed because I had never led anyone to Christ (though I knew God had used me to plant seeds and that it’s not about the numbers!). I was so excited to receive this training because I gained the know-how and the confidence to properly and effectively lead someone to receiving Jesus!!! And I was even more excited when I was trained to teach others the same thing!!! I also knew without a doubt that it’s not about the numbers but rather that I have a willing heart to just serve Him and be obedient when He gives opportunities to share Him!

The VBS ended really well and we saw over 20 kids come to know Christ for the first time on Wednesday night!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! We still have no idea what God really did that night or any day after that because He was doing a mighty work before we even met each child. He is so Good!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th and hope to hear from you soon!

Blessings to you,

Steph

Home again, Home again.....

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated last....I have been going non-stop since I graduated from CMI. My visit to Liberty for the two week after graduation was great and I was so thankful to have seen Benj again and many of my friends and co-workers while there and my roommate and I were able to finally find an apartment, so thank you for all of you who were praying for that! God is providing and I am excited to get back to school.

I also went on a family vacation to Gatlinburg and it was so much fun. We got to go on a crazy long and hard bike ride and I went hiking with my brother and his fiance up to Mt. Leconte and though it was the toughest hike I've done, it was so worth it! We were able to see so much of God's beauty and I would love to hike it again!!!

To keep up to date here....I am at home now for the summer and working at the Bridge and I am so thankful to be work 30-35 hours a week!!! I really haven't had a lot of time to do anything else between working and trying to get my things in order and unpacked since I've been home! I was able to teach a couple of training seminars and received really good feed back and God blessed it so much! I have also had a potential invitation to teach at a friends church in North Carolina later this fall! I really love teaching these training seminars and it has already been such an eye-opener to how God works in my life! He is good!!! I have also been able to teach in the children's classes and I will be helping with Vacation Bible School next week!

I look forward to hearing from my friends in Missouri and the rest of my friends and family too!

I love and miss you all,
Steph