Reminiscing on days past . . .

Today, I took a trip down memory lane . . . I walked past good times, bad times, the best times, and the worst times.













My first stop was remembering the summer I spent on summer staff at Life Teen camps. I remembered flying into Atlanta and meeting everyone for the first time, waiting for Andrew (our latest arrival) and freaking him out as we bombarded him asking if he was Andrew. I remember David playing a joke on me before I even knew his name. The drive to Tiger was beautiful, and I'll never forget my first view of Covecrest. We were all so excited as we entered the staff cabin and claimed our beds.

I thought of the first week of summer staff training and retreat. I remembered the letter I wrote to me from God. I remember sitting in the garden at Mike's Place allowing God to heal my heart as He helped me to forgive. I remember Doro yelling to turn off alarm clocks, Anna's alarm (It's a Great Day to be Alive), and the packed shower house each day. I remember sleeping until the last minute before walked the peaceful path to the lodge to sing the "Wake Up Song" each morning. I remember praying in the Chapel. I will never forget the first time we walked to the waterfall. It was, and remains, one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

I remember becoming great friends with some of the most beautiful people I have met, learning from them, and growing with them. I remember girl bonding time in the staff cabin. I remember Sarah's strength, Jennifer's caring heart, Kimberly's determination and ability to get the job done. I remember breaking open Andrew's shy shell and making him dance. I remember Rosko's support and talking with her about life and love, Francis' crazy humor, and Lisa's beautiful pictures. I remember star gazing with Caleb and the girls, the beauty of Sara and Paul's relationship and the hope it brought to me, and Adam's passion for the ministry. I remember Jason's inspiring words, Tina's spunky-ness, and getting to know Anna more than I had at BC. I remember Dot and Nick's maturity. I remember the prayer Holly gave me and David's love for each person he encountered. I remember our Austrians, Ben, Ramund,and Sam, and learning their German phrases. I remember Julie's patience and Katie's joy. I remember doing low ropes with Karyn (and failing to stay straight enough to make it to the end) and her positive attitude. I remember Liz's ability to focus on the task at hand and Doro's carefree excitement. I remember Molly's silliness and Tara's gorgeous smile. I remember Ty being able to make friends with everyone, Bradley being great with the less interested or difficult kids, and Ryan's deep thinking. I remember an amazing summer staff full of wonderful people.

I remember the first day with campers, our crazy pirate rule skit, Ty singing about bears, and talking with David and the campers that came to the "I don't really want to be here" groups. I remembered long days, ropes courses, water games, and snaps. I thought about our staff meetings each night (that just simply couldn't stay focused . . . and progressively got worse), meeting with the Tepeyac staff each evening, Bradley and Francis' crazy tangents of . . . craziness! I remember going "all in", lives being changed, and friends being made. I remember white water rafting with Ryan and popping out of the raft to get an amazing bruise. I remember praying night prayer with Nick and Dot. I remember the mud pit and Andrew and I sacrificing for the kids and jumping in together.

I remember the Tepeyac crew's last night in Georgia, doing laundry with Andrew, talking with Nick and Dot outside the cabins when Nick gave me a passage that would speak to me, watching Ty and Bradley dance to "Carry on my Wayward Son". I remember our last day at Covecrest, Mass, "You'll Never Let Go", group pictures, crying so ridiculously hard, driving away.

I remember the person I was when I arrived not being the person I was when I left. I remember my relationship with God, how he comforted me and took great care of my heart as he nursed it back to health and pieced it back together. I remember letting go. I remember being able to move forward with great excitement for what God's plan was for me. I remember my joy, peace, and acceptance.

I will never forget the two weeks I spent at Covecrest. It was there that my heart was healed and my life was changed.



Words that describe this stop on memory lane: forgiveness, healing, growth, love, friendships, God, blessings, life changing, the best summer of my life

NFP

Yesterday, I started looking at natural family planning . . . I can't believe I'm old enough for this! I mean, i know my driver's license and birth certificate indicate that I'm almost 24 years old, but I still feel like I'm 17. I just can't get into my head that I will actually be married, living with my husband, and planning a family!

For all who don't know or understand what Natural Family Planning (NFP) is, I will briefly explain. According to nfpandmore.org, "NFP is a way of following God’s plan for achieving and/or avoiding pregnancy. It consists of ways to achieve or to avoid pregnancy using the physical means that God has built into human nature." In plain English, it is charting the wife's cycle and signs of fertility in order to know when to "do the marriage dance" (as Chika would say), whether you are trying to get pregnant or avoid getting pregnant. The website also explains that, "Couples seeking to avoid pregnancy practice chaste abstinence during the fertile time of her cycle."

It's mildly amusing to me to see people's reactions when this topic comes up. But it makes SO much sense to me, even without getting into the countless reasons contraception is bad for a woman's body and it's connections with breast cancer. God didn't ask us to live a chaste life until we get married. We are still supposed to be chaste inside of marriage. Marital chastity is just different from single chastity. Lust is a sin, whether it be inside or outside of marriage. The ring that will be on my finger in a little over a year is not my free ticket to as much sex as I want. It is not a free ticket to using my husband as "a means to an end". It is a promise to love and cherish him for the rest of my life. To respect his dignity as a human being. It makes so much sense for God to have planned things the way he did. That there would be times in our married lives that we have to live in abstinence if we are unable to have another child at that time. In that time is when I imagine we will learn the most about respecting and not misusing the gift of sex. It is in that time that the virtue of temperance (moderation) will be strengthened. It is in this marital chastity that I see the most respect for God, his gift of sex, and my husband. I am so excited to embark on this journey!

On that day I will make a covenant with my husband to give ourselves to each other in marriage, to honor each other as man and wife for the rest of our life, and to accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church. I cannot wait for the second gift that comes from sex (the first is bonding), Children! I'm a little terrified of the childbirth process, but I'm excited to start a family!

So, why am we already talking about NFP and babies? Because in order to understand and know my cycle, it takes many months to see the regularity. Ergo, I will soon be charting my cycle, temperature . . . and other stuff daily. :-\ Maybe this will make me feel old and like I am actually getting married! haha. :)

Wednesday's Wardrobe

It's been quite the week since my last post! I have miserably failed to continue my daily reflections . . . ugh. But I have good reason!

The day following my most recent post was very eventful! My boyfriend of 5 years (give or take a bit) proposed! The story is amusing, but rather long. But . . . I figured I'd use this as a perfect "wardrobe" change!














This is it! I am engaged to the man of my dreams! He's wonderful, dorky, sweet, and God's perfect match for me. And this wardrobe change symbolizes alot more than just a change in wardrobe. My whole life from this week on will be focused and planned around this one man.

What a beautiful and complex thought. I'm so eager and excited to start my life with him, the rest of my life! :) This is the best wardrobe change I could ask for! :D

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers! I'll be back again next Tuesday with a Tune!