That Feeling

It is so odd. The way I'm feeling five days before my wedding is a lot like having thoughts pop up every couple of minutes or so that something good is about to happen. Just around the corner - you know it's there - it's just got to be. You ever have that happen to you? I mean, I have - and that "something good" is usually unknown which is why it's really strange to get that same feeling about something I know.

But maybe the point is that I don't know - marriage is an unknown and yet so certain. What a paradox! I get the same kind of feeling about walking with Christ. Like every turn is a surprise and yet He (and our relationship) remains constant.

It is going to be such an honor to be Cliff's wife. Truly. I thought about that often today in Sunday school as we looked over and discussed the famous Ephesians chapter on the role of wives and husbands. What a blessing Cliff is to me is mirrored by the opportunity that I have to serve, encourage, respect, and love him - which is something God has been equipping and preparing me to do for a very, very long time.

Moving in to the new apartment has been really, really neat - and is making me that much more excited for Saturday. It's like, for a couple of hours everyday (along with the addition of a few people), I'm getting a preview of living in our new home... and then I get to drive back to Green Hills everynight and sleep on an air mattress (ha!) Everyday new projects are being done - yesterday it was getting the kitchen and bedroom set up and arranging the living room furniture. Today it was organizing shelving, hanging a bird feeder on the tree outside, enjoying our first meal (with company!), organizing our now combined collection of movies, and putting all of the books on the bookshelves. By the way, adding the stuff you've had for what feels like your whole life to someone else's collection and calling it "our's" is about the coolest thing ever.

And you know what I did on the way home, tonight? I stopped in at Kinko's to drop off the files for the programs and the guy told me I could have them done in 10 minutes and, well, they were! Folded and everything. Crazy. I'm now trying to decide if I actually want to put ribbon on them at all because they're kind of nice and simple the way they are and the ribbon just might not be necessary... we'll see.

It's coming along!

5 of the Most Significant Moments in Our Relationship
1. June '07-November '07 - so it was definitely a lot more than a "moment" but it counts. The distance between Africa and America grew us closer together and confirmed a lot of things in Cliff's heart that I had felt for a very long time. It was so so hard, but so so good (and quite worth it).
2. Big Frog (the Engagement), Jan 3-4, 2007 - we've been on a lot of BHD (big hairy deal) hikes before, ones that have challenged and grown us as individuals and a couple, and this was really the culmintation of all that
3. Last Week - so this is going to be more vague, just because it has to be, but last week really stretched us, especially me, in a way I never expected to be. I was reminded again of what love and forgiveness truly mean and how much I want to fight for us. Because of last week, we both never be more sure that this is it as we are now.
4. Homecoming, Nov 19 2006 - I think we had an unfair advantage maybe, with word getting out that Homecoming was also our anniversary, but that doesn't matter. For the first time in my life, I was recognized for something a little bit out of the ordinary and the man who had played such a huge role in helping a girl like me learn to shine a little bit more was right beside me, shining brightly too. I felt like a princess and he, my prince.
5. Friday, July 13, 2007 - not a scary thing about this day. We signed the lease and picked up the keys for our first home together. Sure, it's an apartment, but it's where we're living and that's exciting.