Memorable Moments #5: Anniversaries

Everyone keeps talking about how much Nate and I like to be around each other... and how it's weird and whatever. Well you know what I think..... It's weird when you don't want to be around your husband.

I don't know what I would do without him, especially in this in-between time that we seem to be stuck in. Do we live in Rogers or Yukon? I know you would say Yukon, but we would say both. We seem to keep each other motivated and happy even though inside we are always thinking about our house selling and moving on with our lives. God, please remove this burden and sell our house.... We leave it in Your hands and will give You all the Glory when it does sell.

Anyway, this post isn't about the house... again. It is about our anniversaries this far.

---Year One---

What a great year this was. We were really young, in love, and learning to live on our own. It was pretty crazy, but in the best way.

Nate surprised me with a little weekend get-a-way in Eureka Springs. We stayed in a sweet little cabin with a heart-shaped hot tub in the room. Got our first massages. And toured the town. It was great!

---Year Two---

By this time we had figured out how to live away from our family and started to make some really great friends. We were still stinking poor, mostly because we put every extra penny into our cute little house.

We got shoes for each other's gifts.... Then we went a little overboard and got a ceiling fan and a rug for the living room. ha.

---Year Three---

We were the most comfortable we have ever been, loving life in Rogers with our friends, youth, and church. I had graduated college and the search for a job, where I could still help Nate with the youth, was on.

We went to eat (probably at Chili's) and to see the new Batman movie before going on a walk with our dog.

---Year Four---

This was a great year, but one where God was constantly working in our hearts. We learned a lot about what we were made of this year, having to really overcome some huge obstacles. Being in ministry isn't always what you think and we have learned that the hard way.

I don't think we did gifts this year because we had just bought our first car together. We just went to eat and got a chocolate mess at Marketplace.

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Since August 19, 2005 we have been through some really great times and some really awful times, but at all times we loved each other. We have still never had a real fight and really know how to communicate and support one another. I know that we have been through more than most couples will ever have to go through. I am so thankful for the wonderful marriage that we have and can't wait for many more anniversaries.

I am really looking forward to this year, because we are taking a five year trip.... somehow.

Memorable Moment #4: New York, New York

Nate and I have been really fortunate to be able to travel a little bit. It is something that we both love and would love to do more often (if it was free), but for now we will settle for the amazing mission trips we have been able to be a part of.

I had always wanted to go to New York. Who doesn't want to go there? In the summer of 2008 we took 60 youth and sponsors to the wonderful city. It was a little overwhelming walking in the middle of Times Square trying not to lose anyone and riding the subway everywhere, but we all had a blast and made it back alive.

We did a lot of prayer walking and got to see a lot of the city while we were there. It was a dream come true and a week we will never forget. From the first step out of the airplane... while I had "New York, New York" playing on my ipod..... It was an adventure.

Brooklyn Bridge

Times Square

Corner of Broadway and Wall St. (Trinity Church) aka: where they found the treasure on National Treasure, one of our favorite movies.

We were there during the All Star Baseball game. It's a shame we couldn't get everyone a cheap seat ticket... they were only $600. ha.

On the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.... This is as close as we got.

Nate loved the street vendors.

I loved the falafle.... mmmmm.... I was so happy to find them!

Top of the Rock! Looking at the Empire State Building, and the whole city at night was beautiful!

Trying to be Romeo and Juliet in Central Park

I love Broadway!!!

Ground Zero

And I want to end this memorable moment with what I learned from big bad New York City. It is a beautiful city, with endless things to do. The place is as busy at 2:00am as it is during the middle of the day. It is definately a place where you would never be bored, but also a place where it would be hard to live. One of my favorite pictures I took is this one:It just shows a bunch of people sitting in the middle of Central Park, and you can see the busy city behind. I imagine if we lived there I would be here a lot, just to get away from all the crowds. It is a wonderful, gigantic get away right in the middle of the city.

There aren't a lot of churches there, or Christians. We were all kind of amazed at the magnitude of Mission: New York. This is why we covered the city in prayer, knowing that God is the God of this city, and it needed/needs the Holy Spirit to move in a mighty way.

We can all learn something from this picture, and from New York. Nothing is too big for God.... Our God is too big for us to even understand. He can and will change the hearts of people anywhere, even crazy New York. Just like the people there go to the park to "get away" we should slow down sometimes and really focus on who God is. Write down your Godview, think about the Holy Spirit, Pray for God to show you how you need to change. These are things I am doing right now. We can never know enough or pray enough or spend time in His word too much.

Although we did cover 5,200 miles all together as a team that week, there is still more to cover. We can't wait to go back some day!

Selfish Prayers?

Yesterday I was reading the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan (If you haven't read Crazy Love read it) and an interesting verse stood out to me.

"You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." -James 4:2-3 NIV

"You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way. You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble."

-James 4:3-3 The Message

Everyone knows that we have been praying for our house to sell for over six months now, and we have a lot of people praying for it too. Have all my prayers been selfish? How do I pray for my house to sell unfelfishly?

This morning I prayed, God let our lives glorify You whether we are in our own house with our own stuff or not.

Then I found myself telling God that we would use a new house to glorify Him.... One of my favorite things to do is have people over to play games or watch movies. We would get to know the youth and our new friends so much better and be able to really minister here in Yukon. haha.... I guess my prayers for our house to sell really have been selfish.

From now on I will only pray for God's will to be done and not mine concerning our house. I will do my best to not focus on where I am living, but why we are here and the youth I want to get to know so much more.

Are your prayers selfish sometimes, or am I the only one?