Engaged!

Two days ago i experienced one of the best days (if not the best) day of my life. I proposed to my girlfriend of a little over a year. Everything went as planned and more importantly she said yes(!). The majority of the day went by as a blur, but at the same time it seemed like a full week had gone by. To give a little set up, i chose to propose on her birthday to throw her off the scent. I begun the day by going all out throwing her a morning birthday bash including balloons on the ceiling fan (a tradition started by her mom), a happy birthday banner, and a feast of donuts (which are her favorite breakfast). I thought i did pretty well considering all i had to go on was "get me something that shows you put thought into it" (what every guy wants to hear). I also gave her two presents which included a coffee mug and a red "You are special plate". Both which have a deeper meaning: a) she is collecting coffee mugs. b) she always ate off of the red plate when she was little. I let her open the two presents before breakfast so she could use them for the coffee and donuts. It was such a special morning for me although i was so stressed inside wanting to spill the secret of what was going to happen later that night (if i had to wait any longer i would have just dropped down on a knee in the grocery store or something). The breakfast was made possible because we stopped through Abilene on the way to Ft. Worth. I will have to add that the engagement would not have been possible without my Mom, Meriden's sister, brother-in-law, and Mom. They helped more than i could ever ask for. After breakfast we went to Ft. Worth to have dinner with her family, and soon after us my family secretly left Abilene as well. We had lunch at the dixie cafe. Although i was halfway sick upon leaving (because of the mass quantity of food) it was incredible. They had the best chicken fried steak and twice baked potatoes i have ever had. Along with the food they provide a fun environment with waitresses that do and say whatever they please. After lunch was my third favorite part of the day. I took a 2-hr. nap while Mer went to get some new shoes. As much as i wanted to go shopping for shoes it was nice to get a little shut eye. Next we got ready for her sister's baby shower which was the "main reason" we came back to Ft. Worth that weekend. Everything was going perfect and then i realized that i forgot my slacks. How do you forget to bring your pants? It was hard to explain to Mer that it was important that i get pants for the shower. So i gave in and purchased some sweet black (pinstriped) slacks from Wal-mart. Crisis averted! We went to the shower and at that point Josh (her brother-in-law) and I made the transfer of goods to put on the finishing touches for the proposal site. The shower was a lot of fun and was the point at which the nervousness actually started setting in. I began to realize that this was going to be a reality. The shower was over at 7pm and we left to go eat at Blue Mesa (our special place) in Southlake. When we left to Southlake her family left the shower and went to meet up with my family and set up the barn.I chose the barn as the location because it is the place we are hoping to be married at and it provides a cool setup for a proposal. The barn is located in a neighborhood in Colleyville and overlooks a pond and some beautiful houses. Normally it is not lit or open in the evenings but the owner David Bagwell (who is awesome) opened it up for us. The barn is difficult to explain, but trust me it is one of the coolest places i have ever seen. Mr. Bagwell built a replica barn that resembles a famous one built in the New York just for the use of the neighborhood and thankfully other people as well (http://www.heritagebarns.com/completed/whittier-heights-dutch.html). We left Blue Mesa under the premise of beginning a scavenger hunt. The first stop (actually the last) was to the barn and I let her think it was going to be a quick stop. Because it is usually not open i told her we would drive by quickly taking a peak at the barn as we head on for the rest of the journey. As we drove near the barn she saw that there were a couple of lights on in the barn. I told her we could check and see if it was open. We walked up to the barn hearing a faint sound of music coming from the inside. Together we peaked inside the door and she quickly realized that it was for her.Inside was a table set up with flowers (pink tulips), blown up pictures, and a book of all the emails we sent to each other when we were long distance. There was also a video camera inside and music playing through and ipod stereo. She was speechless. I took her to the center and began to remember all of the beautiful poetic words i had rehearsed to tell her. I told her i had one more birthday present for her and dropped down on one knee. She went hysterical, and I as I was about to speak I forgot every word I had ever learned before. In an attempt to recover all i could muster was "Will you marry me?". Thankfully she said Yes and i contacted all our family to come in (she had no clue our families were waiting outside). After we finished we went to her sister's house for a rocking after party. It has still not completely sunk in that we are engaged. We have since returned to Lubbock and living up every moment of our time. We are so exited to see where the story of our lives will go next! In the meantime we are thankful to be just a miniscule part of the overarching story that the creator is writing and are humbled to play a role in it.

Disorientation

Last Wednesday (Nov. 5) my Dad and I traveled to Lubbock bringing me to my new place of residence (Somerset apartments). Making the trip with me was some clothes, a few belongings, and the "cream machine (my 1991 F150)". With the help of God's providence my old beat up truck made the trip averaging 63-mph for the three hour trip. I left as a man seeking adventure and more importantly to be with the woman i love.  I am very intrigued with the new journey i have set out on and am excited for the opportunity to move away from the old (good and bad) and am read to attempt to be transformed into something new. For some reason i have had a disorienting attempt to become part of my new surrounding.  I know that this will change soon once i begin to meet new people, but for the last couple of days i have taken advantage of my absence of community (which is frustrating for me) to learn about myself and to attempt reconnecting with God on an intimate level.  One of my best friends describes my recent attempts trying to reclaim the relationship between the heart, mind, body, and sou giving each part importance in our search for God.  For the last couple of years my mind has dominated the relationship (as is common for most North Americans trying to follow Christ).  Over the next 6 months i am going to try and live out a healthy relationship between the four and attempt to discover a healthy balance.  I am not sure what shape or model this will turn into, but i am exctied and nervous to let the spirit guide this journey.

A day in the life of Mario

The person I have been affected by the most in Lima has been a guy named Mario. He is in his late 20's and he works in the orphanage that Jeremy and I worked with for a while. I have learned so much from him, not because of the words he has said, but his daily life is the gospel lived out. From the morning to the evening Mario does as much as he can to show others the love of Jesus. I have a really good friend who keeps telling me that everything in life is interconnected. I am beginning to believe that the little things that we do daily have a much larger affect on the world than we could ever imagine. Mario gets up every morning and if he doesn't spend the night at the orphanage he takes a 2hr bus ride from Lima to visit the kids. The hospital was the first place we visited when we went out to the orphanage. At first I was confused why so many of the kids in the hospital had nothing wrong with them. I soon realized that they were there visiting with their friends, trying to cheer them up. The love and affection of Mario is contagious. He has poured so much love out on those kids that can't help but give it back to others. One afternoon we were walking to get some groceries and there was an old homeless man by the side of the rode selling candy. It was a very sad thing to see. Nobody would look at him and most people tried to avoid walking to close to him on the sidewalk. It reminded me of many situations that i have seen in Abilene back home. Some people were willing to give him some money, but Mario's reaction to the man was natrually different. He went up to the man and sat down next to him showing not pity but love. Mario proceeded to buy some candy from him. I will never forget the image of Mario walking straight to commune with the old man while the rest of us where frozen. I asked him about the conversation with the old man later that night. He said that the life of a Christian calls us to treat all people the same, the love of God shows no favor. I have read and heard that before but this is the first time I have seen this lived out on a daily basis. Mario has convinced me that the little interactions in our day matter. I pray that God will give me those same eyes to see those who need his love reguardless of any man made class system. When the kingdom life is lived out on a daily basis it is a beautiful thing!

The Family

For the last 4 days i have been going to work at an orphange about two hours outside of Lima. It is very hard to try and describe my experience there in a few paragraphs. I learned so much during my time there. The owner of the orphangage is a man named Miguel. He is an ordinary man with an extraordinary story. A while back Miguel's only son became sick and he took him to the hospital. His son died in the hospital while he was still in his arms. As he was leaving the hospital heartbroken he saw two orphan boys sitting on the side of the street. He invited them to stay at his house that night. The next night the two boys came back with two friends. Miguel's family has grown to 600 children that he takes care of with the support a few incredible volunteers and some support from some churches back home. Miguel has taught me so much of what it means to live the gospel. They refer to the place as a community. It is not until now that i realize the impact of that word compared to the word orphange. Many times we don't realize the power of words. By changing the rhetoric of the community from orphanage to family he has instilled hope into the hearts of the children.

Retreat with the Onofre's

Yesterday was a Catholic holiday all througout South America which means that most Peruvians get the day off. Whenever there is a holiday here a couple people from the Church go to a retreat site just outside of Lima. It was an incredible experience. We were able to spend some quality time playing soccer, eating, and enjoying live music. The Onofre's acompanied us out to the site. The father Cesar is a leader in the Church and also a brain surgeon. His wife and daughter are both named Gladys, they both have a quiet spirit about them. Miguel, the youngest son, is one of the guys i have become closest to on this trip. He is studying to take the entrance exam to be accepted to college. I am excited to get to know him better. The retreat was a full day event. I have attached a video to hopefully show a glimpse of the experience because i think words can't do it justice. Next week Jeremy and I are hoping that we can get in contact with the orphanage the church is a part of to help out there. Enjoy the video.

Lima

I arrived in Lima a couple of days ago and I am started to get settled in. Lima is a very interesting city. It has around 8 million people and it is on the coast of Peru. The city is in the middle of a desert and it is also closer to the equator which makes the temperature much warmer than Santiago. I have already learned a lot about missions since i have been here. The missionaries down here are Paul and Amy Dowell. They have been in Lima for four years and have been doing incredible work here. The Sunday we arrived is the day they had to move out of their building. They were no longer able to pay rent, and so they decided to split up into 3 congregations. It first this seemed bad but the local leaders have really stepped up and taken ownership of the church. There are small group meetings almost everynight of the week to focus on discipleship and continued encouragement. It has been really cool to be a part of these meetings and my spanish is getting good enough to be more active in the meetings.

Every Wednesday we meet with the youth for a devotional. It has been my favorite time here so far. After the devotional time we broke off into prayer partners. It was very cool to be able to pray with someone in another language. I look forward to building deeper relationships here in the next couple weeks and learning more about missions stategies. Please be praying for the church to be able to find places to worship at and to keep the incredible unity they have maintained even though they are so far away.

Santiago

I think this picture pretty much sums up the three weeks i spent in Santiago, Chile. I spent most of my time with the Grant Family, they are part of a mission team along with 6 other families. Kelley and Julie have been in Santiago for about 8 years and they have four Children: Duncan, Abbey, Victoria, and Konner. It was such a blessing to spend time with a family who has devoted their lives to serving the Lord. I have learned so much here about missions strategy and raising a family. I cannot say enough about the work going on in Santiago.



While in Santiago I spent most of my time with the youth group. Jeremy and I worked with the Aggies for Christ encouraging the Youth and also helping the Church gain more contacts. The picture above is of me inviting some guys from the San Gabriel school to come to the events that we hosted at the Church. We didn't have a whole lot of kids show up to the events but I think it was very beneficial to the Chileans sharing their faith with their classmates. It has been incredible to see the growth of the Christians here. A couple of the youth are really stepping up as leaders and is really cool to be able to see the transforming power of Christ in their lives.