Blessings within a blessing

So, in case you didn't know, about 3 weeks ago Daniel asked me to be his wife. I still can't believe it, and it still seems so surreal.--The fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend---and we'll get to actually live together---and the fact that to me, he is perfect---and to be with somebody who loves me for who I am and encourages me---and I could keep on listing all the reasons as to why I am soo excited to be Mrs. Stall. Last year at this time I would have never seen it coming. For awhile, a couple of summers ago, there was definitely some interest, but we were both like, "noooooooo...that would never work." We were both doing everything possible to not be with each other. But we were together almost everyday. Everybody said it was inevitable, and that we just needed to quit hiding the fact that we were interested in each other....,And as fall came around, and my last year of college began, people would joke about it, and we would laugh about it too. One night, last October, we were over at Sean Kent's house watching football, and I was even joking with him telling him I was going to marry Daniel...and Later on, I found out that Sean's wife, Sandy told him when we left that we were going to get married. But with all that said, the timing was never right. I was definitely not at a place in my life to where I needed to have that commitment. Not trying to speak for Daniel or anything, but I think he will tell you too that he wasn't either. I am 100% positive that if God wouldn't have intervened, we would have screwed the whole thing up in so many different ways because we were both so confused and searching for everything else but God. However, last November, Daniel began to come around, and finally in late December/early January, he began to be serious and actually start fighting for the relationship. I told myself a couple of summers ago that I was never going to just throw all I had into a relationship ever again, and that if the guy wanted it, he would work for it. So, Daniel did, and the more and more that I tried to pretend that it wouldn't work out, I knew in the back of my mind that he was perfect. Anyways, since then, the rest has been history, and all of the glory goes to God, because although we are both definitely not perfect, I am so amazed by everything about this person, and I can honestly say that I fall more and more in love with him each and every day.

We're still so blown away by all that has been given to us the past 10 months. I know that just because you follow God with all you have doesn't mean that everything is going to be perfect,( because I can promise you that with me, there have been some circumstances in my personal life that haven't gone the way I hoped) The bible has a lot of examples about that. But together, God has given Daniel and I soo much and it's like this whole big adventure story is being written about moving to Anderson and living together and being married and being the same person and just truly sharing life with your best friend....

We have recieved so much love and support from so many people, and we still talk all the time about how God has blessed us with some wonderful, amazing friends and family. When we got engaged, my mom called me in tears to tell me that my family probably couldn't pay for a wedding, and that we were pretty much on our own....which is completely understandable because money is tight for everyone right now. My parents and my grandparents have completely sacrificed everything for my brother and I our whole lives, so it's not like she didn't want to help me pay for it. But for about a week, Daniel and I tried to go through wedding details and budget stuff.. and just trying to see how much a ceremony would cost, and still be able to invite all of our friends...A couple weekends ago, I drove up to Anderson, and we went hiking for the day, and we took about an hour to sit on a rock and just plan through how we would want it all done (p.s. I have to tell you how amazing it has been to plan details and for Daniel to actually be excited about planning). Well, we didn't know where the money was going to come from, but we prayed, and my mom called me several days later, in tears again, to tell me that something worked out with some insurance bond thing and that she wanted to give all the money to us to have a wedding. Now, it's definitely NOT anything near a big budget at all, but it's still enough to have a simple ceremony and for all of our friends to be able to go, and for them to hopefully leave and feel like they were served, and for us to have some food and to be able to bless the people who help us out and are in the wedding by our sides.

Well, since then, so many people have approached both of us to offer help and donate whatever they can and give us some hook-ups.. (p.s. I am taking note of what all everybody says, and I'm going to take you up on it) haha....but It's been a HUGE blessing. One of my friends, and bridesmaid, Anna reminded me of something that will stick with me through this whole experience..She told me that it was the body of Christ just doing what it is supposed to do. Anyways, it's encouraged me to be more giving and actually show and tell people how much they mean to me.

We are so thankful for all that God has done already, and we are so excited about May 7th!---At the Woodlawn Plantation in Guyton, GA...(about 30 minutes from Statesboro). The wedding is going to be very much "Do-It-Yourself" but we are having so much fun planning it out the exact way that we want it. I've probably been talking about it way too much..haha...It was something that stressed me out so much for a couple of weeks, and I don't feel like God was glorified at all through me just because of the way I was handling the stress that comes right away with trying to find a venue and vendors when you only have 6 months......ahhhh...But wow, we have a place, a dress, a bridal party, and a honeymoon, and ideas of how we want the food done...and all of the details about music and what we want done and read during the ceremony. Now, it's fun to just plan little details and to dream about making our own stuff for the wedding...haha hopefully it won't be a disaster.

But even more importantly, it has been amazing to sit back for the past week and pray for opportunities for us in Anderson.We talked sooo much about that before we were engaged, but I have learned how easy it has been for me to lose focus of that in planning for a ceremony. We know that we are both drawn to the homeless there, but we're still unsure of exactly what to do about it..We're big dreamers and we've had dreams of all of the really cool stuff that could happen... I also have realized the past 2 weeks that I have sooo much to improve on and learn and mature in in order to be a good wife to Daniel. When we got engaged, I told everyone that I would get married the next weekend if I could and how I was just so excited to be marrying my best friend...But I have quickly learned that I'm definitely not ready because there is sooo much that I need to learn in order to be a wife. I mean, to be honest with you, part of that intimidates me because of how much I need to learn. A lot of times, people put such a big emphasis on all of the wonderful and beautiful things about marriage without thinking too much about how it can be difficult sometimes. If we're not prepared and mature for those times, it will make marriage so much more difficult. However, I'm just enjoying the time and learning as I go. :) We can't wait to live there together--Daniel has a wonderfuI job at the hospital there, and he gets to meet so many people everyday, but we know that we want our life together to have purpose, and our marriage would be pointless if we weren't stronger together than we are on our own.

I say I'm done with stressing out, but I'm sure that I'll have some more moments. However, God has and is providing us with everything we need.-- I never thought I would be so interested in wedding planning... .Wejust want it to unique, fun ,and for it to be very come as you are). But the thing that I've learned the most in planning during a 6 month engagement is that if I feel like I said something wrong in this whole planning thing, or if I handled something wrong, I can always start over the next day and handle things a lot better...That's the wonderful thing about God's grace.

I think I'm learning during this whole planning thing that there is still a big world around me that is still spinning, and the worst thing I can do is get caught up in my own little world...God has given us so much love and encouragement from so many people that mean a lot to us.

May 7th-Hope ya'll come!

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