Generations

I love my Great-Grandmothers. Although they are not with me today, they have profoundly impacted my life. And, it is from them I get my first name. As I go through this process of preparing myself for marriage I can't help but think of those who are gone who I would love to share this joy with. Because I can not tell them in person, I wear their jewelery; I know it would make them proud. I thank the LORD, for HE is good.

Mahseh Center

The Mahseh Center is a Christian retreat house located in Kewanna, Indiana.(http://www.mahseh.org/) This past weekend the entire Resident Life staff at Trinity took two days to relax, laugh, and receive a couple teachings here. It was a beautiful weekend and it was a much needed weekend. To be able to reconnect with those friends to whom I only get to say hello to as we pass; to be able to share, cry, laugh and pray together was a true privilege. The lake the house is located on was frozen and allowed for some to walk across it while others of us remained inside playing games and spending time reflecting. This place was beautiful and so was my time. Below are pictures of the home and some of the most amazing people in the world. (And I just wanted to say that I finally got the courage to shoot in fully manual!)

Snapshots of My Childhood

I look at these photographs and a flood of memories come to mind. I think, wow Lord, You are good! 

(Oh, and I had to change the background because apparently mine is no longer available)

I just can't get enough of that laugh!

Random Thoughts

Just thought I would share with you all this picture of Greg and I at our Senior year of High School Prom, almost 4 years ago! Can't believe I wore a white prom dress, sometimes I crack my self up.

Okay, so wow, I've already been engaged for three weeks!!!
The first week was celebratory, see everybody I knew and hug and kiss them.
The second week was my besties actual wedding week, her moment to shine, my moment to serve.
The third week, well, I've spent it sick as a dog, laying in bed. But, I managed to get up, shower, and curl my hair, I feel like a bride again :)

I feel kinda outta control, I feel as though I've planned my whole wedding already. But, I mean, I just can't resist, I am a planner and a wedding fanatic! I think it is so funny how my whole life I've planned secret weddings and the one I am currently planning looks nothing like I ever created before, but I absolutely love how it is all coming together!

As some of you may or may not know, with blogspot.com you can see the stats of how many times your blog gets visited, no worries I can't tell who sees it, just how many times daily it gets viewed. I have to admit, it makes my day when I see that people have visited and apparently a lot of people do read it! Something that many people do is keep a wedding website or blog. I've thought about it and wondered if people would enjoy reading/looking at it.

So, I have a request:

*If you do read THIS blog, would you comment to let me know if you would visit my wedding blog/site, too. You can just do it anonymously and tell me in the message its you. (Like Grams B does :) If enough of you want it, I will devote to doing it. I look forward to your comments :)

Merry Christmas

So grateful that Greg and I got to spend the day with my sister and her family this week! To say the least, it was an eventful photo shoot, but after a long day, I managed to get a handful of images where everyone looks adorable. And a valuable lesson: Babies require much patience during a photo shoot and a lot of the time needs to be dedicated towards making them happy. 

I hope your Christmas is blessed and that you would find rest in the shadow of HIS wings! Merry Christmas!

He Proposed and I said YES!

I was so surprised. I was sure he was not going to ask me that night, at least that was what I told my friend Michelle on the phone that day. Here's what went down....

He took me downtown to Millennium Park to go ice skating. After waiting in line and sipping up yummy hot chocolate, we finally got our skates, held hands and like rookies we took off. After about 20 minuets of skating, Greg made me go into the center of the ice skating rink. He then got down on one knee. A man in the crowd yelled out, "HE"S GONNA PROPOSE!!" Everyone stopped. Everyone Cheered. Greg said some sweet words to me and pulled out the ring and asked, "Will you marry me?"

I said, "YES!!!!!"  And the crowed roared! It was perfect, it was classy, it was romantic and I LOVED it!

So, I can now officially say WE ARE ENGAGED!!! We are so excited to start this journey together and we want to thank each of you for your love and support!!! I can't wait to be Mrs. Joanna Meyer!!!!

Emotional. Uncertain. Striving for the Best.

Emotional. That is what I would label today as. Everything that is good and pleasant makes me teary-eyed. I was comforted that when I asked one of my girls how she was doing, she replied, "emotional." Then I went and asked a friend the same question, she replied, "emotional."

I am grateful for my emotions, I love the fact that God made me sensitive to the things he loves and hates. I consider it a blessing to have an emotionally sensitive day. :)

I also was comforted while reading a blog I stalk. That's right, I am a blog stalker. Someone else was thinking the same things I am feeling two years ago! I thought that was so cool!

Uncertainty and striving for the best are the words that I am choosing to describe my next month or so. I get asked every single day what I want to do with my degree. I always respond, oh something in Marketing or PR and photography on the side. Everyday, the time gets closer to where I will actually be sending resumes out; in fact, I think I am going to next week! EEEK! As I was talking with the career counselor, a woman who has become a good friend of mine, I shared with her this silly guilt that I have; I don't want to apply to more than one place at a time because I feel I am being deceiving. :( I KNOW this is dumb, anyone who is hiring knows that if they have your resume so do a bunch of other people AND I'm never going to find a job if I do this one at a time! But, I can't help but feeling a little weird about it.

Then I have this uncertainty feeling. I have money, but not tons, and I really love to buy things. It scares me that I might have to refrain in the future, and as Greg said last night, "not buy clothes for a whole two months because we don't have the money." WOW! I know I can totally get the discipline to do it, but that would be challenging for me, I have to admit.

But, I am incredibly grateful for the gift of being able to take pictures. I literally can't stop smiling when I capture something beautiful, or when someone tells me I did a good job. I want to create artwork for people's walls. I really want to capture the moment in a photograph so that you feel like you are right there when looking at it. I want to bring people as much joy as I get when I find an amazing photography blog! With this new camera I have, my images are dramatically prettier and higher quality. I really desire to learn how to properly use it. My dream would be to go fully manual, in the mean time I will ease myself off auto. One day I will get there, I am just going to keep striving for the best that I can.

I felt that I wanted to share something more personal today, maybe its that joyful emotion bubbling over.

And here is a picture that I just love to look at. If you can't tell, I LOVE dogs! Meet Sammy Dykstra....

And an oldie, but a goodie! One of my favorites that I've never shared :)

Amazed

Praying over Pastor John Hamstra before he gave the message on Sunday.

I am amazed by God's plans and sovereignty. I am amazed that He loves me and calls me worthy. I amazed at how when you say Yes to God and Yes to doing difficult things, he comes through and changes your heart and does amazing things.

I am grateful that the Lord led me to Mercy Hill Church. Leaving Grace church, the place I had grown up in, was a difficult thing to do, but I knew that the Lord had somewhere else for me. He first led me to Living Word Church and each week I was brought tears in worship. I was amazed by the presence of the Holy Spirit week after week. It was only about 6 months after attending Living Word God showed me his purpose in leading me there. They were going to plant a church near where I lived and I felt an instant calling to be a part of this.

Fast forward one year and God is doing amazing things through Mercy Hill Church. Greg and I came here out of a leap of faith, He called and we said yes. This past Sunday we relocated our Sunday morning services to a new temporary building because we could no longer fit in the other space. Praise God! It is a beautiful thing to be a part of a church that God is blessing. I am grateful for the leaders in the church and for my pastor and his wife. I pray God's sweet blessing on them and am eternally grateful that God lead me here. This is just one of the many ways that God's plans have been far better than I could have imagined! Thank you Lord, for you are good!