two weeks of courtship! :)

So, I'm in a very happy new season of life. Tomorrow will be two weeks!(woohoo!) In this new season, I am praying for wisdom, grace and total reliance on God! I pray that we will not rely on ourselves, but be aware of our proneness to fall. I pray we will not rely totally on our parents, but trust in our Heavenly Father completely and therefore by his grace, submit to our parents wisdom and decisions as they lead us! I pray that this season will not distract us from our walks with God but bring us close to our Savior! I pray for strength to honor and glorify him in EVERYTHING!

And I'm so thankful, for God's sovereignty, goodness and faithfulness! No matter what happens, I pray He is glorified!

And um, I'm pretty happy, pretty much ecstatic! Sam and I have known eachother forever! And we have been best friends almost that long! ;) For the past few years, you could say my view of him changed. Somewhere along the lines he went from being that dorky little boy, who yeah is cool to be my lil' bff, but "never" like! To a really cute, sweet, Godly, guy who has been a faithful and caring friend over the years. I have had to guard my heart (and cry alot to my poor mother) praying for grace and wisdom in our friendship! Trying not to question God or "take matters in to my own hands" by trying to "define" our friendship.
God was faithful, he gave me grace, even when I was not aware of it. He guarded me and helped me to trust and calm my very independant, "I want things my way" attitude.
Sam and I were completely oblivious to the other persons feelings. Ends up we both liked eachother, but God guarded us! He allowed us to be friends without anything "awkward" going on. Nothing was revealed prematurely (well, to us, even if the rest of the world supposedly knew). I'm so thankful for how Sam protected and cared for me as a sister in Christ and sought the wisdom and counsel of my papa and other leaders before communicating anything to me. I'm so thankful for his heart to honor God in every step. And I'm so thankful that now we are able to be in a courtship! I'm thankful for the ways he continues to serve me and guard my heart, for how he challenges me, encourages me and brings the Gospel into focus. I'm thankful for his submission to my papa's decisions in our relationship, and I'm so thankful for the way he seeks to lead me spiritually.

I'm so thankful for our parents, their graciousness as we entered into this new season. Their love for us, to set guidelines to protect us. And their genuine excitement for this season!

I'm so thankful for both of our siblings. How they laugh at us, encourage us and help keep us in check. (Like last night when Nolan and Zach sent Hayley to sit on the couch and "watch" us haha)

And I'm thankful that Nolan and Zach and best friends so they don't mind being our third and fourth wheels... :)

If you didn't catch my drift, I'm happy! Happy that not only do I have a really awesome boyfriend who happened to be one of my best friends, but that God revealed the gospel to us at a young age and has given us the desire to honor him in our relationship! What an amazing thought! I love that God doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves makes us more like Christ!
I hope we can continue to strive for Christ-likeness through this season!


Yeah, Sam's my favorite.