Counting Down

This is it! The final countdown to D-Day (literally). A week from today, Stefan and I will be getting married! I can hardly contain my excitement!! I've waited for this for so long and it's finally almost here! I'm marrying an incredible man who loves God and who loves me. I couldn't ask for anything better than that. I'm looking forward to the next several decades and where God will lead us and the children He will bless us with and the doors of ministry He will open. Nothing in this world could possibly compare to life lived in the will of God.

Please pray for us as we finish up last-minute preparations during the following week. Above all, we don't want to get so caught up in wedding details that we lose focus on what it is we're really preparing for: a life-long commitment to each other before God.

Alright, Alright!

After much harassment from family and friends, I've decided it's time I finally updated this blog. So, here's the latest in the "Sarah Saga." :)

Wedding plans are coming along much more smoothly than I ever expected. God is good! Even when a plan has fallen through - like when our photographer, a university friend of Stefan's, was unable to make the wedding - God has provided wonderful alternatives. We have a great couple, the brother and sis-in-law of my roomie, who will be taking our pictures and they're going to do such an awesome job! I can't wait!

The big thing we're really "on hold" with is my visa which will allow me to live in the UK. Apparently the consulate is a bit backed up, so it's anyone's guess when it will arrive...and it really, really needs to get here! (It would majorly suck to get married and then not be able to leave the country with my hubby!) I'd appreciate your prayers. It's stuff like this that I guess is a spiritual blessing in disguise, though. It's completely out of my hands. Stefan and I have done everything we can do to get all the documentation together (everything short of giving a DNA sample, practically...unless, when they obtained my fingerprints, what they were really going for is any skin cells I may have left behind on the little screen....Hmmmm!). Now we wait. And wait. And wait some more. Ugh. I keep trying to reassure myself - sometimes it works...sometimes, not so much! - that if God can bring two people together from two opposite corners of the world, He can handle a tiny detail like getting my visa here on time. Still, prayers are appreciated!!

Dad and Mom are here for a few days this week to help me sort through all my worldly possessions. We made huge progress yesterday and I'm expecting to have another successful day of sorting and tossing and trips to Goodwill today. It's tough getting rid of all this stuff I've accumulated. I place a lot of sentimental value in things - "I can't get rid of that shirt. I wore it when such-and-such a thing happened 10 years ago...." I'm quickly learning the "close your eyes and toss" technique, though. :) More importantly, I'm learning that it's all just stuff and that my attachment shouldn't be to things anyway. Things won't last. Memories I can hold onto as long as I want.

I guess I'm learning quite a lot these days. It feels good...and will probably feel even better in retrospect! :) Thanks for praying...and if you know anybody who needs some big stuff (like furniture and a car), let me know!

Me and my sweetie and my purrrty ring!

Engaged!

I realize it's been a while since I posted and a lot has happened since September. In October, I met my sweetheart, Stefan, face to face. We'd been communicating online and over skype since we were matched by eHarmony in June and decided it was time to meet. Stefan flew over from England and we spent a week together. It was wonderful to finally see each other in person. I quickly discovered that Stefan was everything he had portrayed himself to be online...and more. On December 17th, I headed to England to celebrate Christmas with Stefan and his family...and on December 19th I finally arrived (thanks to the mother of all snowstorms that hit Spokane and delayed my plane!). We ate tons of food, went on walks with Charlie the dog, celebrated Polish Christmas, and spent lots of time with family and friends. Two days after Christmas, Stefan took me to Lullingstone where we walked up an iconic green hillside overlooking an old castle. When we got to the top, Stefan presented me with a beautiful ring. "I would be honored if you would be my wife," he said. Without hesitation, I said, "yes!"

Stefan and I have already begun frantic preparations for an early-summer wedding and are so excited to see what the future holds. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to build a marriage that honors God.

Glimpses of Heaven

This past Sunday, I sang with the worship team at church. Often when I'm standing there looking out at the congregation, I think about Heaven. I hear the sound of a few hundred voices united in praise and excitement fills my heart. But imagine the sight of a great multitude surrounding the Throne - an innumerable multitude of one heart and one purpose: to glorify their King. Imagine the sound of the angelic choir, undoubtedly singing in more than just four-part harmony. Can you imagine what the voice of the Creator of music must sound like? Truly, it will be unlike any sound we have ever heard, because nothing on earth is equal to Him in majesty and glory. He has given us glimpses into the beauty of song, but we have yet to hear the Singer Himself. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now [we] know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we are] fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

"The Word Was, the Word Is, and the Word Will Be...."

Lately, the Lord has been using various means to remind me how much I need His Word. Up until the past week, I'd really been slacking when it comes to spending time in Scripture. It's not that I don't want to; I just don't think about it. I forget. My intentions are good (although, you know what they say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions.").

Driving back from visiting my parents in Montana last week, I listened to a number of Christian radio programs: David Jeremiah, Family Life Today, and the like. (I resign myself to listening to whatever Christian radio station I can get while traveling...especially when my iPod battery is dead!) It seemed that each broadcast, in its own way, was emphasizing the importance of Scripture. David Jeremiah taught from Nehemiah 8. This chapter recounts how the people asked Ezra to read to them from the Book of the Law of Moses, and "he read it aloud from daybreak till noon...in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively..." (vs. 3).

Contrary to the people in Nehemiah's day, we have ready access to the Word of God. Not only do I have multiple copies of the Bible in my possession, but I can drive 5 minutes to my local Christian book store and buy the latest and greatest editions, in multiple versions, and even find a Bible put out by some great (and, dare I say, some not-so-great) theologian or other.

How quickly we forget the preciousness of the Word of God. Men like William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and John Wycliffe did not commit their lives (and, in some cases, shed their blood) so that we could have pretty, leather-bound, gold-embossed books lie on our shelves gathering dust. What believer in the persecuted world would not give anything to have just a page? And we have multiple volumes complete with commentaries and concordances.

I don't say all this to point fingers. I need to hear it as much as anyone. May we all be reminded and challenged to value this Book for what it truly is: the very Words of God!

Officially

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is true. I, Sarah, am in a relationship. For those of you on Facebook, this will come as no surprise (assuming that you faithfully check my profile on a daily basis). For the rest of you, your minds are likely swarming with questions: What's his name? What does he look like? Is he from Washington? How did you meet? What does he do? Well, rest assured, I'm here to answer your questions....

His name is Stefan and he is a wonderful man from Kent in England. Yes, I said England. So, how'd we meet? Brace yourselves...(drumroll please)...we met online. Yes, it's true. And contrary to popular opinion, he's not an axe murderer. Smile.

Stefan and I have been communicating since June through eHarmony. I wish you all had the opportunity to meet him because he is an incredible person. He makes me laugh, he's incredibly thoughtful, he challenges me to grow, he's supportive, and most importantly, he loves Jesus with all his heart. Although there are no wedding bells peeling yet (we've only known each other a few months - don't get your knickers in a knot!), I am excited to see where the Lord takes us on this journey. Please pray for us as we seek to follow Christ's will for our lives.

Is God Enough?

The past couple of days have been filled with moments of blessing for me. The Lord has really used different people to speak peace and encouragement to my heart. On Sunday, I went forward at church for prayer about my current work situation and I got to pray with two wonderful women. One of them told me that God has me exactly where He wants me. I hadn't really thought about that. I've been so eager to get out of this place that I'm in, and I haven't stopped to consider that God is at work not only in the midst of my circumstances, but because of them. It's uncomfortable to think in this way, but perhaps God caused and not just allowed me to lose my job.

I spent this morning with a dear friend who has mentored me through many tough times. I haven't seen her since last year and it was such an encouragement to catch up, to share from our hearts, and to pray. I realized just how much I miss her...and just how grateful I am that the Lord has blessed me with the gift of her friendship. She is one of those people that I think the Lord uses to "restore my soul."

This week is the annual Whitworth Institute of Ministry where pastors and laypeople gather to hear great teaching, to worship together, and to be enriched and encouraged. My friend A. and I went to the open-to-the-public session last night. In addition to seeing dear friends and professors from college days, I truly felt like the Lord was speaking directly to me at different points in the message. The title of the sermon was "Is the Pleasure of God Enough?" In essence, is it enough if all I have is God? Is it enough to have Him, even if He does not shower me with blessings? Is "God + nothing" enough? This really made me stop and think. Right now, I'm not sure that I trust God enough to say "yes" to these questions...but I want to. May He enable me to give all of myself, everything I have to Him...as He, in His Son, has done for me.