Am I Dreaming?!?

I've had to ask myself this question several times over the past few days. In the biggest whirlwind of a weekend that has turned out to be the best weekend of my life, I now have the delight of having the best fiance in the whole world. :-)

Yep, I got engaged. Brad Leach asked and I said, "Yes!"

Since Brad is doing extensive feature articles on the actual details and process of the engagement, I thought I'd take a few posts and rewind and recap some of the story of how we got here. It's a good story written by a Good Author. Jane Austen's got nothing on Him. :-)

Almost a year ago I went to a Saturday Night Service at Allison Park Church (the wonderful church where I grew up) and I had the opportunity to talk to Pastor Jeff Leake and Melodie afterwards. Pastor Jeff was telling me about his latest trip to Michigan where he met with a pastor friend of his, a guy who had planted a church 5 years ago, planted another in the meantime and . . . was 27 years old. Jeff called him his hero. :-) I was perplexed at what kind of person this could be and as I was pondering this further, I could see the wheels in Jeff's head turning too. He looked at his wife, Melodie and asked, "Hey?!? Don't you think it would be great for Leah and Brad Leach to meet? They'd be great together . . ."

Before he could extrapolate much further, I had to interrupt him. I didn't even have a chance to tell him I'm not interested in set-ups because I couldn't get past the even bigger "red flag" that was already present.

"Do you REALLY want me to meet someone and risk becoming Leah Leach?!?" I asked incredulously. Clearly this is NOT something that God would ordain.

I was just curious enough to check out his blog that night, however, doing so with at least 10 different reasons why this guy HAS to be a weirdo. My first concern was quickly quieted when I saw his picture . . . he certainly didn't look like a weirdo. In fact, I had to admit that he was pretty cute . . . ok, really cute. And when I actually visited the blog and saw that he was funny and profound and liked football (including pictures of the Steelers at the Super Bowl!). . . well, my interest was piqued.

So this post doesn't last obnoxiously long . . . I'll continue the epic tale tomorrow. :-)

Christmas Eve

Tonight is the night growing up that was second in excitement to me only to Christmas Eve, the night before the first day of school. Of course, I could never officially admit that to anyone else, but I LOVED the excitement of new books, new teachers, yep, even new homework. I'm such a nerd.

Although it's not quite as exciting when I'm having to buy all of my books and when I journey to school via the world wide web, maybe I'll still try and get my old kicks one last time by picking out a fun new outfit for tomorrow and buying a new lunchbox and Trapper Keeper. I loved those Trapper Keepers.

Deep Thoughts . . . Again

Ok, over these past few days I've been pondering some "deep" thoughts once again, thoughts that are best processed on the blogosphere.

I confess that I have been known to watch the Weather Channel from time to time. Strange, perhaps, but during hurricane season even the largest skeptic has to agree that it can be kind of entertaining. My question is, when these psychotic weather reporters are doing a live report in the 130 mile/hr. winds and sideways rain, why do they insist upon wearing a hood? Do they really think that is helping them stay dry? Why don't we just report the weather like a real man in a hurricane, sans hooded raincoat.

Why do we call it a "pair of pants?" There is only one of them and yet it is always used as a plural word and we insist on using the word "pair" with it. We do the same thing with glasses. Why? I suppose you could bring up the point that there are two pant legs involved, but we don't call it a pair of shirt because they have two sleeves. Weird, huh?

Jack Handy's got nuthin' on me.

Sesame Redemption

One of the first posts of my blogging career was written right around Thanksgiving 2006. I was suffering the effects of "post-Thanksgiving withdrawal" and lamenting the sadness that comes with the end of a really great thing, one that I first remember experiencing when I went to see Sesame Street Live as a little girl. If you missed it the first time around and care to see it now, you can catch up here.

On this, the day of Mr. Snuffalupagus's birthday :-), I thought it would be a great time to share how God has continued his lessons to me, showing how He can redeem our hurts and renew our dreams truly far beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

A little over six months ago, I had the opportunity to meet Brad Leach. He was coming in to Pittsburgh for some meetings and asked if I'd like to grab some coffee. That simple night started a beautiful conversation that continued throughout the next week on the phone, e-mail, and IM until we had the chance to see each other once again the following Friday afternoon in Cleveland (it was half-way in between Detroit and Pittsburgh).

I'm pretty sure that my work and school efficiency that week was not at it's highest peak. And by that I mean that I really wasn't thinking about too much else other than when I got to talk to Brad again. :-) The more I got to know this man, the more I found myself wanting to get to know him more. He was funny and goofy, yet also profound and deep. He dreamed HUGE dreams for His Father and was crazy enough to chase after them (how many people do you know that plant a church 3 months after they graduate college?). More than anything, the thing that struck me from the moment that I met him was the way that he talked about Jesus like He was his Best Friend. It was so refreshing and genuine, and it made me want to know Jesus more.

And just when I thought that this guy couldn't get any better, it was only a few days after that first trip to Cleveland that Brad asked if I would like to meet him there again the next Friday. This time, however, he wanted to know if I would join him to see Sesame Street Live. I giggled, smiled, and felt all melty. :-) I was so touched and delighted and impressed with his creativity and effort to truly get to know me. The night was such a special treat and joy beyond what I could have imagined.

Ironically enough, as we were getting ready to leave, we saw a mom and her young son leaving the show, the boy crying inconsolably and his mom trying to figure out what was the matter with him. I found myself wanting to run after him, telling him that everything was going to be okay and that Jesus could redeem his sadness better than anyone ever could. It was a moment for me to pause and remember, to thank God for His goodness and faithfulness, and to then turn and thank the man who had just subjugated himself to a politically correct Cookie Monster for the last 2 hours just to bless me in such a special way.

Six months later, my gratitude to both of them has only grown. Thank you, Brad, for the miles driven, the minutes talked, the coffees, breakfasts, and dinners bought, and most of all for drawing me closer to Jesus. And thank you, Father, for your never ending faithfulness and goodness, far more than I could ever deserve or imagine.

Congrats, Edna!

So I read this most fascinating article on CNN yesterday about Edna Parker, the new world's oldest person. Edna was born in 1893. Yep. That's no typo. She's 114 years old.

I started thinking about all that Edna has experienced in her life and was overwhelmed trying to grasp it all. When she was born, airplanes were not invented. The telephone was a new-fangled gadget and the country was recovering from the not-that-distant Civil War.

If there ever was a century to be alive, certainly this past one has been filled with arguably the most revolutionary changes to culture and society. Could Edna have ever dreamed of cell phones, nevertheless the Internet when she ventured into her happy marriage in 1911? It made me think about what would be a part of our world 114 years from now if Jesus doesn't come back first. I couldn't even begin to fathom. Any thoughts?

Want to know the even crazier part of the story? The new oldest person in the world is apparently friends with the tallest woman in the world. Don't they make a fun couple of friends?

Rear View Vision

"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

I remember asking my mom, "What does that mean?" when I was riding in the car with her when I was younger. She tried to explain to me that the car manufacturers were trying to warn the drivers that while the mirrors were there to help them see behind, the reflection was distorted providing not an entirely truthful picture of what was actually there.

Over these past few weeks, I've been giving a lot of thought on looking back in my life. I've been reading through the book of Isaiah and came across the well-known and well-loved verse, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past" (Is. 43:18). I find it to be so interesting because at other points in the Bible (several times in Deuteronomy, for example), God instructs His people to look back and remember what He's done and where they've come. Why the conflicting instructions?

As I've prayed about it more, I realized a specific distinction between "remembering" and "dwelling on the past." Too often when I look back on my life I find that I'll either spend time reminiscing about the past or struggling with regret. It's great to think back on fond memories, but when I start to dwell on them with "rose-colored glasses," remembering the "good old days" without any of their troubles, I find myself wanting to go back to what I think was an easier time. Or, I'll think back on poor decisions or sinful shortcomings and they seem so big and condemning. Like those rear view mirrors, my rear view vision is often distorted making the past perfect and my mistakes mammoth. When I live in a state of reminiscing or regretting, I'm stuck, paralyzed by feelings of inadequacy and a lack of desire to even try and do better in the future.

I think that's what God's talking about when He says, "Forget about it!" He goes on to say, "I'm doing a new thing!" something that will be even better than the best days of the past. The only reason we should ever look back is simply to remember, to reflect on His goodness and faithfulness and the grace that has brought us this far. Remember what He's done, thank Him for it, and use the memory to encourage further steps into the unknown new thing that He's doing next.