Friday Favorites {No. 20} Of Weddings, Stores, and Snow

  

This week has a very diverse group of pictures; from the wedding of a couple that I am friends with to shopping with men!  It was a good week and a fun one.

I met the bride, Debbie, almost four years ago (the same summer I met my husband).  She and I were both on worship team at the summer camp I counselled at and she was instantly a blast to be around.  I can remember us sitting by the pool and talking about our future dreams (and her teasing me about a handsome young man named Andrew!).  We've since seen each other when I've visited camp or our churches have done events together, she's also visited my family when she was in the area.

I met the groom, Ben, about a year and a half ago when his parents started attending my church.  He went to the same Sunday night Bible classes I went to and we even served on worship team together for a time before I got married.  He became friends with my Dad and me through that and actually did several fun outings with us when Andrew was visiting. 

I can still remember visiting Debbie's church along with my Dad, sisters, and Ben a couple of weeks after they had met for the first time.  Debbie and I sat together catching up for a while, then she sheepishly leaned over and said, "Tell me about Ben."  :-)  Needless to say, I gave him a good report and did a teeny bit of teasing of my own.  The rest is history!  It was only a month later that Ben whispered to Andrew and me that he was going to be visiting with Debbie at her house (we were honored to be among the first to know!).  Before the year was over they were engaged and now, less than a year after their first meeting, Ben and Debbie have become man and wife and are one of the most "in love" couples I've seen!  God works so amazingly!

Debbie was a beautiful bride and Ben was in tears several times throughout the ceremony.  Oh!  The ceremony!  It was so amazingly God-honoring and Christ-centered.  Both my pastor and the pastor of Debbie's church did an incredible job sharing the Gospel and how marriage is such a beautiful picture of Christ's relationship with His Church.

Ben has recently become an ordained minister, so the people who have loved him and Debbie along their different journeys to this point were so excited to hear them pronounced Pastor and Mrs.!  They have a new church were they will be starting their ministry and I can't wait to see how the Lord uses them together!

Their reception was so fun.  Full of laughter, beautiful lights, and amazing cake!

Their first dance was incredibly beautiful.  So touching.  It is wonderful to see God bring two lives together and see already their desire to serve and glorify Him through their marriage.

Congratulations, Ben and Debbie!  May God bless you in your new lives and ministry together!  May you always continue to grow in your love for the Lord and each other!  Love you both!

So, one of the other things that happened this last weekend was Dad and Andrew getting really excited to visit a huge sportsman store.  Where I'm not the hunting and fishing type, I've definitely been much more exposed to it since I married Andrew (and have learned to appreciate certain aspects of it).  :-)  This store was incredible though!  This enormous fireplace was right in the entryway.

There was a huge upper floor that looked out over the lower level.  I've never seen so much guy stuff!!!  The decorations and layout were incredible though and made the trip completely worth it to my sisters and me.

There were huge tanks of fish and amazing waterfalls.  There were also see-through elevators right next to the big waterfall that my siblings and I rode several times.  :-)

It was such a fun visit.  Even us "girly girls" really enjoyed it.  On a side note about this picture: my almost thirteen-year-old brother, Josh, has taken to wearing fedoras!!!  I'm so proud of him (as I am a lover of the style) and he looks so handsome!  Because of his struggle due to PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified), "normal" things are very hard for him.  To have him walk up to my sisters and me, tip his fedora with a grin and declare, "Say hello to the cuteness!" brings such joy to this big sister.

I promised snow in the title and here it is!  Yesterday we had such pretty flurries that I couldn't help coming out on the balcony (even though I lacked shoes and a coat) to snap some pictures.

Despite high rent and the teeny-tiny living space, I just love the view from our apartment.  The older-looking structure of the buildings, the pond and trees... is very peaceful and makes for wonderful seasonal pictures.

So, I would like to see a show of hands: who likes cold and who likes snow and who likes both?!  I like the cold when it isn't too cold.  Like today is only about 3 degrees... that is too cold.  I like more of a "brisk" day (that's why autumn is my favorite season and spring follows right after that).  I do LOVE snow. 

Such pretty weather.  It does make work hard for Andrew though since he has an outdoor job.  This week and last week his crew was only able to work three days.  I have no complaints about the extra time Andrew and I have together, but the extra hours do make a difference when it comes to paying the bills.  :-)  Thankfully God has provided so amazingly for us so that we have never been in need.  I know He doesn't always work that way as wordly gain isn't His goal for His children, but I am so thankful for Him choosing to provide for our needs and even some of our wants during this time.  I pray we will use this time to be setting the pattern of giving now.

And last, but not least, one of my very favorite pictures now.  I think this once explains itself.  :-)

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!