100 Days!

In 100 days I will walk down the aisle to this sweet man!

Goodness, what the Lord has been teaching us over these months of engagement.

I am so thankful for this time.  Jon--not so much.

He is ready to be married NOW.  And me, well of course I am, but of course I am also a girl who wants to plan a wedding. :) Have any of your fiances/husbands struggled with this?

Definitely not a bad problem that the man crafted for me is eager to marry me. :)

Jon has completely loved me through all of my silly girly-ness of wedding planning.

He has been so selfless in all of it.  I want to be more like him in our marriage.

He listens to my struggles, ideas & silly girl triumphs that essentially don't matter to anyone besides myself.

Through him, and from Christ I have learned that we are each other's bodies, we are one.

His struggles are my struggles.  His interests are my interests. His goals are my goals. And vice versa.

(Even if we, ourselves in our own selfishness, don't care about those things, we do because the other one-half of us does.)

He has totally loved me as himself and given up himself for me, while also providing such strong leadership.

I will be forever grateful for this man.

I cannot wait to call him my husband.

:)!

Love,

Claire

Engagement Photo Inspiration!

Jon and I have engagement photos this weekend!

Eee! SO excited! It's all becoming more real with each step.

With that, I'm facing what all of you sweet married ladies already have.

Help a sister out, please!

What I find most funny is that I've pictured the whole engagement photo session for as long as I've known of its existence, and here I am 4 days before ours having no idea what to wear, or how to pose.

Should we bring accessories or props?

What worked for you ladies?

What did you wear? 

Advice on hair/makeup? (I don't really ever do much with it.)

Any guidance you can give would be so helpful!
Please share your engagement session experience!

Happy Tuesday, y'all! :)
Claire

"Radical" by David Platt-check it out!

So I know forever ago I blogged as I started David Platt's "Radical".  Well, I finished it forever ago.  (Sorry I'm just now getting around to telling y'all about it.)  SUPER good book.  It was pretty influential to my way of thinking.  A lot of it covers stuff that wasn't entirely new for me, but stuff that I  had somehow been able to skim over in an effort to convince myself that many Americans (myself included) weren't in fact missing a lot about what living out the Gospel really looks like.

This book no doubt confronted me on that, but in a way that my heart wasn't able to skim over.

Since reading "Radical" a few months ago, I have found myself referencing some of David Platt's insights in everyday conversation and praying for  the situations that came to life for me in that book.

I don't want to give anything specific away, but the Lord really spoke to me while reading this.  It was very much like I didn't ever want to reach the last page, so I often savored it, reading small bits at a time, and reflecting through the day on what they might mean.

It was convicting to say the least, to be made aware of the sweet sacrifices that believers make every day in some of the darkest parts of this world to worship our Father in what seems to some of us to be the most unpleasant and dangerous of environments.    

Risking their lives to know Jesus more.  To read His word for hours.  To introduce Him to others for the very first time.  To sing Him praise.
I couldn't help but be confronted with the questions,
"What am I sacrificing to know Him more?"
and
"What does that even look like in American culture?".
It confronts us with the reality that megachurches don't necessarily hold TONS of true followers of Christ as they sometimes appear to, and also the question of how much "American Christianity" truly illustrates the Gospel.
It is tough, but SO good to ask ourselves these questions, to be made aware of how the Spirit moves in other parts of the world, and to be positioned face to face  with the strong possibility that God has so much more for us than what we are currently seeing.
Check it out, and let me know what you think!


I hope you've all had a terrific Monday, Loves!
Claire :)

Goodness Gracious!

Hey lovelies!

I am SO sorry it has been forever since I have written!

Honestly between a full time job, planning a wedding and maintaining a long distance relationship, oh AND moving out of my apartment, I have found so little time for the blogging world.

Life is good. :) Just busy.  I hope all of you are doing so well. 

Let's see.. what have I been up to?

Celebrated Heather's (my old beach roomie/sweet friend/bridesmaid) graduation from NC State before she moved off to Michigan for a big girl job!

Spent time with my sweet future hubby.

Celebrated my little bro's graduation from Virginia Tech. Go Hokies!

My sweet future sister in law & bridesmaid!

Went camping on the Outer Banks with Jon & friends!

Attended Friday Cheers with one of my  Sweet Briar girls, Miss Ashley!

 Yay!  I've honestly missed y'all! Look forward to catching up! :)

Love!

Claire