Fun candid shots from our wedding!

Paul's parents!

Tom and Anna Foley dancing up a storm!

The Campbell sisters (minus one) and the Czaszewicz sisters all singing "We are Family!" FUN! Love the light orb around us too!

FABULOUS friends Anissa Ferris and Chris Seaton...travelled many miles to be with us on our big day! LOVE THEM!

Mom and dad steal a moment. :-)

Fun was had by ALL!

More wedding pictures

Gotta love the first dance: "Dance with me, oh, lover of my soul...."

The setting and decorations were phenomenal!

Many gave me this advice: walk slowly down the aisle and take it all in! I tried to make eye-contact with every person I knew...and about half-way down the aisle, my dad whispered to me, "is it you or me who is stumbling cuz we are walking so slowly?!" I answered: "I'm just drinking it all in!"

Oh what fun we had!

New name...same person...deeply in love!

Paul and I standing on one of the many balconies at the Loose Mansion!

We love doing this! ;-)

SUCH sweet moments all through the weekend with my daddy! This was just before walking down the aisle...precious few moments!

Our cake!

I really LOVE my dress! woo hoo!

Sunday, May 1, 2011 is a day that will go down in my personal history as one of THE greatest days of my entire life! At approximately 4:30 p.m., I pledged my commitment for life to Mr. Paul Czaszewicz (Chaz-wick) and became Mrs. Chaz! Cheers erupted, some guests practically leapt out of their seats and most importantly, the Lord was smiling over this incredible day!

Here are just a few of the comments I've heard from guests:

"THIS is what a wedding should be like! It was holy, solemn, honoring, fun, and full of joy, and the Lord was VERY present!"

"This was one of the most awesomest weddings I've ever been to!"

"That was the BEST wedding ever!"

And, from the owner of the venue: "I've seen a LOT of weddings here and this one was THE most meaningful one I've ever seen or experienced." (Apparently, she doesn't readily say things like that!)

I had sooooooooooooo much fun...as did Paul....and we only wish it could have gone on for another couple of hours...we were just getting going on the dance floor when we were whisked away to change and depart. Alas...it certainly made me appreciate weddings in Hungary, which last until the following morning!

Heart-felt thanks go out to ALL of my precious friends who flew in from all over the country (and even from Israel!) to be a part of this momentous occasion! Having you there with me and Paul made everything worth it!

I must admit, I am really enjoying married life already! :-)

So, what now? Well, Paul is working full-time, my part-time job has just ended...and I will be looking for another as I await the September re-start of my online job...and we are getting settled in to our home! I will spend a couple of weeks getting settled in with Paul, then ease my way back in to ministry, and writing.

Yes, I finally want to publish (for real) my book The Senders (not just a kinko's type of printing) and I truly believe the Lord wants me to write a book about my journey toward marriage at age 47! As I was driving this morning, I believe the Lord gave me the title:........you thought I'd tell you.....muahahaha! No way!

So, enjoy these pictures...more to come both here and on facebook!

Thank you to everyone for your love, encouragement, support and prayers! Paul and I bless you back in Jesus' mighty name!

KNOCK-OUT!

I realized that I didn't put this story about me and Paul on the wedding website, and I believe it needs to be heard as it will encourage many, I know! This is a very personal blog entry...

In November of 2009, I was going through an inner healing program called Pure Heart. I'd been dealing with some "junk" in my heart, forgiving individuals and receiving more of God's healing. During a large-group ministry session, my friend Donna was praying for me quietly when she said, "I've never heard the Lord say this about someone before, but God says, "Arden, you are a knock-out! You're a KNOCK-OUT!" He just keeps saying that about you!" I laughed, having battled in my singleness with self-image issues and not really feeling much like a knock-out...cuz if I was really a knock-out, then why wasn't I married? Something in God's words to me through Donna, though, broke into my heart and brought tremendous healing to those wounded places.

In early December of 2009, I got facebook friended by some guy named Paul Czaszewicz....and I wrote back to him: "Remind me how I know you?" The instant I hit "send", I remembered: CHAZ! (That's what we all called Paul in college!) So, it turns out he is in Kansas City, he is single, he loves the Lord, and, and, and.....then we meet! There was pretty much instant attraction on both of our parts (we now know) but we both stayed pretty low-key, til February of 2010 when we decided to begin dating.

As with many couples, we faced some hurdles and chose to break up...and during that time, which was spring time, I began doing some landscaping in front of my house. A good friend suggested I get day lilies and these roses that are super easy and beautiful. She said, "They're called KNOCK-OUT Roses." At the moment, I didn't make the connection, but once they were planted and I was watering them one day, God reminded me: "Remember Donna's word for you? I want you to remember EVERY DAY when you come home what I think of you!" I nearly started crying as I watered my knock-outs and chuckled at the same time at God's personalness in speaking to His daughter!

Now, fast-forward...it's October 2010, and Paul and I have re-established our friendship and are "dating". We decided we need to have a "fish or cut bait" discussion, so he came to my house one afternoon to have the serious DTR talk. (That's define the relationship for those who don't know!) As we talked, I looked at this amazing man and asked, "Paul, I just don't get it, you are an incredible man of God...why haven't you gotten married before now?" To which Paul replied:

"I told the Lord years ago that He would have to give me a knock-out."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

"What did you just say?" I asked.

"I told the Lord He would have to give me a knock-out!"

"Did I tell you about Donna's word for me nearly a year ago?"

"Um, I don't think so, but if you did, I don't remember it. I was just asking the Lord in the car ride down here today to give me His words to say to you today."

Some say there is something significant in the number 3...hee hee hee.

In all of this, the Lord has worked tremendous healing...I was told by some boys when I was a little girl that I was ugly and I would never get married. God, in His amazing grace and goodness, healed those deep wounds in me, calls me a knock-out, reminds me every day, and has given me a fiance, who will be my husband in just 6 days, who calls me a knock-out!

Let the readers of this blog hear: take heed to the love that the Father is pouring out on you through His people!

Spring preparations!

We built a new bed next to last year's bed! :-)

Praying this produces much for us and our friends!

Paul, my mighty man, digging a place for the mighty oak tree!

Yep, the bushes got very well-trimmed by Mr. Chaz!

Paul and I have had a blast doing yard work, building and planting our garden, and getting the house ready for US as a married couple! :-) It's so much fun working together... I think I'm gonna like being married!

Wedding showers and parties

I have been incredibly blessed by friends here in Kansas City with a couple of wedding showers where there's been laughter, love, tears, joy, and prayers for me and for Paul!

Just 6 days from now, I will have a last name with 3, yes THREE, "Z"s in it! Arden Campbell Czaszewicz! Woo hoo!

Just 6 days and I will be a married woman!

As Paul and I worked on our ceremony program last night, we realized that this time next week, we'll be married!

Have a look at our website: http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/pwp2/view/MemberPage.aspx?coupleId=5653261325251124

Can't wait to celebrate with friends near and far in the next few months!

Conversations

Yesterday, I was blessed to have a wonderful conversation with a dear, long-time friend of mine who has helped me in countless ways to navigate the ever-changing financial waters of our times. He is like a brother to me, and seeks to take care of me like his very own family.

Our conversation yesterday turned to this question: "Where do you think this is all going?" And the other major question: "Do you think it is too late? Or can "people" get their acts together and dig us out of this downward spiraling mess we are in?"

What struck me most is that my friend, who is brilliant, godly, and wonderful, was asking me...which opened up a sweet dialogue, moving into important subjects like preparedness for what is inevitably coming (according to the Bible), and what we really need in the U.S., and that is: hearts turned in repentance and humility to the God of the universe, who is slow to anger and abounding in love, but who will not withhold His merciful judgements forever.

I loved our practical conversation, sharing ideas, not out of fear, but out of concern for family, friends and loved ones...and the reality of what we need to be doing daily: praying for our leaders and leaders world-wide, that the fear of the Lord would grip their spirits and minds and they would take the lead in humility and repentance before the Lord...but not before WE ourselves walk down that same path. God, have mercy on me, a sinner saved solely by Your grace, needing Your very breath to stay alive...let me bow my heart and mind before You alone, heed Your voice alone, and rejoice in You, the One who sees the end from the beginning, and will cause ALL THINGS to work together for good for those who LOVE YOU and are called according to Your purpose!

Hallelujah, God will make all things new...but the reality of the refiner's fire is upon us, so will we walk in His ways, heeding His voice, or will we continue on that very wide path? Narrow is the way that leads to life...and few will find it. Jesus said, "I am the way."

2 weeks!

Two weeks from today, I will be a married woman! Tonight, one of those surreal moments struck me as I was trying on some of the gifts some gals gave me today for one of my wedding showers. Life is going to be very different in just two weeks! Paul and I look at each other, both of us having been single our entire lives, and we smile, knowing how right it is but also wondering how do we make this transition? It's times like these that we don't feel like we are in our late 40s, but rather more like we are in our 20s...all the anticipation and excitement of finally sharing our lives with each other! Two weeks.... Two weeks.... It's gonna be fun!

Change

This is a season of huge change for me. In just 24 days, I will change my name. Whoa! The reality of that hit me this week when Paul and I went to get our marriage license. The woman helping us asked: "So, will you be changing your name?" Out of my mouth came the word: "Yes"...and then it hit me...I'm taking Paul's name...wow...wow...wow. I've been Arden Jan Campbell for 47+ years and now I will be Arden Campbell Czaszewicz! Whoa! Change is happening in my home as well. Years ago...in fact probably 40 years ago, I inherited a beautiful set of china and glassware from my great, great aunt Grace. My parents GENEROUSLY stored it all these years and then shipped it to me recently; my friends and I have been unpacking the boxes and finding places for everything...including displaying the china in a beautiful cabinet I found on craigslist! I am stunned by the beauty of these pieces, and cannot wait to entertain! In addition, my Herend village pottery which I brought from Hungary is now beautifully displayed in my kitchen! Finally, the living room, bedrooms and office space are undergoing radical transformations as well, all with the help of some precious friends of mine here! Change....exciting and challenging all at the same time. Finally, Paul and I are building a larger garden plot, and getting prepared for what will come in the future, not if, but when challenging times hit our land! Oh, and in the midst of all of this, I'm trying to plan a wedding! Needless to say, the stressors have been off the charts of late, and I'm very much looking forward to celebrating with many friends and family very soon, when Paul and I become one! With change in our physical lives, it is amazingly reassuring to know that our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob NEVER changes and is the solid rock upon which I/we can stand, even when everything around us is changing and sometimes being shaken. One of the worship songs the sing quite regularly in the prayer room here has this line: "You are my rock and there is no other, You are my rock!" I thank God that He is the rock, because truly, all else is just shifting sand. :-)

Visiting missionaries

Penka and Hari Atanasova, native missionaries from Bulgaria. They are artists and evangelists and church planters!

My dear friend, George Ainsworth, Penka, Hari and myself outside my home in Kansas City!

Hari and Penka sharing their stories, God's work in Bulgaria and their art work with a small group of friends.

We enjoyed lunch together with these wonderful people!

Many of us here in Kansas City were very blessed to have visiting missionaries here from Virginia and Bulgaria! George Ainsworth (from VA) and Hari and Penka Atanasova (from Bulgaria) graced us with their presence and their incredible art work, as well as stories of how the Lord is moving in Bulgaria!

A dear friend of mine here said this: "I've met hundreds and hundreds of missionaries, but something struck me about Hari and Penka. The Lord is ALL over them and I am committing to praying for them. I have never had such a burden from the Lord to partner with missionaries before like I do with Hari and Penka!"

I pray you too will remember to pray for them as they minister in primarily southern Bulgaria to many unreached groups of people!

Human Trafficking

http://index.hu/bulvar/2011/03/21/elkabitott_csecsemoket_akartak_atcsempeszni/

I lead a sideroom here at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and on Wednesdays, we pray for the ending of human traffiking in eastern europe. The article above is in Hungarian, but the gist of it is this: two French citizens were stopped at the border of Ukraine and Hungary and were discovered to have stolen two newborn babies and drugged them.

For weeks now, as we have sought the Lord as to how to pray for eastern europe, He highlights: borders, border guards, truckers, cars, busses....transporting people across borders. Each time I go in the side room, I wonder why the Lord continues to keep us on this particular topic, and this is a small testimony as to why.

My prayer for this French couple is that they would encounter the love of God in their hearts, for them and for these babies, and they would come to know Jesus! I pray that God continues to open the eyes of border guards...that has been a prayer focus...that more people would be rescued!

I rejoice today and give glory to the God of the universe, who has His eye on two little newborns in eastern europe and He came to their rescue! What a great and mighty God we serve!

Texas Ministry Trip with the John Four Group

How fun and exciting it is to see God unlock hearts and set them free to enter in to all that He believes about them and sees in them for His glory and impact in this world!

The John Four Group!

Practicum time: women praying and prophesying over each other!

Hearts unlocked!

Kristi teaching on Identity.

Teresa introducing the entire conference.

Texas Ministry trip - The John Four Group

Teaching on Impact, from John chapter 4.

The founder and leader of The John Four Group, Selenia Vera, teaching on Intercession.

Nathan Stogsdill teaching on Intimacy with God.

Nathan and Kristi Stogsdill and Kathy Farley leading worship.

Ah, the shofar!

We had a super weekend ministering in Johnson City, Texas! Praise God for His good fruit!

Simon is mourning

This is my boy, Simon. As you can see, he is waiting patiently, looking out the window for Toby to come home. Even as I type these words, he is sitting smack in front of the cat door...it's so sad....

"Toby, where are you? I miss you!"

My precious housemate, Whitney, is giving Simon extra hugs and holds.

Anyone who knows Simon knows that THIS is not typical...he would not let people hold him for more than about 5 seconds...he is needing special hugs these days.

Anyone who says that animals don't mourn when their buddies die is wrong. Just look at these pictures of my boy, Simon, who spent his entire life with Toby and is grieving the loss.

I captured him looking out the window, waiting for Toby to come home. He's also a bit more cuddly...

Sad, sad day........

My heart is breaking right now. My sweet, wonderful, talkative, wonderful cat of 13 years, Toby, had a horrible seizure today and died.

I'm in shock...heartbroken...last night he and I were playing hide and go seek, and today he was perfectly normal, eating, running around, and then suddenly, he began to shake and moan. I held him in a towel as he wailed and my housemate, Whitney called the vet...but suddenly, he simply went limp in my arms.

Loss is really hard.

Shakings

The Lord has said in His Word that He will shake everything that can be shaken. World events in the past few weeks are evidence of the shakings that are just starting, and will most likely increase over the next year and years. Even a quick read through of any of the Gospels will show that all of this (and more) shaking is no surprise to God.

However, it appears to surprise some people, and one of the prevailing reactions is fear. This is especially evidenced amongst those of us living in the western world whose main brushes with shakings in the last 25 years have included such events as 9/11 and hurricane Katrina, both of which elicited tremendous fear-based reactions on the parts of quite a number of people.

Some are crying out doomsday messages, warnings, "run for the hills" types of messages, or hunker down, load up, and ride it out, hoping that disaster won't come to their doorstep.

Here's a thought for all of us to consider: Your view of God will determine your view of world events and even personal events.

How true this is. Even in circles of Jesus followers, views of God run the gamut, especially when chaos in personal lives or world events unfold. Who IS this God we followers of Jesus claim to believe in? What is His name? What faces does He have? What are His characteristics? What are His promises? The only way to know this is to be in personal relationship with Him, face to face discussion, daily, meditating on His Word, dialoging with Him, asking Him questions and waiting in that quiet place to hear His responses, just as Jesus did when He was walking our planet in the flesh.

Last night at a Champions of Hope gathering, a young man named Jed Hartley shared a revelation he'd received as he meditated on the Word of God. One of the first rebukes that Jesus gives His disciples recorded in the Scripture comes when Jesus is asleep, peacefully, on the boat on the sea in the storm and His disciples are freaking out, wake Jesus up and ask Him in their fear and panic, "Don't you care that we could die?!" Jesus rebukes them: Why are you so afraid? The final rebuke of the disciples recorded is when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His betrayal, beating and eventual crucifixion, and He is clearly sorrowful and experiencing anxiety. Where are His disciples? Sleeping! Jesus rebukes them, "Can't you just stay awake with me a little while?" (my translation).

Jed shared this profound insight...I have added my own tidbits here too: there are times when everything is raging around us and based on circumstances, it feels like we are going to be completely bowled over and may even die, and the Lord is not disturbed at all and even rebukes us for not having faith in Him in the midst of the circumstances. Then there are times when, from the Lord's perspective, things are raging in the atmosphere and shakings are taking place or about to take place, and the Lord "catches" us sleeping, but wants us to be awake, praying, interceding, standing WITH Him in the midst of the storm and preparing our hearts to stand in the coming storms. So how do we know when we're supposed to rest in the storm and when we're supposed to be alert and intercede with Him in the storm? The only way to know is if you know HIM, if you know HIS HEART, if you are listening to HIS voice, if you are intimately acquainted with the heartbeat of the Father, through the Son, Jesus, in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit.

My prayer for all of us is that first, we know our heavenly Father and KNOW who He is, his characteristics, His names, and we spend time adoring Him just for who He is as revealed through His Word, the Bible. Just doing this completely transforms and renews one's thoughts and heart and will open up the lively discussion and dialogue that our Daddy in heaven is longing to have with each of His children, even moreso now during these perilous times that He told us would be coming, just as He continually told His disciples throughout the Gospels about His impending punishment, crucifixion, death and resurrection.

Let us know our Father, hear His voice, and understand if He is calling us to 'rest' or to 'war' in the Spirt. His ways are higher than our ways, and so we need to take time to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who, for the JOY set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Father. (Hebrews). Let us be raised up with Him, to see things from His perspective; otherwise, that old familiar friend, fear, who lurks in the depths and slithers on the ground as he always has, will grip our ankles, paralyze us and prohibit us from moving forward into the grace, mercy and love of God for Him and for others. Amen and amen!

The+Final+Strategy+of+Satan

Have a look at this blog below. Excellent food for thought.

The+Final+Strategy+of+Satan

Adoration....a transformation.....

ADORATION

What is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word above?

What about in connection with God? Have you ever taken the time to adore God just for who He is? In the Scriptures, He's got a lot of names:

Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Alpha, Omega, Giver of life, the Truth, etc.

He's got a plethora of characteristics:

Forgiving, loving, kind, gentle, just, caring, steadfast, friend, lover, comforter, etc.

Adoring the Lord is just taking time to declare to Him who He is: I adore you Lord as the forgiving God, the one who sees everything about me and still loves and forgives me. You forgave the woman caught in adultery, You forgave the thief on the cross, You are so forgiving and I adore you for that!

I promise you that if you begin to take time and just ADORE the Lord, your entire life of faith with be transformed!

Prayer works!

Some of you know that part of my ministry now in the body of Christ is intercessory prayer. Two years ago, I didn't have a grid for what it means to be an intercessor, except that Scripture teaches us that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, always interceding for us. Well, if Jesus is the great intercessor, then it follows that His children would also serve through intercession.

One of the heart-beats of the Lord is stopping human trafficking. Along with many others, I have a burden for this horrific crime, which is simply modern day slavery and is rampant across the planet. Every Wednesday, I lead a "side-room" prayer hour focusing on ending human trafficking in eastern Europe. It's hard work, yet as the Lord gives His burden to us each week, we press in and pray His heart regarding human trafficking.

In the past few months, the Lord continually brought me/us back to Hungary...I thought it was because I'd spent 11 years there as a missionary and teacher, but apparently, God knows and wants to see human trafficking into, through, and out of Hungary stopped. A couple of days ago, I received an email from a friend of mine in Hungary in which was written the following:


"Another trafficking ring has been busted says the Hungarian news - French, Hungarian, plus others trafficking Vietnamese."

I cannot begin to put into words how my faith has been encouraged and lifted up by this news! If any of you struggle with prayer, wondering if you are hearing God's heart about something, trust Him, know that He is speaking and leading you into His heart for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

Join us from wherever you are in the world on Wednesdays as we pray for the ENDING of human trafficking in eastern Europe! Clearly, this IS God's heart!

Blizzard of 2011

It was getting kinda tough to toss the snow that high!

Love the wind-blown drifts on the back patio!

Always clear a path for the postman!

Thankfully, the white stuff was fluffy!

Yes, we got HIT with a blizzard this week, and these are the pictures to prove it. However, I am VERY impressed with Kansas City's ability to clear streets quickly!

Help me promote my book!

To all my precious friends out there who have read my book, Walking Forward, would you take 5 minutes and click on the link below and write a short review? This will help to get the word out even more about the book! I continue to hear from people how the book is impacting their hearts, minds and spirits, and it is very encouraging! Thanks sooooooo much for your help!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Walking-Forward/Arden-J-Campbell/e/9781609575953/?itm=1&USRI=arden+campbell#customerReviewsTab

Where I am and what's up!

Boy, I used to blog so much more often before I got engaged! Ha ha ha!

Right now, I am sitting in the Exodus Cry Awareness Center in Grandview, MO. You can check them out at www.exoduscry.com I volunteer here for 3 hours a week, ready to answer questions for those who come in to learn about not only the history of human trafficking, but also what is going on currently in the world and what Exodus Cry is doing about it. Each time I walk in here, my heart begins to cry out for those women, children and even men, who are lured, duped and dragged into this insidious 'trade'. Human trafficking is second only to drug trafficking in money making world-wide. Praise God for those who cry out day and night for those enslaved and for those who are involved in the restoration and healing of those who are rescued!

I continue to hear good things about my book, Walking Forward - Discoveries in Freedom and Forgiveness and the ways the Lord is using it to imact lives. Here is a recent testimony from a friend of mine who is mentoring a young lady:

The latest: "Arden, I was reading your book out loud to my son's girlfriend. She called me in hysterics and I suggested I read to her. Within 20 minutes of reading, she was completely calm." It's testimonies like this one that cause my heart to leap with joy, knowing the God of the universe is touching hearts through this message!

If you want to quicken your heart regarding forgiveness, healing, freedom in the Lord, you can get your copy of Walking Forward through me or at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble or Xulon Press.

Wedding plans...churning along...it seems to be a never-ending process of doing this and that, and any of you who know me know that details are not my forte! Ha! I am loving it, though as it is stretching me, and in addition, Paul and I have begun premarital counseling classes! Fun!

Book writing: I am under the gun now to complete my second book: The Senders. I need to finish writing, editing and publishing it by the end of February! Whew! Why then? Well, I am part of a team called the John Four Group going to Johnson City, Texas to minister in a church there, and the team is putting together resources that people attending the symposium can take with them!

So, needless to say, I am busy! Loving it, though!

Fasting

Around these parts, meaning in the community of IHOP, they have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding fasting. Clearly, though, across the planet, the new year is often marked in Christian circles with some sort of season of fasting, and the expressions of that are as varied as the lengths of such fasts.

The Rock community, of which I am now a part, is communally engaged in a 21-day Daniel fast (or variations of it), and it's exciting to see how the Lord is changing and transforming people during this time. I, for example, am being wrecked, exposed, and I pray, transformed, but it is not a pretty sight. I am coming face to face with so much junk that still remains in my heart, from false props, to fears, to very twisted ways of thinking. A question I have been grappling with the Lord about the past 4 days or so is why am I ok when "X" is in need, but I'm not ok when "Y" is in need? Why am I quick to have an open hand and heart with "X" but not with "Y"? God is exposing some very, very deep issues in my heart, the root of which has not yet been exposed, or at the very least, I don't yet see or understand. It's clear there is something wrong with my thinking patterns, but the question remains, "what is the lie I am believing in that place or in those places?" Once the lie or lies are uncovered, then God's truth can come in and I know I will walk in increasing freedom to love, show mercy, kindness, gentleness, joy and self-control.

So, fasting brings on a hunger in people, at least in me; a hunger for the deeper things of God, a hunger for change and transformation; a hunger for intimacy with God himself. Truly, in my case, because of the physical hunger, my openness to the Lord exposing all sorts of things in me is increasing! Bring it on, Lord!

TheKnot

Hey friends, click on the link below to see our wedding website...a work in progress...and hear the story! :-)

TheKnot

Catching up

Our friend, Mano, took engagement pictures at Crown Center in Kansas City. Here are just a couple of them!

My apologies to regular blog readers...all two of you out there....ha ha ha! I've been busy since the beginning of November...and it seems life grows increasingly busy. However, that is no excuse--we are the ones who make choices to stay in the place of busy-ness, or to slow things down with a very simple word: "No." :-)

So, as you know, I travelled to Hungary and Romania at the beginning of November, which was a tremendous blessing! I loved seeing friends and ministering, and planning a big party sometime in the future for my to-be-hubby Paul and me! Thanks to all of you who have said you would do that for us! :-) We look forward to video-taping our wedding and bringing that with us to show everyone!

Upon my arrival home on November 20th, my then boyfriend, Paul, completely surprised me with roses, home-cooked dinner and a marriage proposal, followed by a romantic cruise on Brush Creek in Kansas City! Since that day, we have visited Chicago and much of his family, he has attended a men's retreat in Wyoming, we have found a wedding venue, Loose Mansion in Kansas City, MO, and I have bought my dress! We have visited my parents in Arizona and Paul got to meet them and one of my brothers and his family...the other two will meet him at the wedding, May 1st! :-)

In addition, we have visited all the house churches at The Rock and have settled on one of them. I am excited to have that family in addition to all the precious family I have here at IHOP. Melding two lives has its challenges as we both have a zillion friends and we are excited for the other to meet ALL of our friends...and of course we are finding that we will have to trust the Lord to lead us to those people into whom we are to pour and those who will pour into us in this next season!

Of course on top of all this meeting people, organizing things, celebrating the holidays, Paul has been working one full-time job and is now moving into a different job as well as completing classes for teaching certification. He will be doing his student teaching in the fall...oh memories of those days! I am working part-time as well and serving in ministry here in Kansas City, so we are quite a busy pair. This is very good on many levels and presents challenges as we try to find quality time together. I'm so thankful that each of us is very flexible, and because our foci is the Lord first and each other second, much grace abounds in all arenas! :-)

All this to say, I am excited for this upcoming season in my life, and the upcoming season in OUR lives. I know I have neglected many of you in personal communication, and I ask for your forgiveness.

At some point I am going to write a blog about "our story" (Paul's and mine) as it is really quite amazing and a tapestry of the Father Himself! For now, please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our May 1st wedding!