Faithfulness

Wow, what a couple of months we have had.  First we had the wedding at the beginning of this month which I described in a previous post.  It was a dream, but a dream that I didn't always know I wanted.  I mean, of course to get married was something I dreamed about like any other little girl, but I always thought it would be in Bakersfield and that I would be surrounded by friends and family.  God had something else in mind, though, so we got married in a dream wedding at the beach with different friends and a few family.  Everyone kept telling me that God was going to use the situation for good, and although I knew He would and I knew first hand from past experiences how faithful He is, I still wanted to see what that "good" was going to be for this situation. 

Then we had a hold up with our legal paperwork for our marriage license here in Guatemala so although we got married with a religious ceremony on July 2nd, we didn't go on a honeymoon.  We prayed and felt like we should wait until we had the covering of the church and the law- we are going to have our legal wedding this Tuesday, July 19th. So we had the wedding and then went to sleep in different rooms- not ideal, but when you are following God's plan sometimes our idea of ideal is different than His.  The one thing I was looking forward to was that MY team was coming to YWAM Guatemala from Rosedale Bible Church for 10 days.  I knew it would help pass the time and that it would keep me busy and satisfied and help take my focus off the fact that I was married but not able to sleep with my husband.  I have to be honest, it has been WONDERFUL having my peeps here with me!  Having them work alongside us in ministries is encouraging for me and just to have quality time with them everyday has been awesome.  Last night, however, they outdid themselves.

On the calendar for the team it said "special event" for Sunday night.  I thought, oh I wonder what that will be.  I didn't want to pry too much because I love surprises, but at the same time I have to fight my nosy nature to be able to be surprised.  So the battle was on.  I asked a few questions to a few people and after getting vague answers, I decided I would just wait and see what the event would be.  By the time it got to Sunday afternoon I wasn't really thinking too much about it and when our friends from the base invited us to coffee we didn't think twice before going.  When we got back from coffee, though, I suspected something right away because we opened the door and there were rose petals, streamers, balloons and sunflowers all over.  Then as we entered we heard... SURPRISE!!!  Everyone from the Rosedale Bible Church team had been planning a surprise party for us and it was so much fun!  We got to dance (which we didn't get to do at the real wedding reception) we had pizza, we had cake (and Mario and I shoved it in each others faces), and we were blessed with gifts from the team.  It was something that blew my mind- first of all that they care about us so much that they would plan something like that for us, and second of all that they would bless us not only with a party but with a night in a hotel and some cash for the honeymoon.  That is what church family is all about- being there for the good times and the bad and being willing to encourage and bless in whatever way possible.  Mario and I can't say thank you enough to the people who were involved in the party.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives!  Thank you for allowing God's faithfulness you shine through you and thank you for showing us the "good" in the situation!!! 

First Dance

Doing the "Cha Cha Slide"

Opening the wonderful gifts

Expressing our gratitude to the team

  The Cake Shove

Pictures...

Thank you Carol and Mikayla Feil for your beautiful work and your friendship.  You two have blessed us beyond what we could have ever imagined!!!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

DISCLAIMER: THERE  ARE NO PHOTOS YET BUT I PROMISE TO PUT SOME ON AS SOON AS I GET THEM...

This is the first post from the new Mrs. Martinez!  I can't believe I have a husband much less a new last name!  So much excitement going on around here, I thought I would share some of the joy with you.

My mom and dad got here on the Saturday before the wedding and it was a good thing because we were running around ALL week long getting final details taken care of for the wedding and also painting and decorating our soon to be room.  I am so excited about the room- I just love it!  I will show pictures in a soon following post so that you can see how wonderful it is.  After the week we were all pretty tired, but thankfully we got a breath of fresh air on Friday morning when two of my favorite people in the world got off the airplane in Guatemala City.  That is right, Mikayla and Carol Feil were here in full force ready for the weekend!  It was just the shot of life that we needed to have them there so we ate breakfast at McDonald's, quickly packed and headed 2 hours away to the beautiful Puerto San Jose for the weekend. 

When we got to the house where we would be staying (which was also the wedding location and PERFECT if I do say so myself!) we looked around , enjoyed the beach (which was in the back yard) and rested for the afternoon while Mario aka Super Groom, drove the 2 hours back to the city to bring some of his family members who were arriving from Livingston.  Friday night was pretty calm, but we needed it.  We went out to eat at Pollo Campero and then hit up the grocery store for a few snacks and breakfast items.  We took a quick dip in the pool and called it a night since we knew we would have a big day ahead.

Saturday started out quite calmly as we ate our breakfast of eggs and black beans and lounged around for a little bit.  The chairs and tables showed up before long and it was showtime.  We had lots of help decorating from some amazing friends and things got done really quickly.  Holes were drilled in coconuts for the centerpieces, lanterns were hung, chairs and tables were set up and we even had time to relax a little bit before it was time to start getting ready.  Well everyone except Mario, that is, because he was running around getting things up until the last minute which once again wins him the title of Super Groom.  I went up to the room that I was going to get ready in and started to do my makeup.  I am not going to lie, it felt really weird getting ready without my girls Erin, Denise and Layne by my side, and I even had a moment where I teared up a bit before I pulled myself together and finished getting ready.  Next up was my friend from Puerto San Jose, Wendy the hairdresser.  She and I had a practice session the week before and I loved what she did so I was super excited when she arrived.  Then after I got my hair done, I put my dress on.  Magical.  That is all I have to say about that.  Then as I was waiting in the room, people started arriving and although I should have been a nervous wreck, I was completely calm as I watched them walk by from my second story window.  Then, at 4:30 (the wedding was supposed to start at 4 but as much as I tried we were still functioning on Guatemala time) it began to rain a little bit so Super Groom rallied the guests together and they moved all the chairs from the outside to the tables under the palm leave covered area aka plan b.  It didn't really matter to me at that point, all I wanted was my soon to be mother-in-law to be ready (she was taking more time than I did to get dressed) and for the show to get on the road. 

It was not long before they told me to come out of hiding and then I heard the wonderful sound of Ode to Joy play and I knew it was my turn to walk down the isle.  It was beautiful.  It didn't matter that it was raining or that the isle was not big enough to accommodate me, my dress, my mom and my dad. It didn't matter that I couldn't find Mario right away because the set up of plan B made it so that he was hidden behind a crowd of guests.  Nothing mattered except for the fact that I was about to marry the man of my dreams.  It was an amazing ceremony with communion and a black and white sand ceremony.  I couldn't stop staring and the gorgeous man in the handsome white suite with the beaming smile on his face standing in front of me.  We were pronounced husband and wife, we kissed, and then Michael Jackson sang us down the isle with his famous and fitting tune of "Black or White".

After a whirlwind photo session, typical food from Livingston that we didn't even eat, cake that we got one bite of, lots of hugs and kisses from the 100 plus guests, and a bouquet toss that ended up closer to the basketball hoop than the crowd of single women, the night was coming to an end.  What a beautiful day!  I can't imagine not having Mario Romaldo Martinez Blanco in my life and I am getting used to the fact that I am now Mrs. Susan Irene Martinez Fidler!!!