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