Charles and I...

Kent reads Spurgeon's daily devotions online a lot, and occasionally I will stumble upon his page looking to be enlightened or encouraged. Today, Charles' thoughts resonate with my soul.

I am longing for those rare times where God's presence is so near and thick that you can literally feel him as you pray, worship, and go about daily tasks. It's those times that faith is easy and following the Lord is truly the desire of my heart. Today is not that day. In fact, that day has not come in months. Praise God for good teaching at The Village where I have learned to still pursue the Lord and live a life of faith even if I don't feel like it. Besides that, this life would be lived in vain if I worshiped the Lord only based on the feelings that it gave me or what he could provide for me. I have got to give him glory for all things, at all times despite how I feel. May my soul be desperate in all times for him, and may I cling to the hopes of what he is doing in my life even if I don't see it. More than all of these things, let me cry out in heart-felt worship for Christ's sake...for the fact that He came as my substitution for sin, and because Christ will return and His kingdom will come!

Anyway, I just thought I would share in case you may be having that day too. Spurgeon's daily below.

"Sing, O barren."—Isaiah 54:1.
THOUGH we have brought forth some fruit unto Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are "plants of His own right hand planting," yet there are times when we feel very barren. Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops. We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower. In such a condition what are we to do? The text is addressed to us in just such a state. "Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud." But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith He loved His people when He came from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there. Go to Calvary again. Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness. What is my barrenness? It is the platform for His fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of His everlasting love. I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell Him that I am still His child, and in confidence in His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.
Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones. Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon; now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit He will soon cover thee with clusters. The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visitations are delightful. A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be, for in Him is our fruit found.

Pictures are up!!

Go to this website

Kentsten Wedding Pics

Click on our gallery and use your email address as the password. There are A TON of pictures so you can navigate quickly by using the categories (ceremony, reception etc) in the left hand corner.

Happy looking!!

Who's Who..and other random fun...

My sweet husband has been super busy at work lately, so much that at times he has to do an hour plus writing at night. Me, trying to be the quiet wife, busies herself with reading or being on the internet. Though I received the final book of the Twilight series in the mail today (and have already plunged through 50+ pages:)is choosing the internet...aka blogging (like the new background???). Here is some random fun...

Can you tell which one is the Kent part of Kentsten and which one is the Kristen part? Pretty tough, huh. Or maybe we are actually the same person and this whole marriage thing is actually some deep twisted thing with a weird outcome. What?




Next, it's been a long time since I have posted anything of my adorable niece, Addie. Here she is on our day trip to Selado a few weeks ago. (She is trying to mimic the things next to her in the pictures)





And here she is singing her version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star...http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif


Despite what my wife-in-training mentor thought (understand her skepticism on my Wifey 101 post), I have actually been cooking...and ENJOYING it! I don't feel like posting all the recipes right now...I will do that another day, but here are two of the recipes I have tried. This first one was a recommendation from Dawntoya . If you like spicy things, you will love this dish! Get the recipe here.

One of my favorite things I tried so far was low fat crab cakes.

Get that recipe here.
I served that with Baked Sweet Potato Fries.
I found this recipe on a blog...she has a lot of good stuff I want to try!

Sara Duran was our Tuesday night dinner guest this week, and she brought all of her old Cooking Light magazines which will hopefully turn into lots of delicious meals!

Okay, Kent is still busy, but I must get back to my Vampire Saga. More to come later...

Identity Crisis

I still don't have pictures of the wedding to share yet, but posting that one blog earlier this week got my juices flowing and I have been eager to share several different things. So check back in a few days for another post. Kent also has some stuff he wants to write about, so for those of you that know him you know you can anticipate being enlightened through his words.

At our rehearsal dinner we opened the floor for anyone that wanted to share stories or toasts. Many people shared very encouraging things, and I know that both Kent and I left praising the Lord for friends and family and the story that we find ourselves wrapped up in. After the rehearsal dinner was over and my parents and I decided to join some of our extended family for a drink at the hotel bar. It was there that my mom began to question some of the stories shared at the rehearsal dinner. She said that many people spoke of me having wonderful qualities that surrounded a "type-a" person: being efficient, planned, organized, etc, etc., but she wondered where were the stories of the Kristen she knew. The little girl that loved to spend hours upon hours reading, writing, and creating things, the girl who loved to cook, and the girl who once was the complete antithesis of type-a...hiding things under her bed, waiting until the last minute to complete anything, hanging any memorabilia on her bedroom wall regardless of how tacky it was...and on and on. My mom said that she regretted not sharing at the rehearsal dinner where this now "strong, type-a woman" had once been as a child.

That night I just laughed my mom's perspective off without giving it much thought, but somewhere during the time on our honeymoon I realized that she was right in someways. I think that during middle school and high school people in my life starting recognizing leadership qualities in me, so I was trusted with responsibility. I was placed as class president, youth group leadership team, etc, etc. This continued in college with me immediately stepping into major leadership roles in my sorority. It was during my time as ZTA president that I learned the skill of efficiency and how to get many things accomplished in a short period of time. I was praised frequently for my ability to manage a good GPA, running an organization with 150 women, spending time with my out of town boyfriend, and still maintaining a good social life. I liked how that praise felt, and so I learned to refine those skills of efficiency, organization, and leadership until I found my identity in my leadership. I graduated from college a little over 5 years ago, and somewhere in there a lot of the skills that I prided myself on had turned in to anxiety, rigidity and control. With the increase in these refined characteristics was also the decrease of some of my first loves like reading and creating.

For the first time since middle school I am currently not in any leadership roles. Kent and I agreed that our primary ministry focus for our first year of marriage would be and should be our marriage. Marriage has not only brought on the death of the unhealthy, independent spirit that I once possessed, but also the death of where I once found my identity. Praise God that when He kills a sinful, unhealthy portion of our flesh He also fills us with His Holy Spirit and births new life.

My identity is not found in leading this or that, not in being a wife, not in my personality or preferences, but in Christ alone. He is teaching me in order to be fully the person He purposed for me to be, I have to be rooted and found in Him. So, my mom was right, the Lord did give me a love for creative things. I love to read, write, and have long deep conversations. At the same time, God also created me as having a mind that enjoys leading, planning, and a good organizational system! In Christ, I am allowed to be all of these things for His glory and His purposes. Any of these things become sin the second they take precedence over the gospel of Christ.

For those of you that are still reading, I wanted to share some of the books that I have had time to read this summer. Warning..the spacing of all of these is weird, so sorry for that!

The first is Sacred Marriage. One of my student's moms gave me this book for a wedding present. The subtitle of the book is "What if God designed marriage for our holiness instead of our happiness. It is rich book filled with wonderful reminders and insight on the relationship of a husband and wife.

I have not completed this book yet, but if nothing else all women should read the chapter on the lies that women believe about their body. The author does a great job at identifying the lies and then leading you through truth to repent and combat those lies.

Okay, these next 3 are apart of a series (the 4th comes out today!!!). Many of you will laugh that I have read these thick books that are intended for teenage women.

Yes, the plot is about werewolves and vampires, but I am allowed to appreciate a good story...and these are great stories. There are parties tonight for the release of the 4th book, but instead I just chose to quietly pre-order mine online.

Sacred Sex...I am a huge advocate of this book, because it completely defined what sex between husband and wife is about. We all know that we are bombarded with what sex is according to Hollywood, magazines, etc...but this book defines what God intended it be.

The Road was awesome! The author is an amazing writer and is able to paint an amazing picture and story with his words.


Excellent story that evoked a lot of emotion. The theology is very questionable, but the some of the imagery is good and author wrote a good story. Read more about the thoughts regarding theology here.



This next one is one of my husband's favorite books. I finished it this morning, and thought it was excellent, but really deep. I think for me to fully grasp the story and the symbolism I am going to have to read it again.



I am currently reading Tim Keller's Reason for God. I think this book will be excellent resource when faced with the "hard" questions about why Christ. I know I have friends out there that are cursing me for having months off at a time, especially those who also know that I have had lots of time to watch movies I have never seen like Lord of the Rings (can I say, amazing!) and cook. More on those topics later.

Um, yeah..

That's the only thing I can think of for a title when I haven't posted in over 2 months. I have been yelled at by the 4 people that still faithfully check this little blog. Side note: most likely my Psalm63 blog and Kent's Shadow Forest blog will be put quietly to sleep and a new blog will merge for the both of us. That is all to come, so stay posted.


Not sure where to begin when my life is radically different than the last time i posted. Kent and I were married on July 4, 2008. For everyone who then says,"You
got married on the Fourth of July?" um, yes obviously the Fourth of July and July 4th are the same date. (You wouldn't believe how many people say that!) Our wedding was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I prayed a lot that we would remember the entire day, and by his grace we do. I heard the stories of everything being a blur too many times, and I really was thankful to Him for not letting that happen. We don't have wedding pics back yet, but as soon as we do I will post some of them on here. You can see one of us on our photographer's blog.

Our rehearsal dinner was at Mattito's in Dallas. The food and drinks were amazing, and it was a wonderful night with close friends and family. Here is a picture of my friend Amber Cassidy and I. She has known me very well since I was about 8 years old, so you can only imagine the stories she told during her toast.



I spent Thursday night with my parents at The Magnolia Hotel in Dallas, which was a risky thing to do the night before your wedding since both of them snore terribly. Thanks to Kent and Geoff, I slept wonderfully all because of the ear plugs they purchased for me. Friday I awoke refreshed and surprisingly very calm. Lindsey Brittain, who was my wedding week right hand man, my mom, my sister, and I spent the day at the Ritz Carlton eating lunch and getting our hair and makeup done. This was a special wedding day treat from my mom and sister. Here are the pictures.







I am going to wait until I have more pictures from the wedding to share those details, but let me say it again...It was the best day of my life. Here are a few of the pictures I do have.




If you were at the wedding and you have pictures, please send them to me!! I hardly have any, and I am itching to see some.

So, the wedding details and honeymoon will be a separate post, but I wanted to share one more thing since who knows when I will actually getting around to blogging again. I have been reading through the book of Proverbs this summer, and I have noticed several themes...watching the tongue, pursuing wisdom, fearing the Lord, foolishness vs. wisdom, etc. One theme that I have been extra sensitive to recently is how many times Solomon and the other writers of Proverbs mention wives.

Proverbs 11:22 "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion."

Proverbs 12:4b "She who brings shame is like rottenness in his (her husband's) bones."

Proverbs 19:13 "...and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain."

Proverbs 21:9 "It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than i a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

Proverbs 21:19 "It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman."

Proverbs 27:15-16 "A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand."

So, it may seem as if the writers of Proverbs are suggesting that wives are only annoying and out of control, but considering that Solomon also wrote Song of Solomon which is all about making love to his bride, I doubt that. The writers of Proverbs also say:

Proverbs 12:4a "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband."

Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord."

Proverbs 19:14b "but a prudent wife is from the Lord."

I share all of this as encouragement to wives and those that desire to be wives. The call is weighty and hard, but it is one that is from the Lord. We cannot submit, serve, respond, or encourage our husbands in the way scripture asks us to in our own strength, but through humility that produces dependence on Christ we will be able to fulfill the task the Lord has called us to. Ask the Lord to teach you when to speak and when to be silent. Let's learn not to be quarrelsome, but instead encouraging and supportive.

My daily prayer for Kent and I comes from Proverbs 5:18-19, "Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love." I want the love and passion that Kent and I have shared these first 3 weeks of marriage to be a fraction of what is coming in 10, 20, or 30 years. All of this is by the Lord's grace alone!

If we aren't sure where to start on the pursuit of becoming godly women, Proverbs 31:10-31 provides a strong foundation. This list isn't exhaustive, but some of the qualities of an excellent wife: She is trustworthy, good to her husband, hardworking, wise, strong, giving, creative, courageous, prepared, dignified, kind, and on and on the list can go. Again, the task is not easy, but my prayer and desire is at the end of life this can be said for me, "Her children rise up and called her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." (Proverbs 31:28-29) I think verse 10 of this chapter suggests that this woman is rare, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." My desire is to be a rare woman that always remembers, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Stolen

In my weakness and failures Christ is perfect. When I walk in my prideful flesh, I eventually will fall. I prove it to myself again and again, yet the lesson is one that I have to consistently be reminded of. The Gospel of Christ is my only hope. I was conceived in sin and possess nothing good within me, there has to be a substitution for my sin. That substitution is Christ. He bore God's wrath and made a way for perfection...not me, but Him...Jesus Christ. I cannot earn His love, I cannot be good enough, I must have Christ. Tonight I feel intimately acquainted with the sin that I thought was far behind me. Temptation rose up and I tumbled in, despite the path of escape the Lord provided. Here is what I know: I know that God forgives me instantly upon repentance, that He embraces me again, assures me of hope that can only be found in Christ, and then He holds me up with his right hand. The beautiful Gospel.

Nothing can separate me from His love. Nothing can separate me from His love. Nothing can separate me from His love. Romans 8:37-39

I stole this YouTube thing from Bleecker's blog without his permission, but God used it tonight to speak to me so I wanted to share it with all of you. If you do watch it, watch it to the end...you have to hear the words of Colossians 1.

Wifey 101

Like I said on my last post, I am living with Steve and Glo Gaddis. Glo has discipled me for about 2 1/2 years...our relationship basically consists drinking a lot of coffee and long talks. Those talks consist of everything from theology, to Home Group management, to cooking, to shopping, to husbands, to prayer, to tears, to laughter, and on and on the list could go. Moving in has allowed me to watch a godly woman 25 years ahead of me get excited about the things the Lord teaches her on a daily basis. I have watched her walk through times of trials and suffering with dependence and faith, and learned what the prayers of a faithful mom and wife look and sound like. I see the tears she cries over her children, longing for them to know the deepest parts of the Lord. I watch her serve the body of Christ through relationships with younger women and through leading her Home Group. I marvel at the way she serves and encourages her husband, and the way she gracefully tends to her home. The Lord had purpose beyond convenience and saving money in me moving into this house, He wanted me to soak in and imitate this God fearing and God loving woman.

With all of that truth said, there is also a lot of humor attached to Glo teaching me to become a wife. You see, there are those women like my beautiful friend Shelly that have wanted to be a wife and a mother from the very beginning. They were blessed with gentle and compassionate hearts, natural quiet spirits, and know from birth how to tend to their homes. I am not that girl. I have rough hands that have been titled as "man-hands" by some of my closest friends. I have pridefully worn my singles cape for about 4 years, and silently gloated as others prayed for their husband to come along. I cook 5 times a year...homemade croissants and buttermilk pie at Thanksgiving, ooey gooey bars at Christmas, and then a random meal here or there when I am feeling Martha Stewart-y. I ran my calendar with rigidity not leaving room for anything that was not pre-planned. That was all before...now God has blessed me with Kent and called me to be His wife. I have repented for my single prideful ways, and tried to fully embrace the blessing of dating, engagement, and preparation for marriage. I thought it would be funny to post random stories about God using Glo to teach me how to become a wife. Starting with entry #1: Wifey 101:

Picture this, it's 9:45 on Thursday night. I am tired and irritable from the previous 5 hours of moving Rebekah and I out of our apartment into Public Storage. Kent willingly and lovingly helped us in this move, and so he too is exhausted and hungry. We discuss where to eat. Options are exchanged, but no decision is made, and we end up back at my new/temporary home-The Gaddis's. Now from my previous explanation of the type of woman Glo is, you can assume that she has a kitchen full of yummy food that would take minimal effort for me to prepare for my starving fiance. Your assumption is correct...there is all sorts of delicious choices that I could use to feed Kent. I open the pantry and my eyes fall to beloved Cheerios. I don't ask if he likes Cheerios, I simply put them in front of him along with a bowl, milk, and spoon. Cheerios was my decided dinner for him. Kent quietly opens the box and pours the cute little whole grain oat cereal into the bowl. Just as he is about to pour the milk over the cereal we hear Glo yell from her bedroom, "you will not feed that boy cereal for dinner!" She gets out of bed, puts on her robe, glares at me, and then lovingly provides a gourmet sandwich for Kent. I sulk in the corner as I see Kent begin to smirk. Glo snaps her head toward me and says, "I've got two months with you missy. We will make a wife outta you!" Kent no longer hides his smirk, but allows it to stretch fully across his face. He was probably relieved his options for dinner for the rest of his life would not be me saying, "Hey babe, did you want Cheerios or Fruit Loops tonight?"

Class is in session for WIFEY 101!

Wheredyago??

So being in 12 weddings as a bridesmaid (I wonder if I can list them all: Megan, Sara F., Kelly, Sarah B., Czarina, Kristen W., Lauren W., Shelly, Dawntoya, Lauren F., Melissa, and soon to be Chev) did not prepare me adequately for planning my own and preparing to become a wife. You hear and/or witness the busy times, the moving, the premarital counseling, the learning how to deal with new a new family, budgeting together etc, etc, but I didn't get it until I entered it myself. Currently I am laying on a bed that is not mine, in a room that is not mine, and living in a house that I do not pay rent or a mortgage for...I am officially living with Steven and Glo Gaddis (and Roommate, aka Bex). That is just one of the minor changes that has occurred in recent months. We officially move out of Timber Ridge tomorrow night with the help of Kent, Abe (Bex's brother), and Matt McCauley's Home Group. Bex and Kris will officially no longer reside in the Flo Mo ghetto. I will miss that place. I told Kent today that we need our pic taken in front of the sign there since it was where we met (thanks Paul and Geoff), where we started dating, where we first kissed, and the location for many long talks/romantic moments/movie watching/etc. I am glad dating and engagement will be over in 72 days (I am not psycho, I looked on The Knot website to find out how long it was :). This middle ground is hard and I am ready to be married to Kent, but we are really fighting to enjoy this time and enjoy the moment. Wedding planning is going well, and I think I am done with all big decisions!!! I hope that it is fun and beautiful, but I really my prayer is that each little decision in some way bring the Lord glory and make His name known...so everything from the music sang, to the dress, to the way the food tastes, I want it all to be a reflection of Jesus. Otherwise, we have just spent way too much money on a party that everyone will forget about in a few weeks. Only 30 days left of work before summer vacation. There are some drawbacks to my job, but I think hands down the vacation time cannot be beat! I am really praying this summer is intentional and purposeful. Anyway, this is the most random post ever and all that actually read my blog probably already knew each of these details, but nonetheless, typing while laying in bed sounded appealing tonight. I may regret it when my alarm goes off at 4:45 am to workout...probably not. In all of this, I know that God is good and that even these earthly decisions can get me more of Him and bring Him glory...it's a fight, especially for me who is prone to materialism, control, and selfishness. Pray for me!

This post is poorly written and random, but it's something!!

Good night!

A few pictures

My favorite friend and photographer took a few pictures so that we could use one for our Save the Date cards and so that mom could put one in the local newspaper. So, check out the famous Lindsey Brittain's blog to see a few pics of Kentsten http://lindseysheaphotography.blogspot.com/.

Think mom will put the one of us kissing in the grass in the Corpus Christi Caller Times??

THANKS LINDSEY!

The Letter

Several of you have said that you were unable to see Kent's letter that he wrote while He was in Israel. I reread it this morning, and really feel like it is from the Lord and so I want to share it. Oh, why am I able to write a blog midmorning on a Thursday, because I took a mental health day (aka a personal day!). The morning consisted of working out, a good breakfast, and time with the Lord that was not controlled by the clock telling me to get to work. I have 4 blogs floating in my head, maybe over spring break I will be able to get them written. The letter (you can see the original post from our engagement story in The Story of Kentsten):

Dear Kristen,

I sit overlooking the Mediterranean Sea now, thinking of the Lord, and you. I think the hardest thing any two humans may face as the grow closer may be their desire to yearn for each other, more than yearning for the Lord. It is so easy and natural to do-taking creation and exalting it above the Creator. One may be tempted in reading the above and think, "that's not how my parents are, or my friends are, or my sister is, or my brother is, they quarrel, they have their hope in hobbies and careers they don't burn for each other. They did, but they don't now." Why is this? Two people fall for each other, burn with yearning and passion, then at some point find themselves burnt out on each other and onto other things. It is James 4:1-19, Why do we fight and argue? Is it not the desires that rage withing us? Yes, because n the above examples we put our yearning and hope completely in human flesh and cursed are we if this is our ultimate hope. When flesh fails, passionate fights will occur, because our god (the person) has let us down.

But what if this didn't happen? What if we begged the Lord to give us the grace to have our eyes opened and our ears made to hear the Truth-that there is only one who is worthy of our ultimate yearning. One ONE who is worthy of our ultimate hope, only ONE who is worthy to be called Lord of Lords and King of Kings-Jesus Christ. What if he would give two people the joy of enjoying His creation the way it was intended-for it to cause worship to the creator of all things? What if He let two people not look to flesh to satisfy the scorched places, but to Him who gives a watered garden, whose waters do not fail? What if He would open our eyes and ears to know Him as Lord, and not each other? It would be amazing. It is what I am begging for in this relationship. It is not natural, and it is not always easy, but He is faithful to do what He wills, and I know that He works all things for good according to His purposes for those that love Him and that He call as His children: and even if He doesn't give any of that, He has given us everything already. But oh! How we can entreat, plead, and beg Him for more. This is my hope and desire more than anything. That we would know this life as we know it now is temporary and a time for harvest of the Kingdom of God and for the sanctification of His fruitful seed. Ultimately it is not about happiness and comfort-though He may give those things (may it cause worship!), but it is about Him!!! May we get that.

Lord, put us before the throne, begging you for this-that you alone are God and you alone are worthy of our worship. This is my hope. This is my dream for marriage. This is my prayer. May it be.

"Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for My sake will preserve it."

Wouldn't it be amazing if this was not how we only entered marriage, but our daily lives...knowing that all of this was merely apart of a bigger, grander plan. We can only see in part, but He sees in full.

Tagged...Again

I was tagged by Rebekah to complete one of these little survey deals. Now that I am getting married maybe I can go back and complete that one that was going around for a few months about husbands. Who takes the trash out, which side of the bed we sleep on, how he proposed, etc. Isn't it funny how we are fascinated by other people's lives. I think like anything there can be a healthy interest and then it can bleed over to gossip...it's a fine line!! I think that is why we are consumed with celebrity gossip...the television shows, the magazines, the websites...we are fascinated. I wonder if we actually ever stop to pray for those people...yikes, I know I forget a lot. Today I had lunch with one of my best friends from college. We lived together our senior year at Tech and one of our favorite things to do was to go get coffee at Barnes and Noble and read People and Us. We figured out today that it has been 5 years since we were in college. Now almost everyone is married (me in July and her in November) and some even expecting babies now (congrats to Summer and Kelly!!). I was supposed to be filling out a survey and suddenly it turned into my rambling. Anyway...


10 years ago:
-I was a junior in high school
-I was driving a 1988 Grand-Am
-I was recovering from my second knee surgery
-I was dating a guy named Chris Dupree (I thought I would marry him because he was a pastor, I really thought I wanted to be a pastor's wife...so I only dated guys that had that intention. ha, ha)


Things on my to-do list today:
-complete paperwork for kids in LISD and for my private clients
-go see Adam (my 26 year old down's client...we're working on increasing his length of utterence so that he can be more functional at his job at Tinsel Town)
-Decide which wedding invitations I like
-Mail my dad a card just because
-Go eat with Kent, Geoff, and Heather before Film and Theology (Luther!!)


What I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire
-Pay all of my debt and Kent's debt
-Pay my parents back for college & my wedding
-Take my mom and sister to a week long spa
-Shop
-Give to someone who really needs it but wasn't expecting it
-Buy a house
-Travel
-Adopt a child from Africa
-Give to someone who doesn't deserve it
-Save...

Three of my bad habits:
-Picking at my nails
-Overplanning and overscheduling
-Coffee (specifically a venti 2 pump toffee nut americano from Starbucks)


Five jobs I have had:
-Waitress at Outback
-Book filer at Texas Tech Health Science Center library (yes, it was as boring as it sounds)
-Jason Clarke's assistant (ha, ha!)
-TA for my graduate advisor at UTD
-Speech Pathologist


Five things people don't know about me:
-I wake up at 4:45
-I like to read Time magazine when I have a chance
-That I smashed the screen on my brand new Apple MacBook 2 weeks after getting it (then sweet Kent helped me fix it and then we fell in love :)
-That I will spend my wedding night at The Mansion on Turtle Creek as Mrs. Rabalais
-That I would love to go skiing in Switzerland

Oh, I tag Kelly Tarro, Czarina (sorry girls, now that you're bloggers you have to play the game) and Kent

Way out of order, and way overdue...

I know it is almost March, but I never posted any Christmas pictures...and when you have a niece as cute as mine, you have to post Christmas pictures. So, this will be short and sweet (those that know me well are laughing, because my blogs are never short). Christmas 2007/New Year's Celebration 2008. Enjoy!

Picture this. 3 adults, 1 baby, 1 dog, luggage for everyone, Christmas presents for both our family and Wes' family all in 1 car on the 7 hour drive from Dallas to Corpus. How do you get the baby to stay happy? You load up on DVDs for her to watch and feed her complete junk food. Here she is eating a gas station corny dog. Please note that my sister is an amazing mom and never feeds Addie like this. Desperate times call for desperate measures.


My mom and I LOVE Scrabble!! We played 3 times over the week I was home. This night, my brother-in-law, Wes, decided to team up with my mom and play 2 against 1. They won...barely...and they cheated, they think you can write out words on a piece of paper to help you brainstorm. Um, I think that is called CHEATING.



Christmas Morning





I received some great gifts. Cute shoes, money, perfume, etc, etc. One of my favorites were these new silk pajamas from my sister. Below, one of my not-so-favorites. Mom thought I would LOVE this jacket thing, yikes Mom...thanks for trying though.



This is Kent teaching my mom to text message. I wasn't expecting Kent to come down to my parent's house, but on Thursday night he arrived!! I now know it was to ask my parents if he could marry me. If you know my dad, you would applaud Kent for having the guts to ask him!




My sister modeling her new jacket...




Cousin's House





Finally New Year's. This was the greatest NY celebration of my life. We went to Crystal Beach (Galveston). Everyone could do whatever they wanted...sleep, read, play games, spend time alone, etc. It was great!!

The Story of Kentsten

You've heard of Bragelina and Bennifer, now it is time for you to meet Kentsten. Lindsey Brittain and Geoff Ashley competed to give us our celebrity name, but Lindsey's choice of Kentsten won out over Geoff's pick of Kristent. Here is a small piece of our story.

Dating Life: For the sake of this being the longest post ever, I will spare you the back story of how Kent and I met and the tons of ways he romanced and pursued me while dating. I will just say that he is creative, thoughtful, prayerful, and intentional. What made me fall for him?? Primarily the way he loves Christ and that he lives knowing that everything in this life is a means to getting more of Jesus. But, it was also the constant sweet things...for example walking out to find flowers on my doorstep on HIS birthday with an amazingly sweet note attached. It is the silly things like him performing the Souljah Boy at my niece's birthday party and our New Year's celebration. The common interests like writing and deep conversations...the not-so-common interests like The Cowboys (him) and sushi (me). Of course you can't really explain in words what it is you love, all I know is that God made my heart respond to Kent's pursual and I am going to be his wife!!

The Proposal: On February 3rd Kent cooked an amazing dinner of spinach and ricotta chicken, salad, and veggies. The table was covered with candles, rose petals, and a bouquet of flowers. After dinner we went near the lake where Kent started a fire and read me several letters that he had written over the course of our dating relationship. The first was a letter to me while he was in Israel, but it was more of a prayer he had written for our marriage. Second, he read a few pages from his journal about the little details that he loves about me, followed by some verses from Song of Solomon. Last he read this: (sorry, it may be hard to read)




Finally, he bent down on his knee, asked me to be his wife and put this beautiful ring on my finger.

He designed the ring himself, so the diamonds are all placed with symbolism.



After the proposal:We walked a little further to a wooden cross and spent some time worshiping and praying for our marriage. We had never prayed together (other than meals or with other friends), so I loved that our first prayer together was for our marriage to be to the glory of God.

The Engagement Party:We went to my sister's where about 25 of our friends were waiting to celebrate with us. The night was complete with encouragement, champagne, chocolate fondue, and prayer. Here are some pictures from the night.

The scrapbook my sister began for us with pictures of us, a letter from my mom, and notes from everyone at the party.



The beautiful table



The Champagne Toast



Friends that celebrated with us




Sharing our story





Family Pictures




Kent and I are products of the community that surrounds us. God has used family, friends, The Village Church, and our home groups to grow and shape us. We really believe that the gospel collides with all aspects of our lives. Dates, flowers, romantic nights, delicious food, a thought provoking movie, silly moments, good conversation...etc...are not earned or deserved, they are merely an extension of His grace and shadows of God's love. I love our story mostly because it is not ending with Kensten, but instead it will end with how it began...Jesus Christ.