Engaged!!

That's right!  Ya boy's engaged.  haha!!

At approximately 10:15pm on December 31st, 2012, Ms. Chelsey Nicholson said yes.  It was one of those moments that is indescribable.  Perfect.

Chelsey and I have known for a while now that marriage was on the way.  We've been talking about it for months, and she's even been planning some things early--gathering addresses for invitations, buying a dress, deciding her bridesmaids' attire, etc.  We are way ahead of the game!

So with the wedding so certain (and the tentative date closing in quickly), it was tough keeping the proposal a surprise.  Chelsey was starting to get a little antsy about the whole thing and actually asked me the day before I proposed I if I at least knew when I was gonna do it.  She was so happy when I told her I knew you would've thought I proposed to her right then!

So anyways, I had my whole thing prepped and ready to go.  I was gonna pop the question in the exact spot that I first met her.  For us, that first meeting happened at Promiseland Metro Church.  And since I'm the worship pastor there, I have keys :)  Thus, no problem getting in the building when nobody else is around.  Success!

On New Year's Eve, she had no clue it was coming.  We had just eaten dinner with some friends and were on the way back to my house to prep for some people coming over later.  The church is on the way home, so I said I needed to drop some stuff off real quick so that I wouldn't have to worry about it on January 1st.  I get there all ready to go, and I had forgotten my keys.  Are you kidding me?!  Mind racing, I told her I would just have to drop the stuff off tomorrow when I had my keys on me.  So we left, her none-the-wiser.

We get to my house and I'm fervently thinking of some way to make this work tonight as I had planned.  If you know Chelsey, you know that Chelsey loves coffee.  "Aha," I thought, "I will use this for trickery!"

"You want to go to the Creme?" I asked.  "Oh, I think it's closed," she says.  It was.  "Well you said you wanted some coffee...how about Starbucks?" I came back.  Of course she got all happy and said "sure"...she will take any offers for coffee (I usually don't make these offers).

We get the $5+ coffee from the monster that is Starbucks and then head towards the church again.  I really wanna get this stuff dropped off, ya know.

When we get there I ask her to come inside with me and then I give her some work to do to distract her.  While she is working on things, I'm in the sanctuary setting up my scene:  dimly lit, guitar set up, Bible opened, and a folder of dreams/visions/words ready for reading.  Now I'm ready.

I go get her after she finishes up her job.  We begin to exit through the sanctuary and I say something like, "I've got something else for you before we go."  She sees the setup...............and STILL doesn't know what's going on.  Of course, I didn't know this until afterwards, but wow--she must've really thought that I wasn't proposing any time soon :)

I take her coat and ask her to sit in the exact place we first met.  My Bible is open to Song of Solomon chapter 4.  I read her some lines out of there that we both really like, and then I grab my folder.  I read her the word-for-word prophecy I received about her about a year before I met her on 12/11/11.  Then, I grab my guitar as I'm telling her about a song that I started writing for her before we even met.  I sing the song to her for the first time.  She is starting to realize what is going on.

I turn from her for just a moment to retrieve the box from it's hiding place.  I get on one knee in front of her and tell her about how blessed I am to have met her and how I intend to love her, about how I thank God for her and how I intend to be a husband to her.  Finally, I ask her if she would do me the honor of marrying me.  And she said yes.

*     *     *     *     *

We are still just starting, but our whole relationship is a fairy-tale.  Too good to be true many would say.  I beg to differ.  Your reality is different when you live from a different world.  We've got a King who is not confined to the usual.  We've got a King that made love, and we've chosen to honor Him as first in our relationship.  We are not perfect and cannot even pretend to be, but one thing we are is honoring of what we feel God has laid out as boundaries for our relationship.  To honor these boundaries is to bring life--more love, more hope, more goodness.  All these flow as we obey the Father's commands.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds.  I am sure I cannot fathom the blessings that lie ahead for the both of us, but I know it will be good...and I know this because God is faithful.  He is always good and He is always pleased to give good gifts to His children.  I'm so incredibly grateful that He ran Chelsey and I into each other and let this love story start.  Our story is a showcase of God's faithfulness.  He is always good and always faithful, and He will be the same towards you as well.  Love and obey--it's the way to go.

Not Too Late for First Things

The fervency of the new year coming is now on the wane, and I'm betting a lot of diets have already been broken :) However, it's not too late for you to make some commitments this year to what should be priorities in your life. Putting first things first will make your life much more awesome, I guarantee it. As long as your list starts like this, you're getting off the mark right:

1. Relationship with Jesus Christ
2. Family

So if you want to get things going right this year, let's do it!

Here's what I want you to do first: make a list of everything you are thankful for that happened in 2012. Everything. If you had a bad year, find the good and write it down. If your list is real short, then go back further than 2012 and write it out.  You need to be thankful and grateful for what the Lord has done in your life and thank Him for it.  The Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.  Amen.

Now after you have done that, start your list of first things.  These are things that are going to take precedence in your life in 2013.  You know what's important; now it's time to write it out and hold yourself accountable.  (Sidenote:  get somebody else you trust to hold you accountable as well.)

You are writing this list out so that when things come up throughout this year, you can refer back to your list and see how they measure up.  You are also writing out your list because statistic after statistic proves that writing down goals results in much, much higher achievement rates.  Get to writing!!

As long as your list starts with the 2 things above, you will be starting well.  Take some time and make sure the rest of your list makes sense, too.  Where does work go?  Is it more important than time with friends?  How much does money matter to you?  How do you balance work, people, hobbies, etc.?  How much time do you spend on Facebook, and does it amount to anything?  Is fitness a priority?  How about learning new things?  Answering questions like these will help you get your list right.

So write out the good things God has done; give Him thanks; pray about how you spend your time, asking God to lead you where you can do better; examine your heart; write out your first things list for 2013; hold yourself accountable; get somebody you trust to hold you accountable to your list (and critique it if needbe).  You can make 2013 great.  Start right now!

RELEASE

My blog today is just gonna be a simple word I got during our service earlier tonight:

How many times does God have to tell you something before you listen?

Somebody tonight released some things they were holding onto...things that got in the way of their relationship with the Lord. "Release" was what I was feeling in my spirit that needed to happen for somebody. Maybe it's for you, too.

If it is you, then you know that this word is for you, too. Go ahead and get rid of whatever it is that is getting in the way of your relationship with your Creator right now. Release it. Give it to the Lord. Be done with it right now. And watch what wonderful things He does with your heart and life when it's fully surrendered to Him. It's gonna be great!! Amen!!!! Love yall.

In Jesus Christ's Amazing and Never-Ending Love,

adam

Love and Relationships

Just had a very simple revelation:

Two things that the Christian community in the US has been stressing the last few years is that 1) God is love; and, 2) “It’s about a relationship, not religion.” If these two things are true, and we are seeking to imitate God to the best of our ability, then shouldn’t we be all about 1) love; and, 2) relationships?? Makes sense to me. A pretty simple revelation, but could profoundly affect somebody like me…

I’m one of those people that is prone to being driven by tasks and accomplishing things. People like me can sometimes view personal relationships as just another task to be completed during the day. For example, spending 15 minutes on a phone call to a friend, or carving out time to spend with your spouse can become something that is just another item to be marked off a list at the end of the day. This is not healthy!

Being first and foremost about love and relationships brings an entirely different outlook to life. If you are first about love, then you can see past people’s mistakes. If you are first about love, then you find it easier to see the greatness in people. If relationships are of foremost importance to you, then you don’t treat people like an object; you place people above tasks and don’t mind putting time into them.

One of the great points Stephen Covey makes in “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is that you should be effective with people and efficient with things. That means that you shouldn't merely schedule blocks of time to “deal” with people and relationships in your life as you would things, or tasks, that you need to get done. You must be patient and put the necessary time into the people and relationships that matter to you. You can’t treat people and tasks the same.

So I’ve got it in my mind today to be more like my Daddy: be all about love, and be all about relationships.