Wonderfully Overwhelmed

So it's been over a week now that Jane and I have been engaged, and I think my mind is starting to come back down to earth and a state of "normalcy."  The last week has been amazing, and I'm getting to the point where I can start to put together a few of my thoughts in a little more coherent manner.  Here are a few of the things that have stuck out to me over the past week:

1.  Being engaged is AWESOME!  Last week I posted about the emotional swing from "scared to death nervous" to "out of this world happy" that accompanied the proposal, but as time has gone on I've realized all sorts of other aspects of this time that are amazing.  Since I have known this was coming for a couple of months, I've been constantly biting my tongue when conversations come up about the future, trying not to give away too much.  Now it's all on the table, though, which is a great feeling!  Jane has also confessed that she's much less suspicious of me these days...

2.  Jane and I have UNBELIEVABLE friends and families!  The outpouring of support that we've received this week has been humbling, inspiring, encouraging, and so full of love.  Talking to both of our families last week was incredibly joyful, and we are so blessed to have parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. that are thrilled to share this season of our lives with us.  It was so fun to call friends back in the States (sometimes even waking them up in the morning) and share our big news...the screams and laughs and excited questions just multiplied our exhilaration!  Then the news got out on facebook, and it was super entertaining to watch all of the comments, wall-posts, "likes" and messages come in on a minute-by-minute basis while everyone woke up in America and saw the news pop up in their newsfeeds...sometimes technology is mind-blowing in a great way! 


3.  Weddings are a big deal! All of my married friends have passed on their wedding-planning knowledge, but I don't think I could ever really understand all of the aspects that go into it before I started to really sit down and think through everything.  Thankfully, Jane and I are very much on the same page with everything, and we CAN'T WAIT to celebrate with all our friends and family!  We have also been blessed with parents and friends who are willing to do so much to make this happen, even while we are on the other side of the Atlantic.  I would love your prayers for this planning process - there are definitely challenges associated with the fact that we are in Africa right now, so we are really praying that God would go with us through every step of the way, that He would help the details to fall into place, and that He would protect all of our hearts and minds, keeping us sane and full of joy in everything! 

God has been so faithful and good to us - thank you all again for your prayers and your support, and stay tuned to see where this journey takes us! 

Blast from the past - exactly three years ago!