Draw near to God and HE will draw near to you. (james 4:4)

It seems that in the past 15 hours, the Lord has been moving mountains in our favor. Nate and I went shopping last night *again* in search of a wedding band for me. We've been looking for months- pretty much since he proposed- to no avail. Many of you have heard or seen our frustrations and it seemed like everywhere we went, they had the same wrong rings. I was starting to feel defeated. "We're going to look at wedding rings" was not a statement of joy, but rather one heavy laden with the negativity that usually accompanies losing.

So, we set out again last night. The only reason this outing was enjoyable to start with was the fact that Nate was there. It's a strange thing in love- the way simply being with him makes my world seem less chaotic, more doable, less threatening. Life's winds can be whirling around us in a million different directions, but when I'm with Nate, we're able to find a calm. I love that.

It was the 4th and final store for the evening. We had 45 minutes until the mall closed and I'd heard, "Oh honey, let me clean your ring for you," three times already. (I don't think my ring has been this clean yet!) We explained what we were looking for and ran into the same situations as all the stores before. My shoulders fell farther with each passing minute and I began to think that our options were to a) leave defeated for the night and try it all again next week to see if anyone had magically ordered in my "perfect ring" or b) custom make something that was going to cost thousands of dollars to make. I was not OK with the latter.

Natalie, the young woman who was helping us, was very patient and listened to exactly what we wanted. We visited and tried ring after ring next to mine. At some point, I think it was Nate who suggested getting two separate bands- one for each side of my engagement ring. We tried a couple of channel set princess cut bands, but they just seemed too bulky.

Natalie leaned into the case, "Now I'm not sure if you'll even like this, BUT...." She brought out two very thin, very sparkling bands and placed one on each side.

I fell head over heels for it.

"Yes. I love it. This is it."

I think Nate let out a sigh of relief that could have blown little Natalie over, had she not been prepared. "This is the first time I've seen her smile like this since we've started looking for a band..."

Needless to say, we were both relieved, exhausted, ecstatic, hopeful, thrilled, etc. We went home with twins, two shiny, sparkling rings in two matching boxes, with two matching grins, knowing we had found the perfect fit.

We came home to great news about a wonderful couple of friends who are moving back here after years in Kentucky.

I woke up to a phone call from a dear, dear friend in Japan. It was so good to hear his voice.

I have an interview today at the school I want to be teaching at. I want to be part of their team. I want to be the new young teacher who is still hopeful and energized about teaching. The one who feels like she can take on the world and move every child in her classroom. I want to encourage other teachers, be the one who people say, "there's just something about her".... the one who is used as a tool to bring light and encouragement, hope, laughter, a fresh point of view....and also the one to learn from teachers who are amazing; teachers who have been there for years and know the ropes like the back of their hand. I want to learn from them. I want to grow for knowing them. I want to be part of a team. I want to be part of their team.

If you're praying today, please remember me at 1:30....


On a lighter note, I haven't uploaded photos to my computer for a REALLY long time. So....it's time to play catch up. Here are some photos from the 4th July.... (I know, seems like forever ago).Nate and I were flossing our teeth after eating BBQ ribs....we're very classy people. :)

Playing with sparklers.

I LOVE him.


Mom, Nancy and I got our toes done and then met Amber and Rissa for my dress fitting. Then we went to Olive Garden.

My girls. Mom, Nancy, Rissa, & Amber

Our toes.

Here's my brother and my dad at a wedding in Norfolk. Aren't they sweet?

We've been doing some boating this summer. My roommate, John, bought a boat a month or so ago. This day we were enjoying snow peas from dad's garden....

He's so stinkin' cute....

John and Renae

Thanks for sticking through such a LONG post......

God is good. He takes great care of us.....and it seems that things just seem to fall into place once you refocus on Him.

My cup overflows.