Divine Romance

Ever since my college years at A&M, I have been so intrigued with the concept of the Lord pursuing us romantically. (Song of Songs 4:7-9) I don’t know about you, but perhaps I simply missed this facet of God’s character when I was growing up in the church, and I do not recall it being introduced to me until about the time I became engaged to Craig.

Upon our engagement, or soon before, we both read Tommy Nelson’s Song of Solomon, which beautifully depicts the church as the bride of Christ. As believers—from all ages, from all countries, for all time—we are presented to Christ as His bride; what an extraordinary, incomparable relationship He allows us to experience! His love is a redeeming love, a love that brings salvation, a love that bestows grace, a love that covers all sins: "...even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him..." (Eph 1:4).

Last night at the Phil Wickham concert, I was again reminded of Christ’s desire to romance and pursue me into a deeper relationship with Him. Phil’s song, Divine Romance, is the prayer of my heart this morning—thank you, Lord!

"The fullness of Your grace is here with me
The richness of Your beauty’s all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room
Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied"


http://www.myspace.com/philwickham

30 Reasons why I love Craig!

Today is my husband’s 30th Birthday. He is such a nut about celebrating his birthday; he absolutely loves having a birthday party. In fact, I am throwing him two this week! (I’d also like to mention that he has requested a huge MBA graduation party in May as well!) BUT, I love my husband, and I am happy to celebrate him. So in addition to his numerous parties, I thought I’d pay homage to the most important man in my life with the top 30 reasons why I love him.

30. He is the happiest person I know. He just wakes up in a good mood—every single day!
29. Craig loves to sing, and I love to listen. I especially love his “O Holy Night” and “Rushing Wind.”
28. His patience is ceaseless.
27. Impressively, he manages to juggle 50 hours of work, 20 hours of school, 15 hours of church community, and a wife all in one week.
26. I am humbled by his heart for missions.
25. He has taught me to be more content in the daily aspects of life.
24. Craig is the only person I know who has never had an enemy, not even in elementary school.
23. When Craig was in elementary school, he would throw “welcome home from a day at school” parties for his older sister. I mean, how sweet is that?
22. He seeks after the Lord with wild abandon.
21. The fear of man is something with which he struggles very little. (at least in comparison to most people I know.)
20. This number is the tender age at which I met Craig. Fell in love almost immediately.
19. He’ll one day be an amazing father. Call me prophetic, but I think our kids will want to hang out with him more than me!
18. Aggie until the day he dies, he is relentless in his efforts to recruit A&M fans.
17. For our engagement, among other things, he tried to recreate the coffee shop in which met.
16. Although he can’t remember the words without looking them up, he wrote me my very own song! (He said it was inspired from watching Labamba one day—how funny is that?)
15. Craig challenges me to love others the way Jesus loves.
14. His smile melts my heart every time I look at it.
13. If it’s within his capacity, Craig will do it for me.
12. I never have to ask Craig to make the bed; he does it every morning.
11. He does all the laundry because I loathe it.
10. He cooks way better than I do.
9. Numbers 13, 12, 11, and 10 may imply that I contribute very little to this marriage, and yet he still loves me!
8. Craig supports me in my endeavor to obtain another ambiguous Master’s degree.
7. He is my best friend.
6. He is romantic, sentimental, loving, funny, and the best date I’ve ever had.
5. Craig loves to travel, and I get to reap the benefits of his adventurous personality!
4. Snowboarding, running, weight lifting, and dog walking are just a few of the activities that Craig has mastered in the five years that we’ve been married.
3. He plays with my hair. True, I sometimes have to ask for it, but he does it!
2. Craig has a deep conviction about the need for community and accountability, and from the get-go, it has made all the difference in our marriage.
1. The number one reason I love Craig is because he desires to lay down his life and is willing to count the costs for the sake of the kingdom.

Happy Birthday, Craig!

Happy 28th Birthday, Lauren!

See Tracy's blog! :)
http://www.preskenis.blogspot.com/

School is out for Baylor, and the students have all gone home for break. For a lack of things to do, I find myself meandering through the blog world. In fact, I rove so often and aimlessly that as one of my New Year’s resolutions I am limiting myself to viewing blogs from only my blog list. Until then, I stumbled across this questionnaire on Lauren B’s website (I’ll have to add you Lauren so I can keep up with your new baby and not break resolutions!)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Gift bags, definitely! Not only are they way easier to give, if you receive one, you can always reuse it!

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. I have strong opinions on this one; can you tell?! Our first year of marriage, we bought a real one, and the dang thing shed everywhere!

3. When do you put up the tree?
ASAP! I’m not opposed to putting it up ON Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down?
I prolong this nuisance as long as modestly possible. (So, like, Valentine’s ish?!)

5. Do you like egg nog?
Nope, but my better half loves the stuff!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
During my sixth Christmas, my parents bought us a puppy. We already had a dog, a collie named Ringo, who was part of our family long before I was, but he was certainly more my mother’s dog. He really didn’t like children. Therefore, my parents got my sister and me our “own” dog. I named him Buster, a name I recycled years later on another dog.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Actually, I just received one at a Christmas party gift swap this year, and I indubitably won the best gift there! All who attended, approximately 12 of us, were asked to bring a wrapped ornament to be swapped. The host wrapped a brand new Willow Tree nativity set: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, King, Shepherd boy, animals. Of course, rules being what they are, I stole it for the second time and secured my rights to it!

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Craig hands down! My “love language” is gifts. Year round, I like to get and give them. A great deal of thought goes into the gifts I give, and the more I love the person, the more thought given. For that reason, to some extent, my feelings are hurt if Craig is not in love with the gift I’ve purchased for him. (Sorry, can I just say that the question should read—The hardest person for whom to buy? sorry. and ditto to 9. This question was most likely not written by the person from whom I borrowed this survey.)

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Now I have to do some back peddling since I just stipulated that the more I love a person the harder it is to buy for them…
So, what I mean is, I know Craig extremely well, and I know his likes and dislikes more than I sometimes wish I do. I do not, however, know the ins and outs of say my brother in-law. So, I just buy him some decent DVD.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. Geesh.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
One year Craig bought me this amazing Canon Rebel camera for Christmas. I’m sure it was a pricey purchase. The problem is, I do not enjoy taking pictures, but, and here’s the clincher—HE does! A few years later I gave that camera as a goodbye gift to a friend serving as a missionary in Berlin.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas Story. “In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.”

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh, surely.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies, candy, candy canes, all of it.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear

16. Favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night. I especially love Tracy Chapman’s version. (kinda random, I know.) Craig sings it pretty well too.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Every other year we travel with my family. On the off year, we go to Craig’s parents. Never in our 5 Christmases have we been at our own house.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Nope. Not gonna try!

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
We weren’t much for tradition growing up, but I seem to recall a pattern of one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Morning.

20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Annoying is a bit harsh; however, trying to make it to all of the Christmas parties and events can be daunting!

21. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I like simplicity. Clear lights. Greenery placed intermittently. Pops of red.

22. Favorite food for Christmas dinner?
See questions number 14.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year?
This is a tough one. Craig bought me a GPS Tracking System (for some reason he gave it to me 8 days ago), and I know better than to ask for anything else from him. When my mom asks, I usually request Starbucks gift cards. You would not believe how quickly I can spend whatever amount the card carries. It’s a little embarrassing!

24. If you could spend Christmas anywhere, where would you choose to spend the holiday?

Germany. My impressionable childhood years were spent living in Germany, and I remember taking great delight in their time-old traditions. The Germans have opulent Christmas trees and decorations, beautiful snow-covered landscapes, yummy, delicate treats, and Kris Kringle leaves candy (or switches if you’re bad) in your shoes!

25. With whom do you most enjoy spending Christmas?

Craig. He’s such a traditionalist, which is a stark contrast to my nontraditional fashion, and I love him for it. I am particularly fond of his sentimentality; it makes the holidays that much more romantic!

Out of pure curiosity, I tag Katy, Lauren S., Tracy, and Sarah!
Merry Christmas!

Boston Revisited

Such a wonderful trip.

It's amazing how quickly the snow fell...



No more than one hour later...




My snow man! "Walking in a wintry wonderland."

Shopping in a blizzard! "I ain't saying she's a gold digger..."





Such a pretty sight. "Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow."

The Crenshaws and the Bianchis have matching pj's!
"Keep smilin'
Keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me
for sure
that's what friends are for"





On their way to snowboard. "What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight"



Back to work; back to reality. No more Boston; no more sing-song moments in the snow. Guess it's about time to start packing for our Christmas trip to Cozumel! :)