Witness

With my education program interview on the horizon, I have been doing a lot of thinking.

In my Our Living Faith class, my professor has been stressing that we don't have to scream doctrine at people. We are better witnesses by our actions and showing others love.
I think this is one of the best things I have learned from this course.

Currently, it seems shoved in my face that I need to know everything about Lutheranism. It's kind of freaking me out honestly. It's a rather complex denomination and my exit interview at the end of my student teaching already seems to be looming over me. I fear that I will not get my Lutheran Classroom certification because of not knowing doctrine well enough.

So then why does one of my professors bother making the above point if it's contradictory to what the school seems to tell us?

Because it's the truth.

This article really made me realize it too: Jesus Didn't Care about Correct Doctrine, and Neither Should We

I am a proud Lutheran. I wholeheartedly believe every ounce of my church's doctrine. However, the doctrine was interpreted by man. So I do not doubt that there may be errors in it. I'm not blindly learning this stuff in my theology courses, I am questioning it. I am trying to decipher it on my own. But while I still am making sense of it all, I know that regardless of what I deduct, I can still witness for Christ by reaching out to those who need a friend, just as Jesus did.

Wedding Update

I'm sure you've all been wondering how the world of wedding planning is going...
August 2nd is only 131 days away! Wow. We're almost to double digits already.

So before spring break, Trevor and I mailed out both our paper and digital invitations! Such an exciting step to take. Now people can actually show up to the wedding as they know the details.
So far we have had 13 of the 97 guests RSVP.
I think my favorite part about The Knot is that you can set up your entire guest list through there and people can view your "wedding website." Through the website they are able to see your registries, wedding details, and in our case RSVP! This was originally going to be the only method of RSVPing we were going to use. My mom, however, said that most of her family doesn't even have internet so we need another option. That is how my phone number ended up on the invitations. I've only received one call so far-from Trevor's side!
I'm a little concerned about the fact that only 13 people have RSVP'd so far, but there's still over 4 months until the wedding, so I guess some people may not know what their summers are looking like yet.
If you were invited though, and know you are coming, please RSVP for my sanity.

A rather concerning wedding happening occurred over spring break. Our Target registry disappeared. Yes, you read that right. I logged on one day and Target prompted me to start a wedding registry! What?! I had just finished ours through Target a few days prior. I went through all of our possible ways of accessing the registry, and sure enough, it said it was deleted. I contacted Target and told them that we did not delete our registry and asked if they were able to resurrect it somehow. I never got a response. BUT. I checked randomly a few days later, and it was back up! All in all, I am satisfied with how it turned out. But I was quite close to a Bridezilla moment.

Another wedding milestone occurred over spring break, however this one was not negative. We had our first pre-marital counseling session with Pastor Toenjes! It was Trevor's first time meeting him, so the first portion was just giving him a deeper insight into both of our lives and into our relationship. I was super nervous going into it because I didn't know what to expect. But we actually talked for two full hours and I had a really good time. I think we definitely chose the right guy to officiate our wedding. He also gave us the book, The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman to read through and work on together. I have read excerpts of it before, but am excited to work on reading all of it with Trevor! The hard part will be getting him to read....

The conversation of late has been honeymoon. Originally we were thinking we would just not go on one due to our financial situation. However, we did some re evaluating and concluded that we could in fact go on something small. Trevor and I narrowed our choices down to Saint Louis, Chicago, or the Wisconsin Dells. I was doing a lot of research on the Saint Louis option, as I would love to visit my birth city again. Nothing was really within our price range unless we were only staying a night or two. So we briefly looked into our Chicago hotel options. Same issue. It then hit me. We can't go on a honeymoon. We just cannot swing it. So instead, we're going to enjoy Saint Paul and Minneapolis. We'll hit up a few restaurants we've been wanting to try out, like Pizza Luce and Punch Pizza (Trevor only eats pizza). I'm sure we'll find a lot of other fun things to try out in town too. Thankfully there is a lot to do here. At the very least we could go on a photo adventure somewhere. Our honeymoon may not be something extravagant to somewhere tropical, but it'll be the two of us relaxing together, finally being married. Even though we won't go to Saint Louis or Chicago, I am excited for our honeymoon.

That's basically the latest news on the wedding front. Planning has been kind of slow as of recent. We're both swamped and stressed with work and school. Come summer, we'll be diving into making decor and getting the details all lined up.

Work Out

In college, I have struggled with having healthy habits. I find it hard to consistently work out and to eat well. Who has time for that?

A week ago, I made a decision.
I am going to work out. Consistently.

I need to look good for my wedding right?
Well, I think even without working out I would look just fine for my wedding. I bought a dress that fits me perfectly. Also, I have not gained any weight in college- I have actually lost 5 lbs from high school.
So why am I working out then?
Why bother?

My current workout regimen is more than just going to the fitness room for 30 minutes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after my 8am class.
My routine is also involving to read my Bible before I go to bed.

This is an area where I need the most improvement. My spiritual fitness.
I need to improve my relationship with my Creator.

So how have I been doing that?
My Our Living Faith professor (who I am not a huge fan of in all honesty) told us one day that he thinks everyone should read Romans 8 and 12 at least once a week, if not more. So that is where I have started. Last week I read Romans 8 early in the week and Romans 12 later on in the week.
This week, however, I read both last night.
I was having a huge personal battle last night and was on the verge of destruction. But something in me made me pick up my Bible. I first read through Ecclesiastes 3 which helped me calm myself. Then I flipped to Romans 8. The first verse made me cry my eyes out.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

I deserve death and suffering. But I am in Christ, so I have that death sentence revoked. How crazy?
Even with all of my sins and mistakes that have been so prevalent lately, I am not condemned.
God's grace astonishes me.

This is why I am working out my spiritual fitness. So I can find verses like Romans 8:1 and feel a connection. To know that God is speaking to me right then and there. He's seeing me in my situation. The Spirit is directing me to the very verses I need the most.
How amazing is our God!

So I encourage you to start working out. If you haven't been to the gym in a while, I don't blame you-it's hard. If you haven't opened your Bible in a while, I understand.
I'm not telling you to go sign up for Planet Fitness and to join a Bible study. However, at the very least, open your Bible once a week and read a chapter.
It's crazy what can happen.