One Year Later // Hand-in-Hand

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

It’s still sinking in that in April we passed the first year mark of our marriage! In some ways it feels as though the year flew by like the wind on these south Florida spring days. In other moments, it feels like together is so precisely how we were supposed to be that it’s difficult to believe we haven’t been in this rhythm of life even longer. It’s hard to remember a life without ‘us’.

Marriage is challenging. It has brought me face to face with my sin & reminded me that I married a sinner Every. Single. Day. But it’s also been such a blessing! It brings a new depth of joy to life & reminds me of how unconditionally my Heavenly Father loves me, despite my sin,
Every! Single! Day!

This year we have learned a LOT.

We experienced a lot of the typical newly-wed trials; navigating making two lives one, communication, skewed & unmet expectations, communication, budgeting together, & did I mention navigating communication?

But we also faced some unexpected challenges, from a job change, to a totaled car & an ER visit, to other medical challenges; we faced a lot of things that were external of our relationship, but required us to be united.

One of the strongest lessons I took away from our first year was to always face challenges hand-in-hand. If we are truly one as man & wife, this is where it gets practical; we have to act in unity.

This reminded me of one of my favorite sermons on marriage I head about four years ago. Pastor Fidel Gomez of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale taught, though he may have been quoting someone else,

“You don’t have to see eye-to-eye to walk hand-in-hand.”

This applies to most of our relationships in life, but I’ve found it to be critical to the intimacy & unity of marriage. No matter what we face, the trials of life or the challenges of making our two lives one; we can disagree, we can have different expectations, & we can have differing opinions, but we have to hold hands as we step.

For me as the wife, this can occasionally lead to the practice of submitting; trusting that my husband is seeking God & allowing him to lead & make a decision I may not entirely agree with. This doesn’t mean I walk behind Him when we disagree on something. It means that we still move forward, because I trust him enough to do so hand-in-hand.

Today I discovered a beautiful parallel in my devotional reading

“We are married to God… just as a wife will often take her husband’s name, God gives us the name of Jesus, which is ‘the name which is above every name’. (Phil. 2:9)”

“the only way to enjoy the privileges that come with Jesus’ name is to move beyond a casual relationship and become fully committed.”

James | Biblical Commentary – Joyce Meyer

Just as we brides take the name of our husband when we marry, as Christians we take on the name of Christ when we commit our hearts to Him, just as we vow our lives to our husbands on our wedding day. What a beautiful reminder of our identity change, not just in marriage, but in Christ as our Savior. Both examples of unity come with joyful privileges.

A lot of great things happened to us this year too! We traveled quite a bit, welcomed another niece (who is also our God-daughter!) into the world, bought a new-to-us car, adopted a kitten, & laughed more together than I ever remember laughing when we were apart.

It’s been a blessing of a year, & we’re ecstatic to be tackling year two, hand-in-hand!

4.30.2019

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Koinōnia

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

For the past four & a half years I’ve been a part of a Bible study that for most of it’s life span was just ‘Sunday’s Bible Study’ but was eventually titled, Koinonia. We started as just 8 friends, all wanting to pursue the Lord & learn together. We met weekly, studied scripture together, worshipped together, prayed together, served together, traveled together, learned together, failed together, & grew together. Koinonia’s numbers grew over the years, people came & went in seasons, but the intent always stayed the same.

In March we held the last of Koinonia’s weekly meetings. I won’t say Koinonia ended, because it’s so much more than the name of one particular meeting.

We chose the name Koinōnia because it’s the Greek word used in Acts 2 that describes the function & growth of the early church as “fellowship” which is precisely what we were doing. But Koinōnia has an even deeper meaning than simply a group of people socializing or sharing meals together. It is a bond for a united purpose which in the context of scripture, is to pursue godliness, bring glory to God, and fulfill the command of the Great Commission (Matthew 28).  Koinōnia describes an intimate fellowship that shows joint participation, community, and partnership and describes the intimate fellowship that Christians experience with God through His Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

Koinōnia is intentional. It is bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2),  studying the Bible together, opening-up about our lives and allowing others to speak into them, and praying over each other. Koinonia requires a teachable spirit, it requires hearts that are honest, humble, and hopeful, or at least, willing to become honest, humble, & hopeful.

The goal of Koinōnia is to do ministry together.  To engage, serve, and grow as one body in Christ.  That is our common purpose.  We seek to lift each other up close to Christ, to honor one another, to live in harmony have compassion for one another (Ephesians 4:32), encourage one another, spur one another on toward good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25), to confess when we have sinned and forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 6:12-15, Matthew 18:22).

As seasons changed, we discovered that we didn’t need to meet weekly in our familiar group for this to happen. In fact, we found it might happen more if we started to spread out in our various churches, communities, & workplaces.

I’ve been struggling to get all the feelings, memories, & lessons that could go into this post into comprehensible words because Koinonia has been a second home for me. It was born at a time I was just beginning to plug into a new church, it’s where I ran in many difficult moments, & it’s where I felt comfort on nights I didn’t even know I needed it. It’s where I faced conviction & found deep joy because it’s where I spent time in the entire body of Christ. Not only was I meeting with my Heavenly Father as I do all throughout the week, I was meeting with the rest of His children in the most vulnerable, encouraging, & nurturing environment.

Koinonia is where I met my husband! It’s where we became friends, nurtured our relationship, where we served together, & where lots of our accountability & encouragement was found.

It wasn’t always comfortable. Whether it was the heat of the garage we met in one summer, or the heat of conviction & tough love spoken in truth. We often grew out of struggle. We resolved conflict together because we had conflict with one another.

Not having the consistency of Koinonia’s weekly meetings feels like a foundational element in my life is suddenly missing. But I’m learning now that it’s not missing, just going to transpire differently.

Looking back at my Koinonia journals doodled in & filled with notes from the years of studies, testimonies, travels, & events, I started to reflect on what God has taught me. So many of my notes are in shapes or drawings or large fonts that help me to remember the context of the lesson & how it applied to me. I realized through all the scriptures & topics covered, of all the little lessons & practices I learned, God had woven one throughout them all during the years. The notes I remember best are the ones not restrained by lines just as God’s love for us knows no restraint. God has given us so many creative ways to live out Koinonia, so many ways to love Him, & so many ways to know His love for us. God taught me to love Him more deeply and to love His people more effectively; to love outside the lines

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John 4:7-11

So as I move forward without the consistent meeting time to depend on, Koinonia & the friendships it fostered continue onward as well. Koinonia is not a Sunday night meeting, though I will miss that part of it deeply for the rest of my days. Koinonia is the body of Christ constantly letting Him shine outwardly through us and seeking to share the Gospel in our community.

If you ever even once attended Koinonia, served on the worship team, taught a lesson, shared your testimony, ran sounds or slides, came as a guest speaker, allowed us to meet in your home or garage or building, or prayed for us; if you ever missed me on a Sunday night because I already had plans, but supported me going anyway; thank you. Koinonia has helped make me who I am today, and so have you.

3.31.2019

Learning to Pray like Jesus

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

Over the years I’ve gone through many seasons with prayer. Some were strong & constant while others were convicting & quiet.

Prayer is not just a suggested habit or “pro-tip” for peaceful living, it’s a command from God for us as His children to communicate with Him & intercede for others. It’s a required discipline that feels natural at some times and is a struggle at others, but must always be done.

Lately I’ve been working on making a better curated habit of prayer while not curating the prayers themselves. Prayer is messy. Prayer is not a poem or a song or a perfectly crafted soliloquy. Prayer is a conversation. It needs to be candid, open, honest, transparent, confident, and speak of your true fears. It needs to be real.

Sometimes it’s a whisper, sometimes it’s written on paper, sometimes it’s begging and tears and sometimes it’s screaming in tears. For prayer to receive any answer and actually prove productive in our lives it needs to be genuine & trusting.

The more it is crafted, simplified, smoothed, and polished, the less it is truly prayer. If it’s watered down it’s not a real conversation, it’s just stating how you feel or what you want and not leaving room for debate, for response, for a change of mind, perspective, or growth. For prayer to be true it has to be raw. For prayer to be productive it might be messy. Leave silence for God to respond.

God hears your prayers. Whether crafted, forced, natural, scattered, or outlined. Most importantly, God knows your heart. I find I need to grow in prayer, but I feel so swept up in grace when I remember that God is watching & listening to me while I grow. He doesn’t wait for us to be at any perfect level or conversation style, He always listens.

Often times we just fail to listen to Him. Make time within your prayers to listen. This communication is not just something we do obediently, it’s something we do to replicate the character of Jesus; to constantly become more like Him. We’re made in His image & have the perfect example of how to live our prayer lives in the example of Jesus; He is CONSTANTLY showing us how to pray!

He prayed for His father to be glorified in His work. John 17:1-5

He prayed for His Disciples & that they would have joy. John 17:6-19

He prayed for all believers to truly know the Father & be in eternity with Him. John 17:20-26.

Jesus was still & knew His Father was God. He prayed in solitude. Luke 5:16, Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35

Jesus prayed for the Father’s will, accepting that the answer wouldn’t always be what He expected or desired. Matthew 26:36-42

He taught us to pray. Luke 11:1-4

Jesus prayed openly, honestly, in trust, & with great faith; and I want to pray like that, like my Jesus.

2.28.2019

If you need prayer comment below or e-mail me, I’d love to pray for you!

A Book A Month // January 2019

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

In the past I’ve fallen into the trap of setting goals that are too broad. Like I’ll do this more or I’ll do that less. They were ideas I was too scared to commit to, because I was too scared to fail them. I didn’t put specific boundaries on them so I couldn’t technically “fail”. One of these broad brush strokes was, I’m going to read more. I was constantly disappointing myself with the result even though I had no measure to test myself by.

This year I decided to get specific. With a clear road map written on paper, I’m more driven to work on meeting my goal. I found the trick to this is to keep it simple & attainable. I’ve also let myself know; I might fail. If I do, I can still measure my progress (even if it wasn’t as much as I hoped for) & I’ll know exactly where I need to do better, plus I’ll have read more books than none at all which is really a success! 

2019 goal:  Read at least one book per month.

For January I decided to kick start the habit by finishing the three books on my nightstand that I had dipped into but not completed. Some of them I just restarted entirely to get the full context. So here are my book suggestions for January!

#1 Soul Keeping – John Ortberg

Soul Keeping was so refreshing! It studies caring for your soul by spending time with God, being refreshed by His Word, & how it will produce fruit in your ministry & community. There is so much depth to this book I didn’t expect and it’s all grounded on scripture. I love that it gives some practical points but this is NOT a simple self-care book. It’s goal is to help you honor God with the soul He created in you.

#2 The Meaning of Marriage – Timothy & Kathy Keller

I started this book and read bits & pieces throughout our engagement & first few months of marriage so for January I restarted & plowed all the way through. This book is packed with so much truth & application that I recommend it not only to married & engaged couples, but to singles & dating couples as well.

If you have any desire to get married reading this will help you become the person that the person you’re looking for is looking is looking for. (Go ahead, re-read it until it makes sense! I might expand on this in a future post, but I highly encourage friends not to look for the perfect person, but work on becoming the person your future spouse is looking for)

If you feel that your view of marriage has become a negative one, whether by how you were raised or the examples you saw in your life, it will help lift the fog you might see over marriage

If you’re already married; it’s NOT too late to read! This book has helped me deeper understand my connection to, communication with, & care for my husband. I’m considering setting a new goal of re-reading this book each year.

Do you ever re-read books to dig deeper or refresh your memory?

#3 Five Points Towards a Deeper Experience of God’s Grace – John Piper

This is my home-stretch for January. I love John Piper’s poetic tone that’s as filled with truth as it is beauty. I admire & agree with his doctrine & I’m being challenged to put my beliefs into words & check them all according to scripture. I’m still reading this book so keep me accountable to finishing it this month!

What are you reading this month? Do you have a reading schedule or goal for the year? Let me know in the comments or share this post on your social media & answer in the caption! Be sure to tag me & share your book suggestions!

1.22.2019

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From Ms. to Mrs. // 2018

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

“Oh you got married?! Congratulations MRS!

Hello MRS. Curran!

How’s married life MRS?!”

Yes! I got married! Yes I am now Mrs. Curran!  This was absolutely the highlight of my 2018, but it was not just a single event or instant change. This transformation has been such a rich journey!

As we wrap up this year & begin to set goals & dream for 2019, I’ve been looking back on what I learned this year and these are just a few things that have stood out and helped me grow.

So this is my initial journal entry of what’s it’s like to go from Ms. to Mrs. and what it’s taught me thus far.

…

On April 7th, 2018, I married Mr. Michael Curran; my best friend, my greatest blessing, and especially lately, my greatest comforter. He’s also the FIRST to laugh at me when I mispronounce words or get a joke punchline wrong, but he’s the first to pick me up when I’m down, to wipe my tears away, and encourage me in things I can’t see in myself.

Being married has taught me some priceless lessons about Michael, about myself, and about how we function in our life together. There’s a lot I still have to learn and experience, but I’m taking these nuggets with me as we continue our adventure.

Lesson #1 // My identity has changed.

Not only have I gone from Ms. to Mrs. but from Ms. Alibrandi George to Mrs. Alibrandi Curran. I have a new drivers license to prove it!  I am learning to embrace the title of Wife and know that my goals & dreams are now blended with supporting my husband’s.

This new filter has changed my intentions & actions in everything, from job decisions, to ministry decisions, to scheduling decisions, all the way down to my  choice of words.  My words usually affect my husbands’ feelings directly or his reputation indirectly, & with the identity of wife I have to consider how my words, whether to him or about him, support & build him up.

Lesson #2 // Patience is key, especially with myself

When I say patience is key, I mean it pretty literally. Patience is like a key that we carry and can choose to utilize or ignore & waste time and energy pounding on doors and never actually getting anywhere.

I initially set all the bars way too high for myself. The meal prepping bar, the homemaking bar, the working two jobs while being the homemaker bar, & the do over the top thoughtful things to serve and surprise my husband bar. By my own expectations, I have failed every single one. I expected too much of myself and I haven’t had the ability to do all the things I wanted and have failed some of the ones I’ve tried.

But, when pouring out all this failure (mingled with some tears) to Michael, (enter my comforting husband yet again) he didn’t see failure because he didn’t see the bars. He simply saw his wife doing her best and absolutely loved & appreciated it. So when it comes to those imaginary bars of unrealistic expectations, confront them. Do your best, take the time to learn what your husband needs or wants first, and then you’ll still mess up.

When you find that your spouse just wants to have fun & enjoy the adventure of life with you, the bars disappear and you have a lot more fun laughing at your mistakes, learning from them, and finding new ways to embrace your new identity.

It also takes patience to merge two lifestyles.  Your practical habits will collide; no doubt about it.  In marriage, the habits themselves are truly small and typically unimportant.  It’s the communication concerning them that will turn into nagging, frustration, bitterness, or neglect when not handled well.  I’ve found it’s important for me to communicate in all gentleness and love why some habits bother me so I don’t harbor any afore mentioned negativity and so I can receive communication about habits I should strive to change.

Lesson #3 // I’m the most selfish person I know.

When you’re a ‘Ms.’ (or a single Mr. for that matter, just writing my perspective) your daily, practical focuses really do revolve around you.

When you become a ‘Mrs.’ those focuses and goals change even if you haven’t caught on to them yet.  Your ‘I’ is now ‘We’ and that sounds easy enough when it’s, ‘What do we want to cook tonight and what movie do we want to see?’ but it’s the topics that are a lot more subtle where this gets deeper.

Having to stop and merge some very different expectations & desires has made me realize just how much my flesh really cares about it’s own desires and just how sacrificial love needs to be.  I may not always want to do whatever the task or event at hand is, I may not even feel that I need to, but if it’s something that my husband wants, I have to consider how we are going to proceed, not just how I am.

Lesson #4 // I’m not perfect, I need to be constantly humbled

I recently heard this lesson worded best this way,

“marriage is the nicest way to confront your own inadequacies on a daily basis”

Y’all this is so true.

Beyond false expectations or unrealistic goals, there are some ways we just downright fail. I have had to acknowledge that I need help. I need to help my husband however I can, but I have to accept his help too. He has the best role in my life to say, “I know you can, but I’m here so you don’t have to.”

I had lots of help & preparation going into marriage, from family, mentors, friends, scripture, books, etc. but there are things that you have to experience to truly understand and failures only a spouse could point out for you to truly accept & that has been so enlightening for me.  Marriage is humbling and this has been extremely fruitful for me.

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In addition to sharing these more difficult lessons I’ve learned, I must close by sharing that marrying my best friend is the best decision I’ve ever made aside from accepting God as my Lord & Savior.  Amidst all challenges, marriage has been a blast!  Living, traveling, & learning with my husband brings me joy every single day!

I’m only 8 months in, but the amount that I’ve learned in this time has only made me that much more excited for all the lessons and growth to come!  With all the challenges, joys, & growth we’ve seen in 2018, I know God will do even more marvelous things in 2019 and we are striving to pursue Him together.

~ Mrs. Curran
12.31.2018

Falling In Love Again // PASSION 2018 Photo Journal

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

It’s becoming one of my favorite traditions.  To pack up the thickest clothes I own, borrow the ones I don’t own because I’m a Floridian, pack them as lightly as possible and road trip with my bunch of crazies, lots of coffee, & little sleep.  It’s always astounding how much love, disagreement, and worship we can cram into four days.

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This year finally felt like we got a groove.  Things ran smoothly and the challenges that remained were mostly internal.  I found even the painful things were given the attention they needed to provide growth & clarity so that the rest was truly fun.  We acted like a team, or better yet, a family, helping each other fight those battles and praying over each other fervently.

This trip reminded me that my biggest issue, the thing that gets in my way, and the thing that I find conflict with the most, is me.

I am my own biggest obstacle between me and God.

Even as I write this I’m condemned by “I don’t have the words”, “I can’t figure out where to take this”,  & “I can’t write what I want to” when all along I know it’s God’s words I want written through me.

In everything I feel opposition, the common factor is me.  Friends & family are my support & protection far more than they are my conflict.  I am my conflict.

  Every commitment I make, every time I fail, every emotion that is too overwhelming to bear, comes back to the fact that I am unable, on my own strength, to do anything well.  I’m learning all over to rely on God, but there was another realization before this one, that made admitting my own failure significantly easier.

Jesus loves me.  Yes this I know.  But have I let the Bible tell me so?  Have I allowed Him to wrap His arms around me?  Have I embraced Him as a being that cares for me and love Him back?  Have I declared in my actions that I belong to Him and let Him take my weakness & make it strong?

God is not something I can set aside and expect to pick up where I left off.  Our relationship needs work just like any other face-to-face relationship does, both ways.  I need to be in the Word.  I need to be praying.  I need to vocalize my love for my Lord.

His name alone is blessed!  (Psalm 113:2)  Who am I to go to Him with constant requests without even acknowledging how deeply He loves me and reciprocating that to Him?

I have fallen in love with my Lord, again.  And I’m astounded by how much He loves me!  Beyond what He did for my salvation and my 21 years of life on earth, last week alone He used 20 hours & 1,200 miles roundtrip on the road to listen to His praise, 25 people that I treasure to wipe my tears, and 6 sessions of speakers screaming His word, all to simply tell me,

“I love you.”

I am overwhelmed by God’s love; unending, unrelenting, unconditional.  I am re-learning to delight in Him, to keep His commands, to see Him in the characteristics He has hidden in the people around me, and to speak to Him as to a friend.

John Piper said it best, “We were reconciled to God the person, not reconciled simply to get into Heaven or out of hell.  We take joy in God the person, not only things He does or makes for us; we use those things to get to know HIM.”

If you truly love God more than His gifts to you, you’ll be satisfied in His will no matter how it aligns or doesn’t align with yours.  “In every act & thing of creation the love of God is made manifest for us to taste Him & lead us further into Him so we can love Him directly.” – John Piper

0230faec-47d0-444f-b572-9a8dffb8823b“The 7th piece of armor in Ephesians 6: is prayer.  God’s house is a house of prayer, not great preaching, great singing, lights, fog or cafés.  We need to take up the weapon of prayer.” – Priscilla Shirer

“Salvation is not based on you, it’s placed on you.” – Levi Lusko

I’m getting out of the way.  I’m letting Jesus love me, speak through me, and work in me because I can’t do it myself.  I’m allowing myself to delight in Him!  & I’m letting love open the gates for His strength to flood me to accomplish His will because my strength is drained.  I am falling in love all over again, and I’m finally out of the way.

“But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.”
Psalm 71:14-16

1.9.2018

Our Love Story // The Proposal Photo Journal

~ Alibrandi Dawn ~ Leave a comment

Tuesday, August 15, 2017. On a pallet platform, under string lights and baby’s breath, and beside our family, I said yes to the proposal that outdid the proposals of my dreams.

I’m engaged to my best friend!

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With the ring on and wedding date in the works, I felt it was time to document the dating chapter of our love story and share it in more depth with those who have loved and supported us so dearly.

it all started with chipotle…
hahaha, you think I’m kidding.

God’s absolutely divine plan for Michael & I to meet, build a relationship, and love each other actually started long before either of us were born, and I’m so calmed to know God is 100% in control and I am not, because I nearly let the good one get away.

Michael and I both grew up homeschooled in South Florida, attended a homeschool P.E group called S.A.I.N.T.S and had many mutual friends but didn’t meet until Fall of 2015. Our paths came so close, but were not yet ready to cross.

The first time I met Michael he visited Wednesday evening service, invited by some of said mutual friends, and went to our traditional post-church gathering at Chick-fil-A.  I already knew the friend he came with so we caught up and he introduced me to Michael so over milkshakes and waffle fries I got to know him.

Nothing crossed my mind. Yet.

As we left Chick-fil-A he complimented the curls in my hair. Blurting it out like he had been wanting to say it all night. I was caught off guard and desperately shy, but thanked him, and now I realize the roots had started to take place.

Michael started coming to the Sunday evening bible study I’ve been a part of for the last few years. He joined the worship team, that I shortly thereafter took over, and we bonded over worship practices and talks about our mutual love for chipotle.  He had me at chipotle, or something romantic & cheesy like that…

We “talked”. We updated each other when chipotle coupons were released.  We rubbed in a photo when one got chipotle to make the other crave it.  And then we were talking about work and passions and school and emotions and worship songs and and sharing scriptures and testimonies and the weather and anything that could continue conversation.

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And then we went to chipotle.

I was planning a night of worship, so Michael offered to help choose songs and layout the set, at chipotle.  By now I knew what was coming and I was intrigued, so I agreed.  This was our first ice breaker, hours of talking and planning the worship set until the guacamole was gone.

If you’ve spent any time with us you’ve probably heard our joke, “Third time’s a charm.”  He asked me out that evening at chipotle, but we didn’t actually begin dating until roughly five months later.  We talked and prayed but twice we discussed the desire and both times there was just no peace about it.  After the second no I thought God was making himself clear, but I had the feeling I let the good one get away, and I never ‘got over him.’  But God’s plan prevailed, and after building a stronger friendship and enduring a lot more growth as individuals, the pieces finally settled into peace.

On September 19th, 2016, I became his girlfriend.

Since then we’ve enjoyed countless adventures and had our disagreements along the way.  We’ve learned to communicate, to pursue, study, & learn each other, to be patient and to reflect the other constantly back to Christ.

Then, on the pallet platform, under string lights and baby’s breath, and beside our family, I said yes to the proposal that outdid the proposals of my dreams.  He pulled off the greatest surprise, had our family there to celebrate, captured it in photos, and now we are embarking on the new adventure of marriage!

I’ve often heard it said that life is full of struggles, no matter how much you’ve struggled up to now, still more struggles are ahead, and one of the biggest decisions in this life is choosing who you are going to struggle with.  I have found the one my soul loves; the one who cherishes me, the one I want to struggle with & smile with.  This is the man I am going to spend my life with, do ministry with, and raise a family with.

This is the man I’m going to marry!
Michael, I love you!

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…

Thank you to our parents, siblings, & grandparents who not only helped pull off a beautiful proposal but have loved, supported, and encouraged us in our entire relationship and to our dear friend Pam for capturing these photos!

…

Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

8.26.2017