My Husband's Devotion Published!

My husband had a devotion published this week in the Upper Room, a daily devotional by the United Methodist Church.




This is a picture of Mike while on our honeymoon. Isn't he handsome? I am so proud of him! He is a talented writer.



Here is his devotional called "God's Plans."


“ I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

— Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

When I divorced, I wondered if I had wrecked my life. Not only had I disappointed my family, but I am a pastor. I am supposed to set an example for Christian living. How could people take me seriously as a spiritual leader? How could I preach about marriage or covenant when my marriage had failed?

But Jeremiah 29:11 promises that God has good plans for us. A curious detail in that verse has caught my attention. The scripture doesn’t say “plan”; it says “plans.” The word is plural. God has more than one plan. Perhaps God has a Plan A for us; but if we mess that up, God also has a Plan B. And if Plan B doesn’t work out, God has a Plan C. And so on.

I doubt that many of us are living Plan A. And people like me may be rapidly approaching the end of the alphabet. Many people feel they have made so many mistakes that if God ever had a plan for them, it must be spoiled. But God does not give up on us. God has more than one way to give us hope and a future. Not only does God have more than one plan; God is at work to fulfill those plans.

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This week I am once again joining in on Spiritual Sundays. Please click on the link to access many other good posts.

And if you're visiting from Spiritual Sundays, please feel free to check out my last post where I shared about my wedding. Yes, I have newly become a pastor's wife!

I Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife!

It is possible to dream of finding your soulmate. It is possible to find someone who loves you unconditionally. And it is also possible to find him after being single for 11 years and in ones 50's!

It is even possible that this person wants to marry you!

I am so happy to announce that Mike and I are now husband and wife!

Okay, it was way back in June, but it took me a really long time to sift through 350 pictures! Also, my life has been crazy busy since getting married as I have a very long commute to work now, had a new household to clean and decorate, and have been very busy being a pastor's wife, which I love!

Here's my wedding story in pictures. Please click on any of them to enlarge.

The night before the wedding, my daughter Tara and I stayed at a nearby hotel. In that time, I finally finished my toss bouquet and decorated my shoes. I had worn fancy satin shoes when I married my first husband, and decided that this time, I was wearing comfortable flats!


I just added little satin flowers for some bling.


The next morning, my bridesmaids and I went to the hair salon where I had my hair fancy for the first time ever! I found my headpiece and veil just 5 days before the wedding.


At the church, a memorial candle that Mike and I had made in honor of my parents was placed on the altar.


Here's my bouquet and our rings. I made the bouquet myself, and added a vintage brooch for bling.


My children, Sean, Tara,Jared and I before the wedding.


My sweet sons giving me a kiss!


My mother-in-law Nancy is also a pastor and was our officiant.


We showed a little video before the ceremony, and I thought this pic looked cool.

Time to begin!
My future husband waited for me at the alter with his son and best man Holden, and my son Jared.


First came Corinne down the aisle. She is Mike's daughter and my bridesmaid.


My daughter and Matron of Honor Tara was next.


With a big old smile on my face, I am escorted to the altar by my oldest son Sean. Read "escorted"...after all those years on my own, I surely didn't need to be "given away!"


I look more than just a little happy to be up there with Mike, about to be his wife!


We were so blessed to have all these people who care so much about us to be there to witness our happy day.


My son Sean sang "Testify to Love" by Wynona Judd.


The ceremony...



...and finally, we are husband and wife!




I call this pic "Who farted?"


Surely not Corinne...she is too pretty! I swear, she is gorgeous enough that she should model.


Happy husband and wife!



Our new blended family.


The tables were decorated for the reception.



Since I was on a very tight budget, I thought about using my gift boxes as decorations...double duty and doubly economical. They are filled with candy. It also meant less cleanup.


Here we all are at the head table. I found vases to put our bouquets in, and they also served as decoration.


Tara gave the first toast, a lovely poem she had written.


Then Holden gave his toast. Even though he is only 13 and was nervous, he did a great job!


I decided that I wanted to toast my groom. "Because you give me so much love - unconditionally, because you see the girl in me that no one else can see, because I want to give you my love fully and completely, because it all came together so very neatly...and because your butt looks good in jeans, I love you Michael Dean!"

Click on the pic to look at his face, lol. He was initially not really pleased, but later told me it was hilarious! I was plenty amused, as you can see!

This is me just sitting at the table, looking pretty pleased with my married self.


My new children: Corinne and Holden and me.


My mother-in-law gave me a beautiful watercolor painting as a wedding gift. I love it!


A quiet moment with my groom.


"I have to do WHAT for him now?"


My beautiful cake that a friend made for me at cost.


Mike gets the first bite...


...and then it's my turn. We were nice and did NOT smash cake in each others' faces. I think that is so disrespectful!


We decided to serve the cake to our guests.


Our first dance! I chose a very nontraditional song, Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters."


My girls and me, and my new nieces out there shaking our tailfeathers on the dance floor!


All too soon, it was over.

And it sure was fun!!!

Truly, this will stand as one of the very best days of my life!

Spiritual Sundays/Brides/Announcement

This week, I am participating in Spritual Sundays and am sharing an eDevotion, plus making a very big announcement!

It's been a long time since I last posted, a really long time. I think the last I posted was in January or February, and here it is May already!

So very, very much has happened during that time.

My sweetie Mike and I have been dating for just over a year now.


It was a long, cold, harsh winter.


But spring finally arrived.


I even got a new (to me) car!


Mike wrote another excellent eDevotion, this one about an interesting subject. He titled it:

My Day as a Bride

"“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:2

Recently a big bridal show came to town and I was there. (It’s too hard to explain why.) They had a huge room full of booths where people sold the kinds of things that brides like. You could browse dresses, flowers, jewelry, cakes, crystal. There were photographers, disk jockeys, travel agents, and hotel managers. One lady would take your ordinary folding chairs and wrap them up in satin sheets which seemed like a bad idea to me because I couldn’t see what would keep old folks from sliding out of there. Caterers had toothpicked samples of their finest grub. A harpist would sit you down and pick a little for you.

But more than anything there were lots of excited young girls. They shot from table to table with no signs of waning enthusiasm. They giggled with their friends or their mothers and tasted cakes and tried on crowns. You could tell this was not work for them. There were a few grooms there too. They didn’t look so good. Most of them had the same expressions that I see on a lot of guys in church on Mother’s Day – like they were there against their will.

Like I said, the young ladies were the highlight of the day. They were so excited about becoming brides – and why not? I am too. According to scripture the Church will be the bride of Christ, and I owe it to those girls for reminding me what a big deal that is. It’s something to squeal about.

It seems to me that lent, if you care anything about it, is a time to prepare ourselves to be the bride. Lent can seem pretty gruesome, with all its thorns and ashes and fish dinners. But this is also a time for excitement. It’s a time to get ready for the Biggest Day of Your Life – and then to live happily ever after."

Maybe some of you have already guessed the reason why he was at a bridal show. In late February, Mike asked me to be his wife!!!

His church was very excited to learn that he was going to have a wife. Rumor got out ahead of time, so our big announcement came as no surprise. They were ready for us, with signs declaring their congratulations!


This is as close as we are going to get to an official engagement portrait.


Mike was pretty happy when I told him he didn't have to buy me a ring, as it has been my heart's desire to wear the ring that belonged to my grandmother. She became a bride in 1920, I believe!


The very first thing I did was buy a wedding dress! I was hoping for a proposal, so had already been searching eBay for a dress. I was very lucky and found one that I loved for only $111, and it was brand new with tags!


I found lovely earrings on sale for $10. The aqua and lime green are going to be my colors.


I'm making my own bouquets. Mine will be somewhat similar to the one pictured. I love hydrangeas and roses! Hydrangeas grew in my grandmother's garden.


This is the style of dress my bridesmaids and I selected, except it will be a lighter blue called "pool."


My future step-daughter Corinne will be a bridesmaid, and my daughter Tara is going to be my matron-of-honor.


A young woman that I knew from church since she was a little girl is starting a cake business and offered to do the cake at cost! This is a picture that she is using for inspiration.


Hopefully, I will be posting more pictures as I prepare for my wedding day, which is rapidly approaching: June 18, 2011! And if any of you reading this are pastor's wives, I would really love some input on what I can expect in that role. In three weeks, I'll be a preacher's wife!