The exciting news since my last blog is that Jared and I are engaged! Lots of people have asked about how it all went down--and, well, working eight hours a day doesn't leave much time for blogging or e-mail so I apologize for the delay. Thanks for caring though!

We both really enjoy being outside and hiking so one afternoon we went to this state park about thirty minutes from my house. In all honesty I was pretty tired and didn't feel like going, but I knew how much Jared hated laying around all day so I threw on some sweatpants and we went. The leaves have just started to change here in the Ozarks and it was a gorgeous day with perfect weather. We walked around for awhile and then sat down by a spring to read and talk. After reading a chapter of The Great Divorce (I realize the irony here but the book is not about marital divorce), we started talking about a number of different things. We were both sitting on these tree branches above the water and the next thing I knew he pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised--so much so that it took me awhile to think of something to say. 'Yes' seemed too simplistic because of my great love for words, but the truth is that life's greatest moments can't really be expressed in the human language anyway, at least not fully. So I decided yes was an appropriate response, and perhaps better than any other.

I love the way it happened. It was so unexpected. He picked the ring out himself while I was in Virginia (well I think my cousin helped a little). We were outside. I was wearing sweatpants. It was perfect.

I jumped into wedding planning right away. We're both pretty simple, but when most of your friends and family live out of town even a simple wedding can get complicated. I don't really know what I'm doing. Growing up I was much more concerned with what kind of career I wanted than what my wedding would be like. Not to mention I've been living in a third world country for two years so I'm a little outdated in my style. Everyone has told me that I should do what I want to do and not worry about what anyone else thinks. So what do I want? I want things to be simple, meaningful, and fun. I want our friends and family to be there. Most of all I want to use the ceremony as a testimony of God's grace in our lives because it's only due to His unmerited favor that we're together. Everything else is pretty much secondary.

I've also realized that I don't know much about marriage. Unlike Jared most of my friends are unmarried. The few that are got married shortly before or while I was away. There's so much about me, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, that makes me feel unworthy to be in this position. At the same time it's been completely delightful to experience this side of God's love and character. When I focus on myself I only worry about failing. When I focus on God I get excited about what the future holds--a future with hope, promise, and redemption. It won't always be easy, but hopefully it will make us holier!




In other news...I've fallen prey to the fever and strep throat that has been going around Richland. I hate being sick. It's so depressing to sit at home and be unable to do anything but lay in bed and watch TV. Days of excessive TV watching are few and far between for me and now I remember why. The ability of entertainment to drive us farther and farther from reality scares me. Before I moved to India I was pretty apathetic towards all this, but now I sometimes wish we could just shut down the whole industry. There are so many people with heroic and meaningful stories to tell. Why do we give our attention to trivial talk shows, magazines about which celebs have cellulite, and stupid existential movies with meaningless plots? What happens when reality no longer becomes interesting? I understand the need to escape and to be entertained, but I also believe that we're being presented with some pretty low quality material this day and age. If my desire to be entertained compels me to give my attention and credibility to someone who openly mocks my faith and glorifies all kinds of reckless behavior without reaping any consequences--well, that's kind of a shame.

Thus I will sift through the entertainment industry and redefine my standards. Actually, I plan on getting healthy again soon so the TV will hopefully once again take a backseat in my life. But here's my first TV winner.

The Biggest Loser: I normally hate reality shows but this one seems to have the right focus and motives behind it. There's a lot of strategy type stuff to create drama, but overall the show makes heroes out of overweight people trying to become healthier for themselves and their families. I'm always so moved to see their responses when they lose weight because it's a genuine reaction to genuine hard work. So if my opinion means anything to you then this one is worth watching!