5 Days and Counting

I can hear the virtual ticking in my ear as I race around finalizing wedding plans this week. I keep getting asked the "are you nervous yet" question, and as of today I'm not so much nervous about the marriage as I am the wedding ceremony. I want this day to be as beautiful as possible as so many people have invested so much in it. I feel truly blessed. I had a total of four bridal showers and I walked away from each one feeling loved and the genuine excitement from all those who have been waiting just as anxiously as I have for this day. I am feeling a level of excitement that is indescribable and exhilarating.

I may not have much time to blog this week as there are so many final details to be done so keep me in your prayers I will try to post before the end of the week. Have a blessed day!

Catching Up and Another Idea Solicitation

Once again I have been horrible at maintaining my blog. As you can see by my trusty counter to the right there, I only have 10, yes 10 days before my wedding. As you can probably imagine my life is a little hectic and fast paced at this point. Next Wed will be my last day at work for a couple of weeks and I have a ton of stuff to do there before I leave to ensure that the building doesn't collapse in my absence. I also have other last minute bridal stuff to do, and I'm failing pretty miserably at it. Nonetheless, none of this peril moves me. I am still happy, excited, nervous, motivated and looking forward to the end of this process and the beginning of my new life.

Even more excited than I am are my girls. They are over the moon and I am glad that they witnessed this process. I do wish that I could have had them the "right way", but since I didn't we have just made lemonade out of our past lemons, and I must say that it is sweet.

I do have a bit of advice to solicit. I am looking for reception ideas. My reception will be void of the traditional worldly fare, but I plan on making it a fun, energized, and happy Christian affair. Being that my creative juices are drying up right now, do any of you have any ideas of some things that we could do besides eat, drink and be merry.... I have music, we have the toasts, the cake cutting and all of that stuff, but I want something more, especially since we won't have the dancing. I really would like to send a message that gathering together to enjoy Godly fellowship and celebrate a holy union doesn't have to involve drinking and dancing and hooking up. Any insight will be most valuable. Have a blessed day!

Makeover Challenge Winner- New Blog Name!!!

Well folks, I planned on making my announcement tomorrow, but I have a ton of last minute wedding stuff to do, and did not want to accidentally not post. So we have a winner for my makeover challenge. It was so hard to decide but we felt like we wanted my new blog name to represent the desires of our marriage and so with out further ado ***drum roll please**** SingleMomForGod will officially change names after June 14, 2008 to:

A Marriage After His Heart

submitted by Kysha, from Love's School

This name has so much of a deep meaning, not only do I want a marriage after my husbands heart, but a marriage after God's heart. I believe deeply that as long as we both strive towards this desire, our family desires and everything else naturally will fall into place. There may be some bumps and the journey may prove to be rather adventurous nevertheless I look forward to all it has to offer. I especially look forward to sharing my experiences with you. Thank you to all who participated.

Kysha, email me so that I can have Amazon send the gift card to you, and give you more details.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Makeover Challenge Finalists

I have been such a horrible blogger lately. Most of you don't know that I normally blog on my lunch break from work as I don't have Internet access from home. Work has been very busy lately so I haven't had the change to blog much. But as promised we (me and my fdh) narrowed down our five favorites. So without further ado, here is the list:

1. MarriedMomForGod
2. A Marriage After His Heart
3. Blending with Him
4. For His Glory
5. Marvelous In Our Eyes

The guest judges will be my two lovely little girls. They are excited about this process and so am I!! I will have the winners announced on Friday!! Thanks for participating. Have a blessed day!

Single Mom Make Over Contest

I am in need of a make-over. Well not me, but my blog is in need of a make-over. Being that in less than a month I will no longer be a single mom, I came to the conclusion that I am going to have to change my blog name. While I still have the desire to encourage single mother's out there, the fact still remains that while I won't be a single mom anymore there is still so much territory to cover in chronicling my transition into my new life. However, after many failed attempts at creativity I have decided (unlike another lady who's running for president,) to bow out gracefully in my attempt to rename my blog.

So, I am conducting a contest, give-a-way or whatever you would like to call it for the new name for my blog. The lucky winner will receive a $20 gift certificate from Amazon.com, ( sorry I wish I could afford the $200 one in the picture but alas I can't:) and the opportunity to guest post while I am away on my honeymoon.

The contest starts today and will end at midnight 05/22/08. My FDH, the girls and I will spend the Memorial Day Weekend choosing our favorites and the 5 finalist will be posted on Memorial Day for a panel of guest judges to choose. I will list the guest judges the same day as the finalist and the winner will be announced on 05/31/08. I will use the new name on 6/14/08, the morning of my wedding.

I am listing the rules here:

1. Once you have read the post, leave a comment with your idea of a new name in the comments section.
2. Contest starts today and will end on 05/22/08. Finalist will be named 05/27/05 and the winner will be named 05/31/08.
3. Please only one entry per person
4. Gift card will be emailed the same day as the announcement.

There have been so many women who have provided invaluable knowledge and points of views on so many touching topics. I (we) feel so blessed to have read so many informative posts and are eagerly awaiting the creative name for my blog.Thank you all in advance for participating and have fun!

And The Months Go By............

I have been out of blog world lately on a little medical hiatus. I am happy to report that the surgery went well and I am now tattoo free!!!! Thank the Lord this ordeal is now closed and I can move on with my new life a burden lighter.

Time has seemed to have flown by so fast. I began my courtship in January and today marks the 1 month countdown to my wedding. I can't even begin to imagine where time has gone, all I know is that I have 30 days until I marry the man God personally created for me. While I have been caught up in a whirlwind of emotions, nothing epitomized the realness of this process than the day we went in to get our marriage license. This little piece of paper evoked a flood of emotions between the both of us. It finally set in for me that this is real, and in 30 days I won't be a single mom any longer. I will be a wife, a mother, a help meet, and a follower to the leader of my home. I have no regrets, no anxieties, no desire to reclaim the independence that I have so been ready to depart from.

I loved Terry's post on the need and biblical requirement of interdependence in a marriage. There have been many people who have asked me if I were going to hyphenate my last name and I so gladly reply NO!! I will be my father's daughter until June 14, on that date and thereafter I will be my husbands wife. There is no way I can obey scripture Matthew 19:5 ('For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'") if I still hold on to my father's name and try to join it with my husband as if he is a mere simple hyphenated addition to my father's legacy.

When I get married I have to leave that legacy and join with my husband to create a new one. This poses no problem or threat in fact it's a beautiful and scared requirement that I have prayed to long to fulfill. How can I honor my husband if I am not willing to accept his last name. While it is the norm for a huge majority of women in the professional world, or just the world per say to be Mrs. Such-And Such, I am glad that I no longer identify with this majority. Please remember to keep me in your prayers as the months and Lord willing years continue to go by....

Be Blessed and Stay encouraged

50 Days

I wanted to take a break from my latest hot topic issue and use my blog today and send a message to my FDH. We have only 50 days before our wedding. Sometimes, time seems to fly by and we wonder where did the days go, and sometimes it seems to move at a snails pace and we wonder when will this day come to be, but looking back at my life, I wouldn't trade these 50 days for anything this world has to offer. All the wedding ceremony hooplah aside, how I feel below is all that matters right now.

In 50 days my life will change for the better. I will have a different calling for my life, a calling that can only make me a better woman for God and my family. I met you a mere 987 days ago. Sometimes 50 days seems like an eternity, but looking back a the 987 days since, 50 days seems minuscule. 987 days I have had the blessed opportunity to watch you grow into the man that God was shaping you to be now, a life time is what I will have to watch the finished product take its form. Watching the potter is an awesome thing, being half of the clay is even better. When the enemy tries to over throw us with how far away our day seems to be, we can remind him of the 987 days that God carried us through to bring us to these 50 days and counting ....... Always, your FDW

Have a Blessed weekend!

Frugal Friday- Frugal Wedding Planning Resources

Once again I am going to try to keep up with Crystal over at Biblicalwomanhood and her weekly Frugal Friday post. One thing I am learning about this wedding planning thing is how to make the most of frugality. I believe a wedding should be a beautiful affair glorifying God's testimony of bringing two of his children together, what I don't believe is that God would be pleased with a over priced wedding ceremony that does not show a testament of being a good steward of the money he has blessed you with. So I prayed and sought ways to make my dream day as frugal as possible with out looking as frugal as possible staying in my modest $4,000 budget. I will admit, there is one area that I splurged on and that is rental. I rented most of my tablecloths, candelabras, columnnade, and other huge stuff. But for the most part I utilized these outlets:

Walmart

Hobby Lobby

Save-on- Crafts.com

Oriental Trading

DollarTreeDirect.com

Sams Club

Chadwicks of Boston

Burlington Coat Factory

Honeymoonwishes.com

Knot.com

Walmart- I bought all of my fabric from Wal-Mart's clearance fabric all of my fabric for the swags was $1 a yard. I had to go to a few Wal-Mart's a couple of time to find the type of fabric that I wanted but I found it and it was very inexpensive. I also bought the vases for my centerpieces there and my invitations. I found my invitations on clearance for $7 a box.

Hobby Lobby- I bought all of my flowers from Hobby Lobby's clearance sale. They were running a 50% off on all their floral bushes and bouquets, and since I am using roses, I had them special order all of the flowers that I needed for my day. I then went back a few weeks ago and took advantage of their 50% bridal sale. This was the mother of all sales for me and I loaded up with all of my bridal stuff and favors and again it was relatively inexpensive.

Save-on- Crafts.com- I found some really cool deals on here, but for the most part I did better at Hobby Lobby. My decorator and I decided to have my reception a different color than my wedding, so we are having an all white reception. It was cheaper and easier to find white fabric than my colors, which are champagne, cream, and chocolate. I also decided to use Calla lilies in my centerpieces which I ordered here for less than $1 each. I also bought my organza tulle at a very reasonable discount price here also.

Oriental Trading- They have some very inexpensive wedding favors, I haven't ordered yet, but there are a few things I am thinking of picking up.

Dollar Tree Direct- Dollar tree is one of my favorite stores, I can use them to buy most of my serving pieces here. Dollar tree in bulk is a dream!!!

Sams Club- I will probably purchase the food and or other items I can't find at Dollar tree in bulk. Not my first choice though.

Chadwicks of Boston- Very nice and a few modest bridesmaid dresses here! I wanted my bridesmaids to have nice modest dresses for a fraction of the cost that we were finding online, plus there was no long shipping turn around. I never knew that finding modest formals was so difficult and expensive!!! But we found a few here to choose from and I am totally satisfied with the product.

Burlington Coat Factory- I found my daughter's dresses here, and they had an awesome after Easter sale!!! A nice place to shop if you have the patience to hunt through the crowds of clearance stuff!

Honeymoonwishes.com- A nice alternative registry that allows guest to purchase items for the couples honeymoon. Most couples already have tons of housewares, and traditional bridal registry items, this registry allows guests to take part in blessing the couple to have a wonderful honeymoon. For Christian couples this is a God send since we are actually having an opportunity to take advantage of the real purpose of a honeymoon. It's refreshing to know that there are people out there who are partaking in the sanctity of the marriage bed as God has instructed!

Knot.com Last but not least, this was my most helpful site. I was able to send out e-vites and electronic save the dates for free. I was also able to set up a website detailing my courtship story. It is an excellent planning tool and you can even upload your guest list in it and your guest can RSVP online. It also has a spot for your online registries for those guest who may not be able to attend or have time to actually visit a store. And people can leave nice things about you on your guest book.

I know many of you may already know about this, but it was fun for me to discover and share. And I would love to hear if you have any ideas or advice for any better deals or places! Thank you all who have left comments on our wedding web page, it's truly a blessing.

Stay blessed and encouraged! Have a wonderful weekend.

Weather Update

Hello All, its that time of year here in the good old state of Arkansas. Springtime is very nice and beautiful but occasionally we go through a season of tornado weather and fierce thunderstorms and flash flooding.

Last night was pretty okay, we just had thunderstorms early in the night and it stormed pretty solid this morning. We did have a little scare this am around lunchtime the tornado sirens went off and we had to assume evacuation mode. For all of you SAHM's I envied you today. Today while I was sitting in the stairwell of my office building, my children were at school in evacuation for a little while. Its the worst feeling in the world to know that there is a potential natural disaster going on and your precious ones are afraid and possibly in danger and you are miles away under the strong arm of attendance rules and regulations. God is blessing though. He kept my little ones safe and sound and he kept my FDH safe and sound.

If you look at my count down I actually have 65 days to go before my wedding and planning has become a little more manageable. I am still in prayer and decision on a cater. God worked it out that we were able to find a nice photographer that was so thrilled with our story of courtship and our "no touching stand" that he volunteered to take engagement pictures so that we could see his work and so that he could find creative poses to photograph all for free. I was thrilled and happy with the results, so all in all we were blessed to find a wonderful photographer who was excited about our courtship and the Godliness thereof and wants to be a part of our special day.

Now moving on along to my actual feelings about my impending marriage, well there are so many emotions that I am dealing with, fear, frustration, anticipation, excitement, love, did I mention fear??? I am afraid that I won't be a good wife. I am so used to being a mom full time, that I sometimes wonder how in the world am I going to add wife to my plate. Don't get me wrong I am looking forward to the challenge, but I do have a quiet fear, a Godly fear that in some way is keeping me humbly before him for help and guidance. I am learning in practice the art of womanly submission. It's not a bad thing, it's wonderful but I will say that it requires tons of effort. Some may say that it should be effortless, and I agree but when you have been used to making all decisions, it requires some gentle reminders from God that total decision making is not your place right now! So, pray for me, that I continue to remain humble and ever learning what it takes to be the wife I have so long waited to be.
Stay Blessed and Encouraged-smfg

Frugal Friday- My Simple Yet Creative Engagement

Today I wanted to keep up with Crystal's at Biblical Womanhood Frugal Friday momentum by sharing how me and my FHD and I have had to tap into our creativity to maximize our courtship/engagement for the glory of God without maximizing our spending.

First I must thank everyone for all the well wishes, they have certainly been a blessing to me. Being that I have been following Frugal Friday's for about a year now, I have learned so much form the different ones who post. In saying that, I knew that there was not way I could get engaged and forget it all.

Have I been caught up in the whirlwind of romance, YEP, but I found that there are some pretty frugal ways to entertain. For me, my engagement has been a family affair. So the small romantic dinners are usually loud, boisterous family outings. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Since he is an ex-athlete with the appetite to match, I have to cook for him. If we do go out, we share a meal or I will just eat off the kids menu or we will split an appetizer. Mainly, I share with my kids, because hey they never finish their food anyway.

Also, my FDH and I stand firm on our belief in an emotionally, and biblically pure courtship/engagement. Meaning, there is no alone time without adult chaperone's, ABSOLUTELY no touching of any kind, and no situations that will cause us to be tempted of the flesh. So what do we do? We find creative ways to always be together in a public setting. By doing so it allows us to always remember that our engagement is advertisement for Christ and it keeps us fighting the temptations that the enemy brings our way.Explaining this to some of my friends can be rather challenging, and my neighbors think I am absolutely nuts, but the difference between this and what I was used to in worldly dating is so much more beautiful. I love the fact that we can think of ways to be around each other and remain in God's will. They are memories that we will be able to share with our grandchildren.

One of the main things we do is to sit and talk outside on my balcony. I went to Fred's Discount Store and bought a cute little black folding table with chairs and I decorated it with a nice table runner and plant. When time allows we sit outside and talk. I have introduced him to the power of herbal teas. So I'll brew up some hot water and make herbal tea and we'll sit outside and just talk. This kind of proved to be a challenge this winter, but we dressed in layers, wrapped up separately in quilts and drank tea. I also cook for him and we sit outside and eat dinner or breakfast and drink tea.

This helps us fight the cost of always eating out since we don't visit each others apartments alone. Occasionally I have invited friends out, or cooked dinner and took it over friends so that we can hang out as a group and still take advantage of one on one time.

I believe whole heartily that trying to maintain an emotionally and physically pure relationship brings out the creativity in a couple. Plus it allows us to do what all couples should do before entering into something as important as marriage. We TALK!!! All the time, we just sit and talk. Best of all, it doesn't cost us a dime, and with all the money we save during our engagement, we can spend on our honeymoon!

Answer To My Prayer! I"m Gettin Married!

cake topper photo from stuartscreations.com

Okay, I have tried to be so suspenseful, and yes in my post yesterday I did mention that I said yes to my FDH ( Future Dear Hubby), but today I just felt like getting it off my chest and shouting it as loud as I could, with no leading stories or suspenseful posts. I am truly happy. I have been holding this in for a while, because I just didn't know how to jump out and say, hey I'm not going to be a single mom for long.
This has truly been a bittersweet moment for me. Am I happy that my life is about to change for the better?? YES!, but at the same time I am loosing a part of me that has made me so strong in the Lord. I still want my life to be that testimony to other single parents out there who are desiring not to be alone, and to have a traditionally complete family.

My sole desire through out this process is to:

1. encourage other single parents that living for God and waiting on him is the best thing that you can do for yourself, and your children.

2. Prevent past mistakes that I made from happening to others, especially children.

3. Provide encouragement for those who feel like they don't have a place to fit into. Life for us may be different, but we still are loved by the same God, and he will still accept us as his children as long as we obey and put him first in our lives.

4. To spread the word that Scripture is so, so true in that if you Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalms 37:4

5. Finally, my desire is to never, ever forget where I started on this journey. Being a single mom has been a big part of my adult life and there were experiences that shaped me into the woman I am today, and reminders of the woman I want to strive to be.

I ask you to pray for me during this chapter in my life. Things are happening so fast and I feel like I am being caught up in a whirlwind some days. Wedding planning has taken over my life.

Also, just to warn you that my posts for the next few months will probably chronicle this stage in my life and continue to hold up the banner of the importance and beauty of a God honoring courtship , engagement and wedding.

Be Blessed and Stay Encouraged!