I have not dropped off the face of the earth! These last couple of months have been super busy for me. Not only did school start but I'm preparing for my December 1st wedding. I had my bridal portrait session last week and I'm pretty sure it's safe to post this portrait on my blog... I don't think my fiancee spends alot of time reading it!
Javaid and I have finished premarital counseling however I'm trying to soak in as much Godly information about marriage as I can. We had the opportunity to attend the marriage conference that our church hosts each year and it was awesome! I learned about the natural and the spiritual side of marriage.
I've been reading a couple of books and they have been a wealth of Christian information on marriage. I highly recommend the following books...
5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
This book talks about how we each have a love language: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and it's important for us to understand our language and learn how to speak our spouses language. Mine is physical touch... which is probably why I'm quick to comfort my students with a hand on the back or shoulder and probably why I enjoy getting their hugs so much! His is receiving gifts... he feels loved when I buy him something special, it can be as little as a Snickers bar or when I take him out to eat or to the movies. We read this book in our Singles Ministry at church and I refer to it often.
The Purpose and Power of Love and Marriage by Myles Monroe
This is the most comprehensive book I've ever seen on marriage! If there were a class to take about it, this would definitely be the textbook. It encompasses so much information... from how marriage began and how the Lord intended it to how to love yourself and your spouse. I learned so much from this book that I would need several blog posts to tell you all about it.
Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow
I learned about this book at the marriage conference we attended. I'm almost through reading it and just in time too. It's about being a "sensuous" wife and denying yourself and "ministering" to your husband when he's in need. I would recommend this book to all wives! Again, I learned so much from this book and it discussed intimacy issues and questions that Christians just don't talk about.
With only 21 days to go I must say I'm getting nervous. I've always had my own room/space (besides that one year in college when I had a roommate), I've been on my own for the last 8 years and I've done whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and I've purchased whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So leaving my apartment to move into his house will be culture shock for me.
Going from 0 to 100 overnight will be such an adjustment for me. For the last two years Javaid and I have honored God in our relationship and we've made a conscious effort to not put ourselves in "tempting" situations. So we don't spend time alone at home together, we go out. We hold hands but won't embrace (hug) for more than 20 seconds and we've only "pecked"... we've never... shall we say... "made out." So on December 1st we have to give ourselves the green light to cross over the dating line and onto the marriage side and enjoy the gift of intimacy that God has ordained for us.
So it may be quiet on the blog front for awhile. I'll be focusing on becoming the wife God called me to be while balancing work, friends and family!
