Mr. and Mrs. Guenrich

Today Stephanie and Jake got hitched and it was a very fun day.  If you know the bride, you know that she is very laid back and is sooooo "go with the flow" kind of girl.  The wedding was indicative of her personality and was really a fun, laid back wedding.  You will notice the girls wore flip-flops with their dresses and the guys (even Jake) wore JEANS!  

We started the day at the church at 9:00 and began preparing Steph for pictures and her meeting with Jake.  They met one another at 10:00 for the first time and then pictures soon followed.  The day was non-stop until the wedding began at 2.  

Here are Steph and bridesmaids

Me and Stephanie

What a beautiful bride!

Bridesmaids and flowers (aren't they beautiful?)

The wedding party

How cute!

Jake and bridesmaids...oh you better watch out Stephanie!

Or Jake you better watch out...Steph and groomsmen!

Stephanie and Mother of the Bride

Stephanie and Jake cutting the brides cake

Grooms cake...

Throwing the bouquet....

Her Maid of Honor caught it...Lindsay Weaver

The happy couple leaving...

Parents of the bride taking a breather after the couple has left.  I think they need a honeymoon too!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Guenrich!!!! Enjoy your honeymoon!

Stephanie and Jake's rehearsal dinner

Stephanie Steelman and I have known each other for about 5 years and got especially close when we started meeting together about a year ago for discipleship.  We were specifically praying for her future husband when within weeks she began talking about Jake.  I went home that night and told Jay that she would marry him.  And here we are a year later...and they are getting married.  What an honor to know both of them and to be a part of their big day!

I was given the privilege of directing Stephanie and Jake's wedding this weekend and today was full of decorating, practicing, planning, and crying as the rush of emotions filled the day.  We started off by decorating the reception area at 9:00 this morning and it was non-stop until late tonight.  It was a great day and we are all looking forward to tomorrow...the big day!

The happy couple Stephanie and Jake

The wedding party

Mother and Father of the Bride (Wade and Tracey Steelman)

Me and my sweetie at Rehearsal Dinner

Mother and Father of the Groom (Dean and Amy Guenrich)

LeAnn (sister of bride), Anna Tyler (friend), and Allison (sister of the bride)

Father of the Bride giving a speech to the happy couple

Stephanie thanking her mom for all her hard work in planning the wedding

Stephanie and Jake

Stephanie and I

Congrats Stephanie and Jake!  We are so excited for you and the covenant that you will make tomorrow.  May the Lord bless your marriage and allow you to serve together to glorify Him for many years to come.  We love you guys!

Potts' Playdate

As if the kids haven't seen enough of each other the past two days, we got together with Ellie, Ethan and Eli again tonight.  Last night Mary Beth kept my kids while Jay and I went to the Redbirds game.  Afterwards I went to pick Brayden up and Karis spent the night with Ellie.  Brayden and I went over there this morning to swim a while and to pick Karis up and came home to take naps.  Then I kept Ellie, Ethan and Eli tonight so MB could go to a bible study. You would think they would get tired of each other, but no...they still didn't want to leave each other tonight!

Ellie is 7 and Karis is 3 and they play like they are best friends!

Ethan and Brayden hugging

Eli is walking!!!!

Ellie and Karis playing dressup and "beauty shop." You can see Karis in the background combing her hair.

Karis primping

I left the girls for a moment to play with the boys and I came back to this...They had set up a beauty shop and were ready for customers!

Jay working while we all hung out upstairs

Just because he was available....

I am going through a Bible Study called Jesus the One and Only by Beth Moore.  I have been really convicted by today's study about Judas.  I was reading in Luke 22: 1-6 which says this:

"Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.  3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.  4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.  5  They were delighted and agreed to give them money.  6  He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present."

Judas and the teachers of the law ended up being means to an end to one another by both conspiring to get rid of Jesus.  Because of the traditional Passover coming up, it was going to be the year of the Lord's favor and somehow they all knew that God was about to use His Son in an amazing way.  Judas and company were trying to stop that from happening because they felt out of control in the situation.  "When circumstances suddenly seem out of our control, our reactions may define the nature of our relationship with Christ."  And with Judas, it showed.

The thing that I find convicting about this whole thing is this..Why do you think Satan could have entered one of Christ's own twelve disciples?  He was close to Jesus and how could He have allowed this?  Part of the answer to this is in the heart of Judas.  And I was reminded this: "Please understand that just because a person appears to follow Christ doesn't necessarily mean he has placed saving faith in Him."  Why did Satan pick Judas instead of Peter, James and John?  This is the kicker... SATAN WAS ABLE TO ENTER JUDAS BECAUSE HE WAS AVAILABLE!  Judas followed Christ for several years without ever giving his heart to Him.  It reminds me to not assume or not assume that those around me are believers.  You can follow Jesus (and even literally in Judas' case) and still have a heart that is cold and empty without Him.  Either you are filled with the Holy Spirit or you are empty and available like Judas was where Satan can come in and take up residency in your soul.  My prayer is that my heart would be so full of the Spirit that Satan could have no part of me.  Evaluate your own life and consider...Are you going through the motions as Judas did? Are you available?

For YOU Uncle Jon-Jon

For the past two days Brayden has wanted to wear "Jon-Jon's shirt."  Yesterday he wanted to wear the yellow/green one and today wanted to wear this blue/white one that matches his Uncle Jon-Jon's.  SO here we are with it on and once I put it on, he said, "Cute...picture."  He is soooo my child! 

So this one is for you Jon-Jon

Redbirds game

Tonight our friends gave us some Redbirds tickets so we invited our buddies, Jamie and Jenny Mullen to join us.  They are the camp leaders for Jay's July camps and do such a great job.  They are both so gifted at what they do and the Lord has given them such a desire for ministry and they are such servants.  We are blessed to know them; besides they are tons of fun.

Me and my man

My parents also got tickets and had Kameron (baby  below) and Emily, Nick and Timmy with them.  It was fun to meet up with them too!

Jamie and Jenny

Jay and Kameron

My dad (Pop) with Kameron during 7th inning stretch

Today's adventure

Today we went swimming at Rachel's pool and Paige and her kids decided to join us today.  It was fun as always but sssooooooo hot!  It has gotten so hot outside you can't even get cooled off in the water!  I am looking forward to it cooling off some. 

We did have a little scared moment today...some 18 (I am guessing) year old boys came to the pool and begged for us to let them in the gated pool.  We of course told them no and then they kept harassing us.  Another lady came to the pool and they asked her and she told them no also and that made them mad.  They stood at the gate for about 30 minutes just staring at us and it made us very uncomfortable.  The other lady eventually called the police and they took off before the police arrived.  Other than that...it was pretty uneventful.

The girls (Karis, Mari-Morgan and Kendall)

Brayden 

Nathan Tillman

Me and my boy

My babies

Brayden was trying to hug Karis

Mari-Morgan

Karis and M&M

Paige and Rachel

Karis went with her daddy to Walmart the other day and came home with this "Beach Barbie" to take to the beach when we go in a couple of weeks.  She has not put that thing down!

Tonight Karis and Brayden are going to play at the Potts' house while Jay and I go to the Redbirds game. :)  Maybe it won't get rained out??!!!! Then Karis is having a sleepover with Ellie...she is so excited about it!