Almost Mrs

The highest happiness on earth is marriage. ~William Lyon Phelps

On Saturday, March 28th 2009 at 3:30 in the afternoon, Phil and I will be married! I can hardly believe it is almost here. It has been a year in the making, and we are so excited. Only a few more days, and then I will be Mrs. Brinkmeyer.

We are very busy getting the details in order and getting those loose ends tied up before Saturday.

We feel so very blessed and appreciate you all!

The Greatest of These is Love

With the wedding fast approaching, love is on my mind a lot these days. I am so thankful for the Lord’s written teaching that of the three things remaining (Faith, Hope, and Love), the greatest is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) What a gift!

I recently saw a video of two otters holding hands. It's the sweetest video. Here is a link below. Make sure you watch until the very end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno&NR=1

When it's time to change....

John Maxwell once said, “When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing: People change when they hurt enough they have to, when they learn enough that they want to, and when they receive enough that they are able to.”

As I sit eating my lunch, at a desk that has never looked so clean or so empty at work, I ponder the many changes that are about to take place in my life. I sit, eat, and oddly have that song from the Brady Bunch playing in my head. You know the one. “When it’s time to change..you’ve got to rearrange.” Yes, Peter’s voice is even cracking in the rendition in my mind. Tomorrow is my last day at work. I have been at WDLM Radio for 3.5 years. It amazes me at how when I walk out the door for the last time as an employee, I will walk through the door a different person than I walked in on my first day in 2005. It’s time to change and to rearrange.

In looking at the quote above, I think I would fall in the “learned enough they want to change” group. I have many changes coming. Name change, career change, house change, climate change, becoming a Texan as well as a wife! It seems my identity is completely changing at times. Change definitely tends to give us anxious feelings. The cool thing is that I have learned a lot the past few years, and I am looking at this whole experience in a positive more than anxious way.

One of the biggest things I have learned is that we were created to be defined by who we are through Christ…not by our jobs, family, friends, etc. If you can reach a point where you realize who you are through Christ, the rest in life will fall into place and it gives you a confidence and peace. It becomes clear that who you are is more about the One you are meant to live this life serving.

I have learned enough that I want to change because I have faith in where He leads me, I’ve seen the Lord’s hand in this change, have prayed about it, and know He has an amazing plan in it all. Does that make it easy to say goodbye to friends? Nope. Does that make it easy to live so far from my family that I love so dearly? No way. But it does make it easier and is helping me to make the transitions.

I will leave WDLM on March 13th, 2009. On June 22nd, 2009, I will start a new position for Fishers of Men Ministries based in the Quad Cities. FOM is a wonderful ministry that runs an orphanage in Kenya, Africa. I will be working in an office out of my home on ministry development, fund raising, and leading short term mission trips with them. I will take all that I have learned in my 28 years to this new ministry and begin a new adventure in serving Him and the least of these. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store!

With only 16 days until our wedding, I am busy packing, attending to details, finishing up work, etc. My stomach still does flips when I think about the next few weeks. A big smile comes to my face when I think about becoming Phil’s wife. I am so blessed to be marrying such an amazing man. He is an answer to many prayers that have been sent above, and I look forward to our future together. It’s hard to believe the big day is almost here and I am feeling blessed, humbled, and very excited.

Line = Queue = Order

I was once in line at an airport in London. I was going through customs and was anxiously feeling as if the line was not moving fast enough for me to catch my next flight. An approaching man must have felt the same way. Although, instead of waiting patiently, he did what would be the unforgivable in most elementary lunch lines. He “Cut”.

The airline officials saw this and immediately approached him in front of everyone. “What part of a queue do you not understand?” They firmly asked. That was the question we all wanted to yell at the man. What part of standing in line did he not get? Was he not human? Everyone understands you have to stand in line. Immediately they made him go to the end of the line and told him to get back in the queue (British word meaning “line”). Justice was served and order was restored.

About a year ago, I went to a visitation. The line to view the deceased was so long it wrapped around the inside of the building several times and was even overflowing onto the sidewalk outside. I got out of my car and walked up to the end of the line. I didn’t ask questions. I just took my place in line. When the person in front of me moved foward..so did I. I stood in that line for over an hour. When the person in front of me moved, that was my signal that I was to move as well. No questions asked.

It was a long line, and I guess I had nothing better to do than to analyze how weird it was that I wasn’t questioning where the line was going or if I was even in the right line to begin with. I just instinctively saw a line nearby and jumped into it and was confident I would get to where I needed to go.

The unspoken rules and value we place in the line principle are pretty universal (unless you are driving in Bucharest, Romania!). You get in the line and watch the person in front of you and follow them. Many times you can’t see your destination but you usually have faith that by following the person directly ahead, you will eventually get there.

Black Friday is a great example of the faith we put in lines. When ready to check out, the line is usually at the back of the store. You find the end of the line of people looking tired and frustrated, and you just join it. You may need to ask, “Is this the line?” because you can’t see the registers. Otherwise, no more questions are needed. You stand there and trust that by following the person in front of you, you will get to your desired destination.

Lines give us order. We are taught at a very young age that participating in them, is not only the socially acceptable way to live, but the only way to live. We do this in some way each and everyday of our lives. It is what we have found as the only way to live. How could we survive otherwise?

I often give thanks during prayers to the Lord for being with me each day. I’m not sure I could survive without Him in my life. I can’t imagine life without Him. Each day, I put one foot in front of the other and move throughout this life. Lines amaze me and have got me to thinking. What if we had the kind of faith and value we put in lines as we did in following the Lord? What if we jumped in His line behind Him? With every move He made, we followed? I can’t help but wonder how my life would be different if I jumped in line behind Him with that kind of faith and with no questions asked.

Why do we follow strangers in a line with no second thought, but struggle to follow the Lord in His line when we are promised it’s what is good for us. Imagine the order we would have in life if we did this with the second nature way we do in everyday lines in life. What part of getting in queue with God are we not getting? Maybe we are just like that rude man in the airport and need to be set straight. God’s order is like no other. Let us all jump in line behind Him and reap the benefits. Line= Queue= Order.