'Things to do' before 'I Do'

Over the past month, wedding plans have finally started moving along. Mike & I think we found a church and a photographer, which is so exciting and relieving. We are sending out invitations in February and my dress is almost here. I can't believe how fast time has flown by since we've gotten engaged!

Today, we went on a fun little adventure to create our wedding registry at Target.  When we got engaged we were so excited to go to the store and run around using the handheld scanners, scanning anything we pleased. I was excited because I remembered being a little girl, playing the grocery store cashier and loving pretending that I was scanning items that my sister was purchasing. We got to Target and set up our account and we received the scanner. Yes THE scanner. ONE (which was an unforeseen problem). Guess who got the scanner, not me. Mike's argument was that I was picking everything out (which was true, but only out of necessity, he has horrible taste in kitchen decor) so he got to scan. I did not agree but I knew to keep this experience as fun as I had hoped, I needed to let him hold the scanner for a while. So there we are walking around Target and I am saying things I like and if he agrees, he scanned. Then, the moment I knew was going to happen happened. Mike ran off with the scanner. Yup, and guess what he scanned? Swords, and guns and random things he could get while running from me such as a 25-dollar candle. I must admit though I did think that the foam swords were kinda fun, we could use them when we are having a disagreement and it would make things less serious. The foam swords stayed on our registry :) After begging him to let me scan a few things, he let me hold "the scanner".  After a few scans, I was satisfied and handed it back over the Scanmaster. So all in all I think the day ended up a success, and we had a nice lesson in compromise along the way :)

Later that night, I was reading "Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldridge (which is an AWESOME book, I recommend it to any female, or any male that wants to learn about females, on this planet) and I was reminded about the heart of a man. Captivating says that every man wants a battle to fight, an adventure and to rescue a beauty. Men are created to be the hero. Mike holding that scanner was a hero. He was in control, making the final decision. So by me relinquishing my power to scan I was building him up and honoring him. I know it’s a small silly example, but it certainly did make him feel important.

We as women need to remember not to nag our men and to encourage them so they can be the heroes, in return they will feel and act in that manner which is a win for everyone.

New Beginnings

So. Here is my new blog. I have been thinking about this blog and what I wanted to do with it for a little while now, and I have finally come up with a conclusion. I knew that I wanted to write about the happenings in Michael's & my life so that our family and friends would be able to know, hence the title "Hamme Sweet Hamme". Yes I know I am not a "Hamme" just yet, but close enough  :) Just today as I was driving (all of my best thinking is done when I'm driving, so watch out because I am not paying attention) so driving, and I was thinking about how the internet is impacting people all over the world in so many ways. Yes, I did just watch The Social Network last night. Good movie, or at least I think so. AND I decided that I would use this blog to not only update friends and family of the events in Mike's & my life, but to let people know what my new walk with Jesus has looked like.  I want this blog to be REAL, to be uncensored. I do not want it to be a blog where I ONLY write about all of the wonderful things that are happening in my life since I decided to follow Jesus so I could make my life seem perfect. Being a Christian does not mean that you are perfect.

As a young "Christian" woman, learning to listen and follow Jesus, I remember what I felt like the first time I went to church with Mike when I was not a believer (and the second time, and third time) It took me quite a while to be comfortable with "going to church".  I felt like everyone was judging me and knew that I was imperfect, because I was under the impression that they were perfect.  That is one false idea that was in my brain from the very start, that "Christians" were people who followed every rule, never broke any laws and didn't have ANY fun. Eventually, I learned different when I met some amazing women who were followers of Jesus. I soon saw something in them that I wanted, TRUE happiness. These women were full of joy. Every part of their heart was joyful, no matter what they were going through. They never claimed to be perfect, or that their life was perfect and they never acted like they were better than me because they were Christians. Now I am not saying that becoming a Christian will make your life one big ball of happiness and take away your problems, but I have realized I have so much to be thankful for no matter the circumstances. Thankfully, I became close with these women, and had the chance to see what following Jesus looked like. I gave my life to Christ on January 23, 2010. I know that sounded all sorts of dramatic, but what I did was decide to TRY to live my life in a way that does not put others down, but to build people up. I decided to TRY to live my life in a way that my heart would not rejoice in evil, but that my heart would rejoice in truth. I soon learned that my heart and my life would NOT change IMMEDIATELY. I thought "Okay, I asked Jesus into my heart so tomorrow I'll be Superwoman! WOO!"  A+B=C , right?  WRONGO. My heart was in the right place, because I wanted to change and treat people better, but the lesson I learned is that asking Jesus into your heart has a much deeper meaning than an equation for becoming a "good" person. This past year has been a year full of learning for me and it has been awesome. Over this past year, I have discovered so much about the forgiveness that God offers and gives to anyone who seeks Him, and let me tell you, IT IS AMAZING. I plan to write about our experiences from this past year, and all the growth that is to come, to hopefully be a light in this world to someone, somewhere who is curious or confused about what it looks like to "walk with God" and to "follow Jesus". It's not about being perfect, it is about meeting Jesus the creator of the world and watching him change you from the Inside out. 

So an update on Mike's & my life. We are planning our wedding and couldn't be more excited to be Mr. & Mrs.! The next post will have a little more about what is going on with us, but this post is already a little lengthy because I had a lot on my heart that I wanted to share.