following an unknown path

engagement noodles :)

Recently, Lawrance and I went back to Meinong with his family to celebrate our engagement. His grandmother was so happy for us, she decided to treat the whole clan to noodles! She reserved the restaurant and called all the relatives to come home for the weekend. It apparently was a BIG deal. :)

It's too bad I was sick. I was right in the middle of a cold at the time. It started on Thursday and was at its worst on Monday. Lawrance took good care of me though by forcing me to go see the doc who said the reason my "common cold" was so bad was because it had activated my asthma. So, once my airways were open again . . . I started feeling much better. So, today, Wednesday--I'm feeling better--and went to school for the first time this week. Now, if only I can survive the next two weeks!!

Anyway, back to this weekend, I am so blessed to be welcomed with open arms into this family. So many people I tell about our engagement are surprised at how welcoming the Wu family has been to "a foreigner" marrying into the family. Even non-believers have been telling me how much God is blessing Lawrance and me. How cool is that?!?!

See all you Texans soon!

With much love,
amanda :)

(Originally posted on June 11, 2008.)

it's a date

We have a date set for the wedding!!

"Crazy" is the most oft repeated word in my vocabulary right now.  It is just sheer crazy to think how much has been decided in about a week's time!

My mom found this amazing package deal at this inn.  I love that they do EVERYTHING for us!  When she first told me about it . . . I wanted to kiss her feet to thank her.  Too bad she was an ocean away! :) 

Doing it this way relieves me of SO MUCH pressure.  Ahh, the stress that just vanished as soon as I looked at the website and the inn's package deal.  It's wonderful.  THANKS MOM!!!! 

So . . . we are getting married on August 31, 2008.

Crazy.  Just crazy.

(originally posted on June 7, 2007.)

colors and flowers

When mom asked me to start thinking about colors and flowers . . . I was clueless.  I had NO IDEA what I wanted.

Well, it didn't take me too long to realize I want gerbera daises.

Here is the photo that made me decide:

But, I also like these:

Here are some other random gerbera bouquets I've found pics of online:

I like the all pink bouquets.  But, I think I really prefer the mix of colors--pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows too.  Since I'm having no attendants, I think it's ok to go with a bright mix of fun, happy colors!

Mom found this pic of a wedding cake with gerbera flowers on it.  It might be my fave of all the gerbera cakes I've found pics of online.

Here are some other gerbera wedding cakes I've found:

(Originally posted on June 5, 2008.)

our wedding bands

One of the easiest decisions--besides saying yes to Lawrance--so far has been picking out the wedding bands. 

Corrina asked me the other day if Lawrance and I were arguing yet regarding all the quick decision making with wedding planning.  I told her absolutely not.  She couldn't believe that we were getting along so well!  :) 

It's fun.

So, anyway, here are the bands we've decided to go with:

Of course, we will  wait till he gets to America to try them on and purchase them, but for now, this is what we are leaning towards.  Something simple but elegant.

(Originally posted on June 3, 2008.)

blogging about the wedding

I've decided to blog about my wedding here on "my blog" . . . and move my few wedding blog posts over here and keep the wedding blog site purely a site with pages rather than a site with a blog. 

That way I am more likely to blog about it.  :)

So, for the next week, the things that I blogged about the first week of June on our "wedding blog" will post here in the exact same way I posted them at that time--except I will add an "originally posted on" line at the end.

I decided to do this not just to make it easier on me, but also because several people have commented or encouraged me to blog about our wedding planning process.  So, here I am . . . coming back to blogging as best as can at this time in my life. :)

engagement photos

Thursday, Abu, a friend of ours, helped us take some engagement photos so we could make a photo-based wedding invitation.  We had SO MUCH FUN!!!  We kept laughing and laughing . . . so all the smiles you see . . . totally real. :) 

Abu took over 400 photos  . . . quickly picking out MY favorites leaves us with over 80 to choose from--that doesn't even include Lawrance's faves which might be different than mine (he let me download to my computer first, so he's only seen my faves so far).  We only need four for the invites--it's going to be really hard to choose.

(Random FYI: The church that is in the back of some of the photos is most likely where we will have the Taiwanese wedding.)

I leave tomorrow . . . . oh it's going to be hard to say goodbye to this guy who delights my heart so.  So . . . I'm leaving the computer now so I can finish grading, packing, and cleaning, so that I can spend the rest of my time with "my guy."  Thanks so much for all the wonderfully kind words and congratulations!!  Yall are so sweet!

Here are some of our "outtakes."  They aren't the most attractive photos . . . BUT . . .I love the way they show how much we enjoy each other!!! :)

someone to walk this unknown path with

This is our story of God's grace . . .

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

It's a simple story really.
Two people learning to trust God.
Two winding paths that God made straight.
Two straight paths that He choose to cross at just the right time. 
. . .
The Creator of romance, the Maker who arranged the first "boy meets girl" in the Garden so long ago, is still at work. [Taken from Joshua Harris' book Boy Meets Girl]

When I read those words months ago when I first started dating the man I will soon marry . . . I knew those were the words I wanted to use on my blog to announce my engagement!! :)

Needless to say a lot has happened recently.  God has been kind, very kind!!

Some of you found out that I had a boyfriend in real life, some of you found out by email, but for many of you this is coming as a total shock and surprise.  :) 

I promise I didn't just decide yesterday to marry the guy next to me on the bus.  And, I also promise that we didn't keep our relationship secret from our family and in-real-life friends.  We just choose to keep our relationship off the blog for a couple of reasons. 

And, that is really what made blogging these past few months difficult . . . I couldn't blog about what I really wanted to . . . and I was kinda busy spending time with the man of my dreams. :)
 
We are working on putting our story online, so those of you who have not been walking next to us as God brought us together and we fell in love can praise God with us now as we tell our story of His grace in our lives.

You can go to our wedding site and/or wedding blog to read more, but here are the basic details:
Lord willing, Lawrance Aaron Wu and I will be married on August 31, 2008 in Texas. 
We will have another celebration here in Taiwan at the end of the year, and we will continue to live, work, and minister in Taiwan--just together, rather than apart. :)

Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!  (Psalm 126:3 NLT)

This coming Monday, I will, Lord willing, leave Taiwan and go Stateside for a little over two months.  I will leave single, but return married to an awesome man who loves the Lord and has a heart that beats strongly to share the gospel with the lost.  What a blessing!!

We would appreciate your prayers for us as we make all the transitions that we will face in the coming weeks and months.  Our greatest desire is for God to be glorified, please pray that as we wrap up things here, transition to a different country for awhile, and plan for both a wedding and a life together that we can keep our focus on Christ alone.