busy busy busy...

this past weekend, Casper and I were reminded of how truly blessed we are!  We were able to spend the weekend with our wonderful friends, and we couldn't thank God more for the people he's put into our lives!  Friday night, Josh and Shannon and Ron and Jil Mazellan were over for dinner/dessert and we had a great night of conversation ... Ron and Jil are so great, they have been very intentional mentors in all four of our lives and continue to guide and invest in our marriage and Josh and Shannon as well!  We praise God for them.

Then Saturday, we went out to dinner with Chris and Rachael and then met up with Josh and Shannon at our house and the 6 of us ate dessert, played guitar hero, and relaxed.  On Sunday we went to church, and then over the Chris and Rachael's for lunch... then all afternoon we played games (Josh and Shan were there too), and we had a blast!!

Casper and I do not exactly know why God has us here in Marion ... but we are sure the God always provides and always gives us more than we need.  We are so happy to be with the people that are here, and we are so blessed to live such an abundant life in this season.  Marion may not be beautiful, but it's not the place, it's the people!! 

Now it's Monday again, and both Casper and I are back to work...  Casper is extremely busy this week with freelance stuff on top of his full time job at IWU, so I am praying the Charlotte and I have patience and that we don't get too disappointed that Casper cannon give us as much attention!! :)  

my husband is wonderful.

So, the first 6 months of our marriage looked a bit different than we both had imagined... Casper was working free-lance doing various graphic design and photography jobs for various clients, and for the first couple months I was working at College Wesleyan and spending the end of the summer gearing up for school.  These first 2 months were very stressful as we did not know where money was going to come from, or when we would be able to pay bills, but day by day the Lord provided for us.  Then I went to school, and this past fall was one big blur.  Not only was I working at the church still, but also taking full-time classes, and then coming home and wanting to be a great wife... needless to say I was wearing a lot of hats.  Meanwhile, Casper was at home during the days doing work on his computer as well as taking on the bulk of responsibility for the household chores and tasks.  Also, he would make me lunch everyday (which was eggs over easy 9 times out of 10) and he would drop everything to help me with homework, run me to class, pick me up from class, bring me my book when I forgot it, and pretty much do anything else I needed.  You see, school is something that I took very seriously, and I tended to work myself to hard on all of my homework assignments, projects and papers and also being someone who works better under pressure (yes, this is an eloquent way to say procrastinator) many of my projects would pile up on me and cause me to have no time in the day to sleep, eat, let alone help around the house and pull my weight... So, all of this to say: my husband is wonderful.  Every day Casper whole-heartedly served me with the most selfless intentions.  He always put my needs before his, and loved me the best that he knew how. I think that I am a pretty blessed wife, because I know that several husbands wouldn't do this.  One of the things that I love most about Casper is the way he looks at life.  He has such clear and true perspective and he knows that marriage is not about a set of tasks that are intended for the guy and the girl that should never be shared, but instead marriage is a partnership and different seasons will require different efforts from each person!  

Now, I am 3 and a half weeks past graduation, and just settling in to what this season will look like for us.  The roles have kind of reversed as I am working part time and Casper is working full time at IWU as the photographer, as well as coming home and doing free lance work.  We have only been back at our house a couple days (since we were in Michigan for the holidays) but already I am gaining perspective on how amazingly Casper took care of me last semester so I could finish college.  Now it's my turn!  I am finding joy in the small things, like being able to make him his scrambled eggs for lunch when he comes home!  I feel that God has blessed us with something so special, and that is true, pure and honest love.  I am so thankful for the seasons of life, and even though our marriage is very new and young, I feel that God is teaching us so much!

I love you Casper!

Jess

the hamlets.

On Friday, June 27th, 2008 we experienced the most amazing day of our lives when we were able to stand before family, friends, and our Savior and make a commitment to spend the rest of our lives together.  God has blessed us with a love that is rare, and priceless. In the last 6 months, which have felt like the blink of an eye, we have started to discover what it looks like to live life together.  We feel that in this short time, we have already experienced so much of life, and we've received continual blessings from our Lord. We also have amazing family and friends that are walking this journey with us, and help to add to the full life that we feel God is providing for us each day.  So, we decided that before life passes us by, we want to not only experience it to the fullest, but we also want to share our life with others.  We may not always do extraordinary things, and most days are pretty simple but in each moment there is something new to see, touch, feel, smell, or hear and we are constantly learning about ourselves and God in the quiet and in the storms.  We know that we are only two people, and our lives may only be a small blip on the radar, but we want to make the biggest blip that we can.  So this blog is a way of us not only keeping a record or a journal or our life, but also we pray that the things we are learning may be an encouragement to someone along the way.  We know that God can use any outlet to change lives, so we are jumping on the blogging bandwagon and hoping that this too could be used for the glory of God.  

Please feel free to comment and engage with us, as we would love to have you share in our journey!

Casper and Jess