Looking beyond ourselves

Isn't it funny how you can be in a fuming bad mood and then someone needs your help with something, and in helping them, you forget why you were angry?

I was frustrated over a simple thing and I was writing about it in a different blog that I keep for such entries that no one else needs to read... When I was approached by a sweet, quiet tempered Asian man who couldn't speak English very well.

He was having difficulties writing a paper to explain to policemen why his license plate lights wouldn't work. Apparently, it's actually a problem with the car it's self. He had an impressive document of research he had done to prove that what he said was true. There were problems in the making of this particular car, and he had tried to get it fixed several times, but it never worked.

He needed my help to word letter of explanation. Some policemen didn't understand when he gave it to them, that he needed it back. He said that he has had to print out this same document several times, and now he needed help to word it in such a way that they would understand that this was a document he was going to KEEP in his car, to prove to the policeman, that the lights were not his fault.

He was so sweet, and halting in his speech, that I came back from helping him, to my own document of pent up frustrations, only to realize that the frustrations were gone. I now see that the thing I was so upset about was really very silly and easily fixable with time. I just need to be patient and not worry so much, I guess.

I just think that it's so neat how the Lord uses the needs of others, to meet the needs in OUR lives... I was really just being selfish, and I needed to look beyond my own problems, and actively help somebody else.

I know, helping to word a document isn't that big of a deal, but that was all it took. Like drinking water will always quench your thirst faster than tea or koolaid, this also was surprisingly very simple; something I know I already knew, but in the heat of the moment, I forgot.

God always gives us a way of escape... Even when the temptation is something so seemingly trivial as a pity party that no one else will see. And that "way of escape" was more like a rescue, actually... There are probably 30 people in this library, why did he come to me? and why was his need such that I would have to get up and physically leave the spot where I sat simmering, to go and cool off thinking about helping him with something else.

Maybe that wouldn't have been any ordinary pity party, and actually would have slipped deeper inside my thoughts and become a barrier between me and any person who tried to talk about it? I don't know... I only know that if God sees all sin on the same level, and self pity and selfishness are just as bad as smoking or immorality, than I needed to be rescued.

Progress

Nothing new, but lots has progressed since I last posted. Johnathan and I are up here at Lynchburg now. Johnathan has started his classes, and we've already paid our first two month of rent. (I know, I know; I'm not confusing the deposit or anything and yes, I do know the difference between that and rent.) Anyway, We're doing well.

Johnathan's 24th birthday was last week! His family came up to see us and we all went to O-Charlie's. (Johnathan's favorite "fancy" restaurant) His brother, Joel, wasn't able to make it because he had to work, and they wouldn't give him the day off. We missed him terribly!! He's such a pleasure to be around. He's got a quick sense of humor, but he doesn't really speak much unless your actually talking to him or asking him a question. He's one of those rare people who aren't quiet because they are insecure, they're just quiet because they don't have anything to say.
I haven't made many friends since coming here, but he's definitely one of my favorites! (We miss you, Joel!)

He gave Johnathan a little metal boat on a music box for his birthday, and when you wind the music box up, the boat rocks up and down as if it's on the ocean! It's one of the most peaceful things I've ever seen and we play it all the time.

Johnathan is doing better in his classes than he thought he would, even though they are extremely difficult. I'm so proud of him! He has the most amazing work ethic of anyone I've ever known. He studies late into the night, and then gets up at 5:30 in the morning to go to class. He spends hours with tutors and professors who might be able to help him, and even though he gets discouraged, he still manages to smile at me and make me laugh. He's very understanding when I get tired, but I still feel bad and wish that I could do something to help him get through it. It's too bad I can't just learn a couple chapters in a text book and then "download" them to his brain.

Some of the teachers really don't seem to know how much they are asking their students to do! They need to attend the Seven Laws of the Learner class! One man split his class up into groups of twelve, and assigned them each to study a certain business man. They have to basically pretend like they are a company trying to "sell" this man to the public, I guess, with reports and all kinds of fun stuff. All this would be good a good enough project for them to be working on while they are in this class, and most wouldn't complain... Until he said that they are also required to read every one of the books that this man has ever written! I think there's around 70 books belonging to the man that Johnathan's group was assigned to study. Johnathan tried to appeal, but his teacher thinks that he's being "tough" and that because of that, he is a good teacher; but he's not. He's got his students running ragged and out of breath, barely passing quizzes and exams, because there is simply too much on their plates. Did I mention that some of these teachers need to attend the Seven Laws of the Learner class??

Anyway, I don't want to talk about that anymore, it's making me upset. lol!

On a happier note: I've been feeling the baby move a lot lately! At first I honestly thought it was just gas, but since then, I've been paying closer attention to the way it actually differs from that feeling entirely. For example, gas is more of a rumbling, bubbly feeling, where as THIS is more like a little "bump" here and there. I feel it mostly when I'm at home, laying down. Maybe the baby has no way to know that it's bedtime since it can't see the sun yet? lol. The other day I told Johnathan about it and he got all excited and said, "I want to feel it!" But the baby is still too small for anyone else to feel it but me. *poor Johnathan* :(

I've been having a hard time finding maternity clothes. On one of my searches, a lady sympathized with me and said, "I just had a baby myself, and I will tell you that the only places in Lynchburg that sell maternity clothes are Target, and Burlington coat factory." That was rather disheartening, since I generally don't like what target has to offer anyway; so I went to check out Burlington. I wasn't that impressed with their selection either, but I did find a few things that would work for me.

I wonder why modesty doesn't seem to be an issue for a pregnant lady? Do they look in the mirror, decide they are too ugly for repair anyway, so they just blow it completely?? I'm serious! Some of these shirts are so tight, they reveal every single curve you could possibly be hiding!! Why???! *sighs and laughs softly* I will never understand girls my own age.

Then Johnathan's dad and brother told me about a Good Will somewhere, and THAT'S where I hit the jackpot. The reason why Lynchburg doesn't have any decent maternity clothes is because they're all at Good Will! All these "old fashioned" styles that nobody likes anymore because they are modest; they give them to the Good Will for people like ME to find! Yayayayayayay!! *laughs and grins happily*

Anyway, I think that's just about it for now. I'm sorry I haven't been posting very much. I'll try to do better.

I love and miss every singly one of you more than you can imagine!!

Changes! Progress is good!

Oh-kay! Lots to catch up on, I see. Well, one thing you might think is significant, is that Johnathan, Jordan, Joel, and myself are all working at the same restaurant now. *smiles*

*points* Johnathan started it. He walked in and asked to speak to the manager. After a fairly brief conversation with him, the manager said, "I like you. You're hired." Then after a week of working there, the manager asked, "Are there any more like you where you come from?" And now we're all one big happy family.

Speaking of family, Johnathan and I are finally getting ours started! I'm pregnant! Of course, most of you guys from facebook have known about that for a while. I'm 13 weeks along right now, and I'm still getting used to the idea myself. I'll be glad when I actually start showing, but I've been told that since it's my first one, I might not show till I'm 5 or 6 months along... Maybe not though, we'll see. (I know, "duh")

We're ready for school to start too. We just signed a lease for an apartment! It's really nice. It has a washer and a dryer, a balcony, two bed rooms, two bathrooms, and a fully equipped kitchen! Also, on the site, is a basketball court, a swimming pool, a gym, laundry facilities, and a children's park. It's in a really nice area, it's quiet, peaceful, and you would never guess it was so close to the university! I sound like I'm trying to sell it, don't I? Well, I'm not. Unless you want to move up here and be our neighbors! I would love to have you!!

Well, I'm going to close this up and go do something productive so Johnathan will be proud of me when he gets home.
I love you all, and I miss you very much!

Wowsers what a day!

Saturday, December 19, 2009
Wow, what a day!....
Today was probably one of the most eventful christmas experiences of my life. Absolutely no warning this morning that things were going to be soooo ..."interesting". Wouldn't it be nice if God could at least give us a forecast or something so I'll KNOW when to wear more layers???? *laughing at the thought* Of course now I'm sitting here on the couch at nearly five in the morning because all my layers I was too exhausted to take off were strangling me. I really didn't do much of anything once I finally got up to my room... just PLOP! snore. We all have days like that, don't lie to yourself. *wink*

Okie-dokie, now that I am in proper frame of mind for the retelling of such an eventful uneventful afternoon, I will commence my story.

Christmas shopping day. The day when Dad hands out money to everyone and we go get lost in malls that don't have what we want, right? Yeah, you know the drill. only this time, its going to snow while we're out! Woohoo! That's festive, right? So we all load the car (with the exception of Mom, who has a broken ankle and decided to stay home) and headed to the biggest shopping center in old vill, an hour away.

Driving...Driving... happy people driving... I'm sitting in the passenger seat next to dad, and my husband and his two brothers are in the back totally goofing off and taking advantage of allll the leg space they can find.

So they're back there talking about stuff, and dad and I are in the front talking about stuff. (actually I was getting a very interesting lesson in the making of soap) When I spotted the first few snow flakes.

I said, "guys! it's snowing!" I hear a faint "woopy" in the back seat and more indistinct talking. Then my brother in law, Joel sits up and says, "guys! it's snowing!" I laughed because I just said that and we have fun teasing Joel for not echoing me.

More driving... The snow starts to stick to the branches of the trees we pass. Drive... Drive... The window starts to get foggy. Dad hands me a squeagy thingy and asks me to man the vision protection patrol. So I start my new job as the indoor windshield wiper. I have to unbuckle my seat belt ever now and then to reach all the way over to dad's side of the car, but that's fine with me.

It wasn't fine with Johnathan, though. So he told me to swap seats with my other tall brother in law, Jordan. Jordan took his place in the passenger seat, and I got buckled into the back seat. But I was next to my most favorite person in the world, so I rather enjoyed myself.

The further we got on that road, the harder it snowed. By the time we got to the mall it looked like a snow straight out of a movie. It was beautiful! I loved it! Dad dropped us off at the door, and we did out best to stay dry as we waved through the side walk.

Once inside the store, Johnathan revealed that he hadn't eaten anything all day, and he was hungry. but the other guys didn't want to stop for food just yet, so when we split up to do our shopping, The first place WE stopped was chinese. *happy grin* We only ate a little to stay our hunger, and then we looked around and tried to find a good store.

Somehow we all ended up at barns and noble. *giggles* There really wasn't much at that mall. So we decided to buy one last thing in the book store and then go look someplace else.

But our plans were thwarted when a sales associate told us that the whole mall would be closing early today... in twenty minutes, to be exact. and another one waved at Jordan and said, "Man, what are you doing here?? It's snowing! go home!"

Dad called and said he was at the door ready to pick us up again, so we after virtually NO shopping, we left. Everything was closing. Every single store, restaurant and school. The roads we clogged with people trying to get home without spinning off the road. It was bad.

Dad apologized and told us that we wouldn't be able to get anything to eat unless we could find a drive through that was still open. I looked back and Johnathan and grinned. He winked at me. We were both so glad that we stopped into that chinese joint! They were able to stop by McDonalds, though, so they didn't starve.

Getting to the interstate was a slow process. A couple times we hit ice and swerved, even though we were only going 15 to 20 mph. We thought that once we got to the interstate things we get better. It was a main road, and so of course they would have salt out there, and all the cars driving on it would help keep the road clear.... Not on your life.

Traffic didn't speed up one notch. Even though there were salt trucks and snow plows everywhere, we were still slipping on ice. The roads were so covered in snow, nobody knew what lane they were in, or even where the road ended. Once, Jordan looked out the window and said, "Uh, I think theres a whole nother lane next to us... because the road markers are waaay over there." We looked out the window and saw that this other lane was completely unmarked. Nobody knew it existed.

Traffic became more and more sparse. Nobody wanted to be out in that weather, and we had to drive an hour in it to get home. ...At least, it was an hour going the speed limit.

The snow fell harder and faster, till we could barely see 20 feet in front of our van. Hills were interesting. Going down it was hard to stop, going up,.. Well, we passed seven cars who couldn't make it.

In the course of thirty minutes, there were 160 reported accedents on the road. Johnathan unbuckled his seat belt to buckle it around me. I wasn't going ANYWERE. *smiles*

We had to stop by walmart to stock up on groceries, since it was obvious it would be our last chance to do so. The boys ran in with the list, while Dad and I waited in the car. I watched the snow pile up faster than I've ever seen, and I was just about to get out and make a snowman on top of those red poles outside the walmart doors when the boys came out with the food.

The drive back home from that walmart usually takes thirty minutes... This time it took an hour and thirty minutes.

But we finally made it home in one piece, and we all applauded dad for his excellent driving skills.

Once we got all the groceries inside and put away, Jordan shoveled the porch and the side walk. He decide not to put salt down, since it was still snowing as hard as ever. And it was a good thing he didn't; because this morning, as I look out my window, I can see that the snow has easily risen two feet, and completely erased everything he did out there.

We're snowed in! What do think of that? I'm glad I washed all the laundry yesterday, because it's obvious we can use all the clothes we can find!!

Merry Christmas!!

PS. Quick update: Now, at 2:14 pm, it's up to my waist and still snowing!!!!! Poor Grandma's been out of electricity since last night.

Another update at 9:10 pm: Johnathan had high hopes for playing in the snow, and we got bundled up in everything we could find.... literally... everything. From plastic bags, to trash bags, to mom's hoody thrown over my heavy coat and everything under it. When we were done, Johnathan looked like a sailor and I looked like the blueberry girl from the chocolate factory. (Johnathan sang the oompa loompa song in my honor). We got outside, and discovered that snow up to Johnathan's waist is pretty deep, and hard for a short girl to walk through. We had great adventures braving it down the driveway to check the mail. When we got back, I was totally wet, and Johnathan was totally dry. And what better thing to do when you find yourself in such a situation, than to point and laugh? So that's exactly what he did. :)

Merry Christmas to all. (I think we might have to postpone it if we can't get out to go christmas shopping.)

Well, all is well in the Buckhalt family... except that Johnathan as some really bad allergies and I'm missing everyone back home like crazy!! I looked through some old pictures of you guys and all these memories flooded my head, and now I feel like crying! you have no idea how much I wish there were some way for me to just drive down there and see ya'll tomorrow. I truly am blessed beyond measure to have so many friends to love. I'm sure there are people just as kind and trustworthy here, it's just a matter of finding them, that's all. I just don't know where to start looking.

Anyway, about Johnathan's allergies: He was helping his grandmother clean out an old barn (it had a bunch of old boxes in it) and he started coughing and sneezing a lot. He kept working for quite a while, but eventually had to come out and get some fresh air. He decided to sit down just outside the door and put together a crossbow he found that had never been opened. That's when I noticed his breathing had changed. It really scared me because it sounded exactly like asthma, and Johnathan doesn't have asthma. He decided to call it quits, but the next day he such a horrible sore throat he suspected it was strep. Since then he's been off and on with good days and bad days. He drinks a lot of hot tea and eats a lot of honey. Today he's gone to help his father out in that barn again, but he told me he would take an allergy pill and wear a mask. I hope that helps... and if it doesn't, I hope he will stop and go outside more often. I know he'll be fine, it's not as if he's in mortal danger, I just don't want him to feel like this anymore.

He's such a wonderful hard worker! He can get a disaster area clean and organized in just a few hours. Piles of junk don't overload his brain the way they do most people (including me). I can't even count the times when I've heard people say something along the lines of, "Oh, Johnathan! Thank you so much! This has been on the to-do list for years and no one knew where to start." I'm so proud of my husband!

Just the other day I showed him a really interesting video of the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah, and when it was over, he picked up the bible and continued right on studying the things that the video didn't tell us. When we read all the verses we could find on the topic, we kept on discussing it till 5:00 in the morning! It's so much fun being married to a man I can admire and learn from! He's got so much to teach me! I feel like I married a professor sometimes... Only the good kind of professor who doesn't charge me anything to learn, and doesn't act like he's a higher being because he knows everything! :) I can day dream with him, or even to him and he will listen and comment and love me. I can show him things I'm writing and know that he won't laugh at the silliness therein.

I trust him so much and feel so cherrished and safe, I even let him read my journals, which is something I've never really let anyone do. And you know what's great?? He actually likes reading them. *smiles and sighs* I think I have around 15 big journals and countless unmarked notebooks from since I was seven years old, and he was interested enough to read them. One he read all the way through was the one I kept when I was falling in love with him. * grins* He seemed to find that one especially interesting. He had all kinds of sound effects and commentaries he put in himself aswell. He's so cute!

Oh! Speaking of his being cute! I've drawn up a character sketch of him as a cute little cartoon kitten. I think I have five different faces that he actually does, pegged into cartoon fashion. EVEN NOW HE'S INSPIRING ME TO DRAW MORE OF THEM!!! He's so adorable.

The story behind the voyage

Well, I think it's about time I wrote it all down... It's a different kind of story... Not the kind that you would read in any traditional romance novel... In fact, I don't think I've ever heard any story quite like ours before in my life! I love it. And what I love the most, is that it's not over yet.

~How we met~

This whole thing started about a year ago. I was on a christian dating/ blog site thingy for reasons other than dating and had no intention of actually dating or even flirting with any of the other members. To avoid playing with any one's hearts, I clearly stated my convictions on the matter in my "about me" section on my profile. I briefly explained the relationship I had with my dad as my God-given authority and protection, and that I had no intention of dating, courting, or even flirting with anyone he had not already inspected and approved.

Even though the duration of my membership there was so short (roughly a week), I was bombarded with messages from guys who didn't even read my profile. They saw a picture, and started flirting. I was, in all honesty, quite disgusted.

But then one day, I got a short message from a guy named Johnathan... It was unlike any message I had ever received... Even off that site. The only thing he had to say, was how much he admired my father. He said he had never seen a father with such a love for his daughter that he would play such a protective role in her life. He said he would shake my dad's hand if he could.

That message held no trace of an ulterior motive, or ill intention, and it was a breath of fresh air! I gladly began talking to him about my dad, and how much I loved him. That led to conversations about the Lord's place in our lives, and concepts found in the scriptures. I thoroughly enjoyed his fellowship, and never once felt like he was at all interested in anything more than the pure, simple, God-centered friendship we had developed.

When I decided I had found out all I wanted to know on that dating site, we exchanged email addresses, but Johnathan did something else unexpected and refreshing... He actually offered to ask my dad's permission to email me. This was surprising because he didn't come from a community where the concept and procedure of courtship was known. In fact, he had never even heard of them at all, and here he was following them perfectly, just out of respect for both my father and myself.

I gave him my dad's email address and then I left for Miracle Mountain Ranch Missions in Pennsylvania for the summer. While I was there, my parents would give me brief updates on how Johnathan was doing, but other than that, I basically forgot about him and focused on the work I was doing up there. Meanwhile, back on the farm, my dad drilled the poor guy. He had a sneaking suspicion that he liked me, and he wanted to get all the cards on the table before anything further developed between the two of us. But we were in the process of a move (which failed) and the two of them lost contact with each other.

~How we found each other again~

I came back from the ranch full of inspiration and fire for the Lord! The teaching I obtained there cannot be compared to anything else I've ever found anywhere else in the world. I made lots of friends too, and it seemed like every one of them had a facebook accept me. The first thing I did once I returned home was create a facebook account for myself.

In the process of finding friends on there, I ran across Johnathan again! I remember being so excited when I called my dad and asked him if I could add Johnathan to my friends list. My dad had a small talk with me to remind me to keep my guard up around my heart, then he gave his consent, and I clicked "add".Johnathan picked right back up where we left off, and learned quite a bit about the scriptures from each other. He was very respectful and gave me no reason to suspect he even liked me beyond a sweet respect and friendship. When our emails became too long to keep up with, my dad gave us permission to talk on the phone. (again, Johnathan respected my dad's authority over me voluntarily)

~When I finally clued in, and took notice~

The day he called I was actually in the middle of my day and hadn't even really had time to acknowledge the fact that he was supposed to call. I remember being out of breath for some reason when my sibling handed me the phone, and being conscious of the fact that I was rattling the poor guy's ear off for no good reason. He was very patient with me and kindly listened to everything I said.

He asked such good questions, and soon we were both lost in deep, analytical conversation about Character First, ATI our families and everything else under the sun we could think of to talk about. I am normally slightly shy, and have never felt so comfortable talking to anyone on the phone before. I felt like I had known him all my life. He offered to pray with me before we said goodbye and I thought, "How considerate. This is a really nice man." And then he prayed.... All thoughts of "really nice man" flew out the window! This guy knew Who he was talking to... He had talked with Him recently... And it was quite evident. I remember making a mental note of that. I was impressed.

The next email I sent him, I asked him if he could share with me some scriptures to explain his conviction against sci-fi and fantasy. He called me again and had spent 3 hours preparing a list of all the passages of scripture he knew of that covered witchcraft, Websters definitions and word searches. He didn't once give me his "opinion" on the matter until he had read the scriptures. By then, I had come to my own conclusions, and they were in perfect agreement with his.

Second mental note: Scripture rules his convictions... Not the voice of the popular vote, or even the voice of a well known preacher... It was simply scripture. And he gently persuaded me over to his same convictions by simply pointing to the bible, instead of out theologizing my slow brain. I liked that, and my respect for him grew, but I still had no other thought for him other than, this man is kind enough to share his wisdom with me.Over the course of time, we grew more and more comfortable sharing incites, and ideas. I collected quite a list of mental notes and qualities about him that I certainly admired quite a bit.

~Coutship begins~

Then in December, he asked my dad for permission to court me, even though it would have to be over the phone, email and webcam. Quite a bit of details were involved in this decision, as you can probably guess, and the Lord, through quite a few very complicated but amazing circumstances, clearly directed me and my parents to go ahead and say yes to him.

After that point, we spoke on the phone extensively about twice a day. He would call at 7:30 every morning so we could read the bible and pray together, and then in the evenings, after the kids were in bed and our days were over, he would call again and we would talk for literally hours into the night. (word of advice... When you watch the sunrise,... You stayed up too late. lol) We also took advantage of my parents' webcams whenever we could, and chatted for a long time that way too.

~We meet face to face!~

Our hearts grew closer and closer together through this process, but we were still guarding ourselves from admitting it until we had a chance to meet face to face. Then, on march 7th, he came down here for spring break to spend a week with us. Man, we ran him through the ropes, poor guy! Anything we could think of to share with him, he got his fill of it, I'm sure! We took him square dancing, mountain climbing, Mr. Jestes let me bring him to my Character First classes, we spent all day at the church on sunday and then went to my best friend's house that evening, we introduced him to every good friend who could line up their schedules with ours to do so! During free time, the kids took him outside to see forts, special trees, etc, etc.

The kids were all over him! My dad warmed up to him right away! If you don't know my dad, you don't understand the significance of that statement. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been extremely protective of me. Even as a four year old, a cute little boy would bring me presents in Sunday school, and my dad did NOT like him. When my father smiled at my mother and I and said, "He fits right in; just like he was already part of the family." My heart skipped a beat and I thought, "This is it, then!" *chuckles*

Living in a big family made it exceptionally hard for Johnathan to be at all romantic, though. One night he wanted to talk to me upstairs, but our conversation was peppered with interruptions from little ones who would walk up and want to tell him something. He had a beautiful poem he had been writing for years that he wanted to show me. It was seriously the most beautiful thing I've ever read... But mom's classical music downstairs was, at the time, playing the flight of the bumble bee, and kind of ruined the mood. Finally he shoved the poem aside and told me he loved me! I smiled the biggest smile I'd ever felt beam out of me!! I hugged him for forever and told him I loved him too!! It's one of my favorite memories...

~The preposal!~

The next day, I didn't know it, but he was searching everywhere for a ring so he could ask me to marry him. He couldn't find one anywhere that he liked.

We went out to eat that night with our dear friends the Linzeys, and it was really fun to watch Johnathan and Mr. Linzey talk. Most of what they were saying was way over my head, so I just listened, but it was so encouraging to watch Mr. Linzey get all fired up and excited, and read on his face that he liked this guy. I've known the Linzeys since I was 5 years old, and I respect their opinion almost as much as my own parents. Joy filled my heart when I knew that they approved of Johnathan.

We took them back to their house, and Johnathan and I sat in the back seat, while Mr. and Mrs. Linzey sat in the next seat up, and Mom and Dad were in the driver and passenger seats. Mom and Dad got out to talk with the Linzeys and see them to their front door, while Johnathan and I stayed in the car to talk and watch Deborah Anne. I didn't know it, but Johnathan had made up his mind to propose to me without a ring, and every time he would work up to it, one of my parents would open the door to say, "I'm sorry, guys. We'll be just a little bit longer." or the baby would cry, and once even, my mom open the trunk right behind us to look for a bag of tomatoes.

Finally Johnathan gave up and said, "lets just play with the baby" who was fussing again.

We got back home and out of the car, and Johnathan was again looking for an opportunity, but my dad took his arm and said, "Kaytie, go on into the house, I need to speak with Johnathan for a second." So I went inside.

~(they later told me that while we were at the Linzey's house, Dad had asked Mr. Linzey to pray with him because Johnathan had asked to marry me. Dad explained Johnathan's predicament of not being able to find a ring, and after they prayed, Mr. Linzey said, "You know what? Wait right here. I have one." Now, when Mr. and Mrs. Linzey got married, Mr. Linzey couldn't afford the ring he WANTED to buy his new wife, and so bought one that neither of them liked, but that was affordable. When they renewed their vows a couple years ago, they both got new rings for each other and the old rings were put away as a memory, but nothing more. In fact, when Mr. Linzey handed the rings to my dad, Mrs. Linzey said, "If they don't like it either, they could always melt it down and make another one." lol!

So when my dad pulled Johnathan aside, he handed him the rings (which were tied together with a string) and basically said, "how about you propose to my daughter now?" Johnathan just said, "Thank you!" And threw his arms around my dad! But all this I didn't know until later, so if you want it from my perspective, forget I ever said anything. *laughs* ~)

Dad and Johnathan came back inside and Johnathan asked me if I wanted to take a walk with him. Of course I did. We walked around a bit, and when we couldn't find anyplace to sit, we just sat on an old hay bale outside our barn/garage. We talked a bit more, and then Johnathan said he had a surprise for me in the trailer (that's where he was sleeping while he stayed with us). So he got up, and I waited for him curiously.

...He really astonished me when he came out and handed me a box of raisins... He handed it to me and all I could think was, ..."raisins?"Then of course in the dark, I couldn't get the silly box OPEN, so I handed them to him and asked if he could help me. He couldn't do it either, and turned it over like, "Maybe it opens this way?" I laughed and said it would be the first box I ever met that opened upside down. He laughed with me and just chucked it as far as he could into the woods!

Now of course I'm even more perplexed than before! I'm thinking, "Ooookay. No raisins."

And then it all became clear when Johnathan slowly slid off the hay bale and got on one knee in front of me and asked, "Kaytie, will you marry me?" I wasn't really in the mind set of a proposal, to be perfectly honest with you. I knew I loved him, and that I was going to marry him, but I was still thinking about flying raisins.

I stared at him and just asked, "Are you serious?" Over and over. Finally I realized how stupid that was. Of course he was serious. So I said yes. :)

He told me he had a ring, but if I didn't like it, he could buy a different one later. He slid it onto my finger and it fit perfectly! It was so dark, I couldn't see it, so I pulled out my cell phone and used it as a light. It was small and dainty, but I couldn't really see much more than that with the light from my cell phone, so I turned it off and just gave Johnathan a big hug!

We couldn't stay out there for very long, because it was rather cold, we were sitting on a hay bale, a cat, a dog, and a couple goats were there with us,... and Johnathan's allergies demanded that he supply them with a tissue asap. Yeah you should hear JOHNATHAN'S side of the story... So we got up and went to his trailer to meet their demands. While I waited outside his door, he noticed me shivering a bit, and handed me his scarf, which I promptly wrapped around my head. He thought that was so funny, he gave it to me. It was a very good friend to me when he went back to Virginia the next day.

~Long distance Wedding preparations~

The next 6 months were ones of emotional ups and downs... Johnathan had to wait till school was out to come down to Oklahoma to live with us. It was rather difficult to set things up with him in another state, with school work to be done, and preparations on his own side. Word of advice,... if at all possible, please fall in love with someone in your own state! lol!!

I quickly discovered that coordinating a wedding was NOT my thing! I'd never been the type of girl to fantasize about weddings growing up. I knew what kind of a home I wanted, what I wanted the living room to look like, what kind of a dog we would have, and stuff like that, but when it came down to what kind of cake I would get, what my dress would look like,...

Let me put it this way: GAG!!

I literally have always thought weddings to be boring, overly fluffy, and the cakes were always bland, and the receptions were always awkward. And now I discovered that they were a necessary part of getting married. *snaps fingers* Go figure.

(But just so you know, our wedding went wonderfully. Thanks so much to all the dear friends who helped!)

~List of Miracles!!~

Everything we've experienced so far has been saturated with miracles! It would take so long to tell you all about them, so I'll just list them from beginning to end here:

1. We met on an INTERNET DATING site.... The circumstances surrounding that were God.

2. The young man I had been looking at marrying for 2 years did everything right to help me let him go, but I won't go into that because it wouldn't be very nice. :P *upon reading this part, Johnathan starts laughing victoriously and going "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!"*

3. Johnathan was attracted to my character before my looks. This was a fleece I had put before the Lord that I had actually forgotten about. I only remembered when Johnathan one day said, "You know what's funny? I fell in love with you before I even knew what you looked like." My little brain went "DING!" I had forgotten about the fleece when my parents had told me it was an unfair expectation to put on a man. But God followed through with it anyway!!

4. My overly protective father practically offered my hand to Johnathan.

5. My dress happened to be on sale because it was custom made for a wedding that never happened and it was original enough for no one else to like it! lol! I love being me!!!

6. A ring came out of no where at just the right time, for free. It fit me. It's beautiful!

7. His ring also came out of no where for free. It fit him. It matches mine. It catered to his preference by being gold.

8. Money came from under every crack right when we needed it. Never before. Right on time.

9. Johnathan's grandmother paid for an amazing honeymoon in our very own beach house on Emerald Isle, right on the water!!

10. When we turned up with the first 2 days of our honeymoon without anywhere to go at first, I called some friends who rent out their farm house on 160 acres as a ministry to friends. I couldn't get in touch with them for weeks! Then a little less then one week before the wedding (we were starting to look at hotels) she calls me back. Says she'll have to talk to her husband because he's the one who keeps the calender for that place.

calls me back and tells me to praise the Lord!

~Miracle #11. On a weekend in the fall, they had expected the farm house to be booked. They said it always was busy in the early fall, but for some reason, no one had booked that weekend. It was totally clear!

~Miracle #12. Circumstances played out to eliminate the usual $70.00 housekeeping fee, so we could stay there for absolutely free!!

With miracles like that raining down from heaven, I got to where nothing fazed me. Somebody would tell me about a detail that had derailed and gone totally wrong, and all I would think was, "Hmm, I wonder how God's gonna do it this time?"

It was the same way with Miracle #13.

By far the scariest and most miraculous!! *drum roll please*

~Miracle # 13~

Our pastor called and informed us that he had mistakenly penned in the wrong date for our wedding, and had booked irreversible plans on the date we had actually set. I think this was actually two weeks before the wedding was to happen, so theres no time now to say, "Oh dear, okay, lets reschedule." Oh no, the show must go on! The pastor and his wife both kept saying things like, "Stay calm." and "Don't panic." and all my mother and I could say was, "Hey, no problem, we're calm, and we're not panicking."

We really were cool! So many other things had played out so perfectly in the face of impossible odds, there was no question as to whether or not God would do it again in our minds.

We simply started thinking about all the other options we had.

First one that popped into our heads was Mr. Rushing; a man who had really touched Johnathan's life over the course of time he had spent in Oklahoma. The man had taken Johnathan under his wing and given him a job, a place to stay, and counseled him day in and day out. Johnathan had several times told me, "I wish Mr. Rushing could officiate our wedding. He's done so much for us, it would really mean alot."

But Mr. Rushing probably wasn't an ordained minister, so we thought of a plan. Mr. Rushing could give the sermon, and Mr. Linzey could do the actual officiating part.

But we ran into a problem there... Mr. Linzey was doing the music for us with his family, and to ask him to also officiate the wedding was a lot more trouble than we thought looked attractive at the moment. So we decided to just do first things first, and call Mr. Rushing to see if he would even be willing to do that for us.

So as soon as Johnathan and I found ourselves with a spare moment without anything to do, Johnathan dialed up Mr. Rushing's number and told him the whole situation. He asked Mr. Rushing if he was an ordained minister, and nearly fell over when Mr. Rushing replied that he was, and that he'd actually been wishing he could do our wedding!!!

Is God amazing or what????!!!!

~Decorating before the rehersal~

The day of the wedding rehersal was when all the nerves started setting in and I started getting frazled! It was the best of times and the worst of times all wrapped up into one. We spent the whole day at the church decorating, and I realized how much of this cerimony was actually out of my control. normally that wouldn't bother me, but with a time limit, and a million different people asking me questions I didn't have the answers to, I started to unravel quickly.

That's when my wonderful, amazing, blessed friends stepped up to my assistance and saved the day!!! Bethany took over decorating in the reception area; my mom and Mrs. Seigrist stepped up and took care of everything that had anything to do with edibles; Mrs. Tammi Foster started working like a little elf getting the rehersal dinner ready with all my friends who had agreed to help her with that; Mrs. Rohnda Foster started working independantly on spread sheets and time schedules; the Linzeys worked independantly getting their music ready; The Rushings helped figure out exactly how the cerimony would go; and everyone basically left Johnathan and I free to decorate the sanctuary however we pleased!

Oh we had so much fun doing that! Every now and then someone would walk up and ask a question equivalant to "Why are you doing it THAT way?" and Johnathan would step up and reply with, "Because she WANTS to." It really meant alot to me that he protected me like that, because I really was stressed, and couldn't really handle another person telling me that I was doing something wrong.

Once Johnathan had roared around the perimiter of our project and established his authority over the descisions being made, everything ran SO smoothly! I was impressed that he possesed a rare gift for decorating that he had never told me about. He was very patient with me when I was overly picky aswell. It made me fall in love with him all over again.

(A special thanks to Joel, who was responsible for putting the ivy and tool up the sides of the arch! I don't know who helped him with that, but if you were one of them, or if you helped with anything else, and I haven't made mention of you yet, thankyouthankyouthankyou! It looked beautiful!)

~The Rehersal~

Heres the part where I actually start getting so nervous I either can't talk, or can't stop myself from talking! This was where we actually played wedding... No dress, and a paper towel roll for a bouquet, but still! My dad was walking me down the isle... Johnathan was taking my hand... We were standing before Mr.Rushing and he was saying, " I now pronounce you man and wife." But it wasn't real yet.

Man! Was I a sack of nerves!!!

(I almost didn't get any sleep that night either. I woke up at 2:00am with a list of 11 things I was terrified to forget, so I wrote them all down on the back of a drawing I had done earlier, and so managed to go to sleep.)

~The Wedding Day~

I woke up that morning feeling just fine. My nervousness had settled down durring the night, and I calmly gathered my things to take to the church, loaded the car, and went on a last minute shopping trip with my mom.

I don't think it really sunk in that this was the day I was getting married until we got to the church. Everything was running smoothly under the watchful care of the wonderful Mrs. Rohnda Foster.

and good thing, too. Because once I put that dress on, it hit me - "Oh help! I'm getting married today!"

I couldn't help but play it out in my head... In just a couple more hours I'm going to be hiding in the hallway waiting for my cue... In just a couple hours, my dad will be walking me down the isle... Everybody will be looking at me,... Johnathan will be waiting at the end of the isle... Will he like my dress?... What if he doesn't like my viel?... What if I trip and fall?... And my five bridesmaids were carrying authentic oil lamps instead of flowers (to represent the five wise virgins in the bible) So there was also the fear, what if one of my bridesmaids catches fire????

My fears were almost realized when I found myself hiding in the hallway, minutes away from walking down the isle to the rest of my life,...

Without my bouquet, without my flower girl's basket, and without my FATHER!!

Yeah, nerves came back.

But someone brought me my bouquet, someone gave my flower girl her basket, and my dad finally showed up. ;) (One of the bridesmaid's lamps actually turned up with a leak, but it was effectively patched)

My maid of honor and best friend put a type of oil on my wrist and told me to smell it in deep breaths. She said all the right things. When I asked how many people were out there, she said, "Not too many, and just enough." That made me smile. It made me realize that I was fretting over things that really didn't matter in the long run, and I needed to just chill.

My father did walk me down the isle, and I didn't land on my face. I feel kind of bad because I didn't make eye contact with anyone but Johnathan for that whole long journey down to him.

My dad was going to do something very special when he gave my hand to Johnathan at the end of the isle, but he choked up, and couldn't speak. I thought that was actually very sweet.

Word of warning to all future brides... Practice going up and down stairs in your dress a few times before the big day. I found it to be rather scary to realize that one hand rested in Johnathan's elbow, and the other held a bouquet, and without a third hand to move my skirts out of the way, my feet desperately needed a place to land! It worked itself out, but oh boy, that was the scariest set of stairs I've ever met in my life!

Johnathan and I wrote out our own vows, and in them, we publicly vowed to never let the sun go down on our anger, and to never devorce each other. So far so good! *lifts a thumbs up!*

After we said our vows, our parents came up onto the stage with us to pray a private blessing over us, and THAT's when my dad finally was able to choke back his tears to do what he wanted to do.

You see, when I turned 13 years old, my dad woke me up earlier than anyone else and had a very special devotion with me. He gave me a very special, gold locket he had actually designed himself and had made in Turkey (I think). Inside that locket was a little golden key with a diamond in the whole at the top. My dad explained to me the value of my heart, and how important it was that I keep it safe for the man God was specially preparing for me. I was never to lose the key. I was to keep it safe until I could give it to my husband. I promised him I would, and I wore that locket until the chain broke, at which time I put it away in a little chest I made especially for that purpose.

Then, during the wedding, after he blessed us, he took the locket out of his pocket, and told Johnathan what it was. He took Johnathan's hand, and placed my heart inside it.

None of us had microphones, because we didn't want nerves to get in the way of the sincerety of our prayers. So no one in the audience knew what had just transpired.

When our parents sat back down, Mr. Rushing asked my dad if he could share with the audience what had just happened, and chuckled when he realized it would have been awkward if my dad had said no. But of course my dad said yes, he could, and so Mr. Rushing told everyone else about my locket and about how my dad had just given it to Johnathan. When he started to explain the symbolizm though, Mr. RUSHING started to choke up. I thought it was so sweet!

When's the last time you saw the pator at a wedding start crying?

~The First Two Days~

Our honeymoon was probably the most memorable memory in my memory bank. The first two days of being married we spent in the farm house the Lord provided. He was so kind to let us spend the first night without a care in the world.

The second night, however, Johnathan developed a toothache that slowly began to take up all his thoughts. By the time his parents arived to drive us back to Virginia, he was so miserable, he was unaware of anything outside of subduing the wracking pain in his mouth. The poor guy practicly survived on advil and some kind of numbing mouth wash stuff he would swish in his mouth and then spit it in a cup. He spent much of the trip with his head in my lap getting what sleep he could.

As soon as we could after arriving in VA we got him to a dentist to spend our first medical emergancy money. *claps*yaaaaayyyyy* lol...

I loved that dentist, by the way! He let me pull up a chair and watch the whole thing! I think they should have a TV show for ordinary medical procedures like putting fillings in and stuff. It was really fascinating! He restored that tooth like there was never anything wrong with it! He was an artist, that's what he was! Johnathan hasn't had a problem with it since.

~Honeymoon trip~

With his tooth taken care of, we packed the van full of everything we might need on an island, and took off! I love driving in Virginia! Everything is layed out so lovely, just like it was landscaped! But it was also rather frightening, since neither of us knew where we were supposed to go, aside from the directions his parents had given us before our leaving. Somewhere along the way, I must have stopped paying attention, because as it was getting dark, a policeman pulled me over to give me my very first ticket. I was humiliated and after the officer left, I actually started to cry.

Johnathan was very sweet to me in comforting me. He playfully ordered me to stop crying because he would have no tears on this trip. After we had dinner at chic-fala', I felt brave enough to get back on the road and finish out the trip. We did have a wonderful time, and I fell more in love with my husband when I noticed all the different ways he was going out of his way to be make me feel better (I now have a new policy though... If your going 5 UNDER the speed limit, the policeman has nothing to complain about! So it takes me a while longer to get places, but it's worth it!)

When we finally got to the island, we ran into a new problem... we couldn't find the police station where we were to pick up our key. We finally SAW a police car at midnight and followed it back to it's home! lol!

We pulled into the parking lot and proceded to look for the front door! For some reason this station had a fascination with making "Please use other door signs" but we finally did find a door that wasn't locked, and walked in, and asked for our key.

We told them what company we were with, and what number our house was, but they didn't have our key... Oooookay, NOW we can freak out, right? No! because miracle #14 is all about the lady who walked in right when we needed her to!!! The poor lady was all flustered about this packet that didn't make it to the police station like it was supposed to, and she hoped that the couple who needed this key hadn't arrived yet, and what house number are you guys? Really?? No way! Heres your key! Have a good stay!

We did have a good stay! It was quite a wonderful experience for a prairy girl from Oklahoma to have! It took forever for me to feel comfortable hearing the waves without feeling slightly alarmed. They sounded so much like thunder! But they were so magnificent and powerful! One day Johnathan took me out to them and they literally knocked me off my feet and slammed me into a conveniently placed shell deposite. We enjoyed looking through those shells later, but I had a good sized scrape on my thigh for a while. *chuckles*

We did all kinds of things I had only heard about before. Simple things like catching a crab and holding him hostage in our kitchen sink, building a huge sand fort and sitting inside it until the waves knocked it down, staying up as late as we wanted to and watching movies till all hours of the morning, we even took a walk on the beach at 6:30 am and saw the most awe striking sunrises I've ever seen in my life!! It included a double rainbow on the opposite horizon too!

It was simply wonderful.

Our trip home flew past us without a glitch, and now here we are,... Five weeks into being Mr. and Mrs. Buckhalt, and loving every minute of it.

~Comencement of the ship's log~

I decided to start this log for three reasons:

1. I believe our story is so unusual and saturated with God's miraculous intervention, I not only don't want to forget it, I want to share it.

2. We're both writers, and I think it'd be fun.

3. All during our courtship, Johnathan kept refering to relationships to ships themselves. he used ship enalogies so frequently during the course of our seeking God's will, that once we found it I drew him a picture of a ship sailing through the clouds. Much to my delight, he loved it and now has it framed and set up on our dresser. I'm looking at it right now. We even have our room decorated with ships and sea gulls and sea shells everywhere. It's kind of like we're surrounded with reminders of how life is like the ocean... Vast and unpredictable. A good captain needs a good crew and a good ship full of good equipment if he's going to survive.

Together, we're working on our ship, and gathering as much good equipment as we can lay our hands on, and we're learning along the way how to be good sailors.

So what better a thing to add to our list of items on this ship, than a log? With it we can better use past experiences to help plot our future course.