Engaged: "See, I am doing a new thing!"

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

It is with GREAT pleasure and excitement to announce and share that I recently proposed to Tessica Lanelle White and she said YES! We are getting married!!!

As I have shared with most, Tess and I were engaged almost two years ago, and due to many reasons, we called off the wedding three months before the wedding. With that decision, we also decided to hold our relationship and our future with open hands to our Heavenly Father. We really had no idea what would happen, but knew His plan and ways were higher than ours. Much higher. I can honestly say, because of the last 15 months of intense counsel, guidance, healing, relationship building, and maturing we are in an even stronger relationship with the Lord and with each other. We would never wish to go through the pain and tears of last year, but would never ever replace the results of God's refining process. He continues to refine us individually and together to more clearly and wholly reflect the Maker's face.

I wanted to share in more detail, for those interested, about how we got engaged!

I was on a fundraising trip to Southern California, meeting with friends, asking them to partner with me in ministry. Tess flew out to join me for the last two days of the trip to check out where she would be living, with our two new staff women and my sister, pray over UCSD where we would be ministering, and to see the city. We would both than be flying to Lake Tahoe for a family reunion of sorts. The day before we left, we had a free day together. We drove down to San Clemente to the Rainbow Sandal Shop. Rainbow Sandals are known as the 'best sandals in the world' according to many Southern Californians, and we had always talked about getting Tess a pair after she moved to California. After picking out the right pair, we went to Laguna Beach for lunch and went to BJ's Pizza, a favorite of ours.




After eating we went to a secluded spot on the beach, called Woods Cove. We set up our towel and sat watching the ocean for a few minutes. I turned to Tess and told her I had a gift for her, and pulled out of my back pack my high school letterman jacket. I explained to her that I had always hoped to have my high school girl wear it and keep it, but since I didn't really have a high school sweetheart, I wanted her to have it. Then I told her I have another gift for her and told her to close her eyes. With her eyes closed, I placed a new Bible on her lap with the name 'Tessica Lanelle Holechek' engraved on the cover. Tess began to cry as she looked down and saw the Bible. We embraced and I told her it was marked off to Luke 15 and the story of the Prodigal Son. We read it together and then I pointed out that the Father gave his returning son three items, or gifts: A robe, sandals, and a ring. I explained the jacket was like the robe, which symbolized royalty and honor, covering over his shame and restoring dignity (the jacket also has the Holechek name :)). Second, we had just gotten her a pair of sandals, which represented to the son and father, the chance to run away again. The Sandals were a representation of full trust and forgiveness, the father saying 'I love you and trust you enough to give you the means to do it again.' The ring the father gave the son represented being a son and part of the family. And so, standing up from the sitting position and getting on one knee in front of her, I pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. She said YES!





I wanted the story and gifts to represent to Tess and I, that in our relationship we had both come to a place of forgiveness and complete trust in our relationship, that our pasts had been covered over and left in the past, and we were going to become one and a family!

After crying tears of joy together and talking, we prayed together and thanked the Lord for all He had done in our lives and for redeeming a broken relationship. I had also snuck some bread and mini wine in my backpack, and we had communion together, remembering what Christ had done and consciously putting Him first and center in our relationship. After that I told Tess I wanted to wash her feet as a sign of my desire to serve and lead in our marriage, and that I would place her above myself.


Thanks to my lovely sister Anne, we had a photographer and videographer in one, documenting our special time. Anne joined us soon after to congratulate us and take more pictures. When we were all done, we drove up to Los Angeles to celebrate with all my siblings: Dan, Dave, Stacy, Galina, and Anne! It was so fun to be able to celebrate with my family! The next day we flew to Tahoe and shared the news with all of my mom's family too!

Thank you so much for anyone interested enough to read this little story! We cannot wait to get married! We are tying the knot and making a covenant with God on December 21st of this year!!!

We love you all!!














PS. Here are a few more pictures of our engagement :)

The Awesome Works of God the King

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
       I will praise your name for ever and ever.

² Every day I will praise you
       and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
       his greatness no one can fathom.

⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
       they will tell of your mighty acts.

⁵ They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
       and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
       and I will proclaim your great deeds.

⁷ They will celebrate your abundant goodness
       and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
       slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The LORD is good to all;
       he has compassion on all he has made.

¹⁰ All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
       your saints will extol you.

¹¹ They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
       and speak of your might,

¹² so that all men may know of your mighty acts
       and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
       and your dominion endures through all generations.
       The LORD is faithful to all his promises
       and loving toward all he has made.

¹⁴ The LORD upholds all those who fall
       and lifts up all who are bowed down.

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
       and you give them their food at the proper time.

¹⁶ You open your hand
       and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways
       and loving toward all he has made.

¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him,
       to all who call on him in truth.

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
       he hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰ The LORD watches over all who love him,
       but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
       Let every creature praise his holy name
       for ever and ever.

 

I love this Psalm for a number of reasons, but the thing I love most is the focus on Gods might, righteousness, and provision.  Something I often ask God is that He would give me stories in my life, of Him providing and working miracles, that I will be able to share with people all that God has done and who He is.  I recall from my college days a number of mentors and speakers sharing stories that clearly displayed the thumbprint and heart of Jesus.  My desire for these stories was to be able to point to God’s works and say, ‘look how AWESOME our God is’ and truly mean the word awesome, all to bring glory to the Father, no one else.

This summer as I have prepared to move my fiancée, Tess, and myself out to San Diego on September 1st, getting ready for our new Staff-in-Training role at the University of California, I have asked God for many things that I would not be able to orchestrate alone.  The big things I have been trusting the Lord for this summer are:

1. $6,500 in monthly support.  The increase in my budget has more than doubled due to raising a budget for a couple, instead of one, the cost of living in San Diego, paying for rent (which I haven’t done the last two years), and I am transitioning out of my intern role into a full staff role.
2. Affordable housing in San Diego, preferably within 10 miles of campus in La Jolla.
3. A working vehicle to drive around in Southern California.  (This was after my car had a freak breakdown and early death.)
4. Renters for Tess’s two bedroom condo she owns in Colorado Springs.
5. A part-time job for Tess to start out in California.

It is exciting that our Heavenly Father has provided stories this summer that I longed for as a college student.  God has orchestrated housing for Tess and the two new staff women at UCSD through 5 different girls (including my sister) all moving into town the same month.  He also provided a wonderful living situation for me, less than 5 miles away from campus.  This will be a place that both Tess and I can live in after we get married! 

God has also provided a car for San Diego.  To find out more on this, read my previous blog entry.

And lastly, in just the last three days, God has once again shown His awesome works in even the small things.  We have found renters here in the Springs who will rent out Tess’s condo while we move into our new season and new city.  Praise the Lord!

We continue to trust the Lord in our move coming up in 14 days, with an additional $3,000 in monthly support, and finding Tess a part time job in San Diego.  Will you please continue to pray with us, that God would provide for our needs, in His time?  We continue to work and wait for an answer, knowing the great works are truly His. 

Thank you for standing with us. We have approximately 14 days until we are supposed to pack up and move to San Diego.  I thought it would be neat to write a blog post every day for the next two weeks, sharing what God is teaching me everyday, but also what we see happen in the areas we are asking for Him to provide.  Thank you so much for praying and supporting us. 

Let us commend His mighty acts. works, and goodness to one another, and to future generations.  Amen.

⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
       they will tell of your mighty acts.

⁵ They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
       and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
       and I will proclaim your great deeds.

⁷ They will celebrate your abundant goodness
       and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

 

 

If you feel led to give to our ministry at UCSD and would like to give, just click ‘DONATE’ on the badge to the right under my blog profile.  Thanks!

Automobile Angst and Jehovah Jireh

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

One month ago my 1995 Oldsmobile 88 Royale with 91,000 miles was running like a top.  Three weeks ago my car began to smell of gasoline throughout the car including through the A/C vents.  I took the car in to get fixed and maintained at a local car repair shop, one of great rapport and integrity.  After hearing back on the car, I was informed that the problem was EXTREMELY dangerous and my car could have exploded at anytime.  Thank the Lord for protecting me from going up in cloud of smoke.  However, to fix the car it would cost me $500.  I was glad to get the car fixed and ready to go. 

Unfortunately, within a week of getting the car back, my auto shut down while driving my friends home.  I called AAA and had it towed back.  The repair shop let me know that the coolant gasket had melted and been destroyed, spewing coolant into my cylinders and engine.  This time it would cost $1,200 to fix.  I kept viewing these repairs as an investment in a car that would serve me for the next five years in ministry. 

WRONG AGAIN… 

After the car being fixed and being given the stamp of approval by the shop manager, five days later I found myself once again on the side of the road with an overheated car and my oil pressure light on.  Frustrated, I called the shop and they paid for it to be towed.  This time, the news was not hopeful.  My engine was shot. After pouring $1,700 into the car over two weeks, I would need to find a new car.

Throughout this month of turmoil on my car, I continued to speak with God, “I know you are in control, but what is going on?”  I have been preparing to move out to San Diego in September, but now having to find a new vehicle seemed like a monumental task.  I turned to God to provide and to the saints for prayer.  In my latest prayer update to all my contacts, I asked for prayer that God would provide the car he wants me to have.  A day later I received a phone call from sweet and dear friends saying they had a car for me.  While we talked, they said they had a 1997 Prizm in great condition, a 5 speed manual, FOR FREE.  After praying, in their incredible faithfulness to the Lord, they decided they wanted to provide and simply give me their car.  They want to sign it over to me for no price, with the only condition being if I ever decide to get a new car, I would return it back to be used or given elsewhere.  This was a HUMONGOUS answer to prayer and in such short time. 

In the Bible, starting in Genesis 22 with Abraham and Isaac, God is often identified with the name Jehovah Jireh, which means The Lord Will Provide.  In this certain story of Abraham and Isaac, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar.  Right as Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, God stops him and provides a ram in place of Isaac.  Verse 14 of chapter 22 reads, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.”  Just as God provided for Abraham and Isaac, He still provides for His children today, in His own timing.  God often brings us through trials and times of complete trust, in order to grow our faith in Him. 

Phillipians 4:19 says: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  This verse has constantly come to mind as I have asked God what in the world He was doing.  I know that God promises to provide what we need; I don’t know how in most situations.  God puts me into places where He asks, do you believe what I say?  I am learning more and more, as Christ builds my faith muscle, that God is a man of His word, even when I often forget.  With this miraculous gift from God in such a short time I am reminded to trust His Word and promises.  Next time I am in dire need, I hope my first reaction is to remember how He provided this week. 

What are we trusting God for today?

Faithful in the Little Things

Today is July 27th, 2010.  I have officially been on my journey as a Navigator Staff in Training for two months.  Since finishing my time on EDGE Corps with The Navigators in May, I have been working on raising a budget that will allow me to minister and live well in San Diego, CA.  My budget covers my income, benefits, ministry expenses (man-to-man discipleship costs, training costs and resources, conferences, student scholarships, etc.), administrative costs, and cost of living increase.  The budget my supervisors have helped me come up with is increasing from $2,500 monthly to $6,500 monthly. 

As I am having to raise so much more money this summer, it has been quite the growing and trusting experience.  As God has led me to become a full time staff with the Navs, I am confident He will provide what I need in order to fulfill that calling.  After two months of fundraising, the Lord has brought in 35% of my budget.  On top of needing to raise a team of support around me, I have been trusting the Lord for housing and a working car (my car of two years was declared unfixable this week).  I constantly have in my mind the image of Peter walking on the water to Jesus, but quickly seeing the waves rise around him, Peter begins sinking.  At times, while looking to Jesus, I can feel myself being distracted and pulled down by the waves.  The waves of life in fundraising are things like the economy being low, how big of a jump my budget is taking, finding housing and a good situation in San Diego, my car breaking down, having a long way to go on fundraising, and distractions. 

As I have met and talked with a mentor of mine, he reminded me that fundraising, as anything in life, takes prayer and work.  I need to be faithful in the little things that God has called me to, and trust God to take care of the big picture and provisions.  Much like ministry, I need to be faithful in what God has called me to, having face to face appointments, calling supporters, sending out letters, and more.  The fruit of my labor and faith is all in God’s hands.  I truly believe, God will provide through the people he chooses, whose hearts he moves in to be a part of my support team and what we are doing at the University of California, San Diego.  God has placed me in a situation that provision and fruit is all to His glory and power.  I am excited and ecstatic with every new partner, with every new gift, and with every provision.  I am so excited to be able to share the stories of how God has, will, and is providing.  Thank you for any and all faithful readers.  I ask you to pray for God’s provision this summer.  I will be sharing the stories of what God does to provide in the way he chooses to.  Thank you for all you do in my life and standing with me.

More to come soon,

      Stephen

2009, A Year of Hard Loss

I have not written a new blog post in over nine months.  When I look over my last blog post and see the title “Hope for the Heavyhearted,” I am reminded that we all have times of heavyheartedness due to many things in our lives.  We have people, circumstances, sin, and other elements in life that cause us to grieve and feel the loss and disappointment we experience in this broken world.  Nine months ago I had no idea of the journey God would take me on and the depths of sorrow, hurt, disappointment and loss he would bring me to.

I was due to be married in August of 2009, to a beautiful woman named Tess.  Our plan was to get married, move to San Diego, and continue to minister with The Navigators on the campus at the University of California, San Diego.  As many people know, this was the first and most fierce disappointment in my heart and life this year.  In May of this year, Tess took a trip to see old friends from college, 10 days before I would return for the summer from San Diego to Colorado Springs.  On this trip Tess experienced an extremely traumatic and life changing time and events that would alter both of our lives and hearts, challenging our relationship with each other and our God.  Due to the severity of these events, our wedding was cancelled.  We both were faced with grieving the loss of our plans.  Many issues of the heart surfaced in this time and continue to do so as we face deep questions and seek Gods face.

Consequences of what happened include cancelling our wedding and all plans, lifting our relationship to the Lord and holding it and any future with open hands, needing to move back to Colorado this year, leaving the ministry and people I have invested in back in San Diego, having to begin a new spot in ministry and work this year, and dealing with all of the emotional and spiritual unrest of the overall situation.

As an update in this current situation, Tess and I have both been receiving counseling, support, and grace from all corners of life and relationships.  I have been knocked over by Gods amazing love and his ability to make beauty out of the ashes of the heart.  My heart in May became so entangled with grief, sorrow, sadness, and questioning.  Today, I continue to grieve the loss of plans, I have questions of what God is doing and where he is leading, and still feel a deep sorrow over this painful situation, the sting of sin, and the overall brokenness of our world.  However, as always, God has shown himself so extremely strong on my behalf.  My relationship with Him continues to traverse the depths further and further as he takes my heart further into Him.  I am beginning to more fully understand Gods heart for his people, his grace and forgiveness and the why this is so important and weighty, and just know Him more intimately. 

God has entrusted me with this situation and is leading me on where to go and how to handle it.  He has also chosen to allow other events and losses to occur during the last nine months.  Sadly, this summer, my Grandma Holechek passed away on my dad’s side.  The Lord took her to be with Him in paradise and brought an end to her physical pain.  Then in November, my Grandpa Harrison on my mom’s side passed away a bit more unexpectedly.  The Lord decided to take both of these dear and influential grandparents within a 6 month period.  They are dearly loved and missed.

Another sobering event that happened this fall was the loss of a student from our UCSD ministry.  A student who had been involved in the UCSD ministry for a few years and was a senior last year, unfortunately took his own life.  I had the opportunity to meet him last year and he spent his first quarter of his senior year involved in the ministry, leading and serving.  This has shaken some of the older students in the ministry, along with the staff team.  It is hard at times to know how to feel or what to say in this situation. 

Finally, as many of you know, my mom has been battling ovarian cancer for the past four and a half years.  Over the last six months to a year, her cancer numbers and chemo effectiveness have been more up in the air and uncertain.  The Lord has sustained her for this many years and he continues to do so, but the instability of the cancer cell numbers and the chemo therapy effectiveness have made it a very difficult trial and test the last few months for our family.  We are trusting the Lord for His will to be done and praying and asking for Him to continue to sustain her and possibly heal her.  Please join us in praying when the Lord brings it to mind.

Thank you for all you have done for me and my family in all seasons of life.  Thank you for reading and praying for all God is doing in and through me.  Thank you for journeying with me through life. 

All in all, this year was a year of unexpected loss and profound joy amidst pain.  The Lord is teaching me everyday what it truly means to trust Him for my daily bread.  One thing He has made known to me and to all who seek Him is even in a world of brokenness and loss, Jesus is the one and great REDEEMER of each heart and life.  I am learning so much about the character of Christ and His helping to fill me in the places where I feel deep loss and sadness.  Nothing else will do. 

Hope for the Heavyhearted

This week has been one of ups and downs.  While meeting with different students this week, it is clear God is doing a work in the lives of each student.  It seems for some, that right now it means dealing with some hard issues in life. 

We started Monday morning talking to one of our older students who is considering going to Russia on a month long missions trip with The Navigators this summer.  This in it's self is not necessarily a hard issue in life.  But, it is neat getting to watch the process of him seeking the Lord on his plans, what he should do for the summer, and what it really looks like to seek God out on a decision.  As he goes through this process it's neat to be able to open up the scriptures and look at what God says about a number of factors such as money, futures and jobs, timing, and serving him.  It's also cool to see how God has put previous life examples and stories of my own in my life, to share and help give advice on certain topics such as decision making.  Please pray for David as he continues to seek the Lord and makes a decision on his summer plans and Russia.

That same day we visited a freshmen guy we have spent some time with and had some bible studies with his friends in his dorm.  After talking to him for a little while he let us know that his family is going through some really tough times and it affects them all it sounds like.  He couldn't give us details as to what was happening, but it was a big deal.  We asked him how he was doing with it and what he was feeling, he expressed anger with God.  This is a very honest emotion and reaction.  He said, "I have all the right answers and the Bible knowledge, but right now... I don't know."  This time with this student was a very sobering, yet a good time of getting down to the raw side of our relationship with Christ.  What does it look like for us when the entire world is crumbling down?  Where do we turn?  We know our hope is in God, but do we always feel it?  Do we know what that will look like when tragedy hits?  We prayed for him and just sat and talked for a while.  Please keep this particular student and his family in your prayers.  Pray that he will experience ultimate hope and dependence on our Lord and Savior.  Pray that this will only bring him and others closer to God and that God will use it as a testimony to his Love.

On Tuesday we picked up another student for Bible study.  We ended up going to lunch and he told us the news of his grandfather passing away the night before.  As he told us he was due to travel home during Spring Break to spend some time with his grandfather, who he was extremely close to, I could hear the heartbreak and sorrow in his voice.  My heart broke with his.  Now, this student is dealing with thoughts of eternity, family mourning, where is God in this situation, and where does he turn to go on in the day to day.  Again, through these really tough and real situations of true heartache and pain, God is there and uses these times to lead us more and more to him, if we are willing to find comfort in his arms.  For me, it's been so neat to build a friendship with this students and see him grow as a man of God.  Once again, will you please pray for him as he is faced with immediate loss and questioning. 

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Thank you for all your prayers for these students.  Also, I would just like to thank all of you who take the time out of your busy days and weeks to stop by read what is happening in my life and in the lives of those around me, especially the students at UCSD.  I love you all.  For a short update on personal prayer requests please read on to the next paragraph.

In personal news, please pray for my parents as they are taking a much needed break from work for the cruise they have hoped to go on for years.  Please pray for my mom, that God would give her the energy needed to enjoy the cruise fully, as she is still on chemotherapy.  Pray that they would have a great time together with friends and as a couple.  In other traveling news, my fiancee Tess and I will be taking off in a week to spend some time with her parents, along with trying to fit in some wedding details and continue our premarital preparation time with a couple who are mentoring us in the area of marriage and life.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love.  I will try to update you again soon and hopefully will have a newsletter for you by the first week of April.

P.S. If anyone knows of any great ideas or deal for a Maui honeymoon, please let me know ;)  Just thought I would ask. Thanks!

Remember Conference 2009

"Remember the days of old; Consider the generations long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, Your elders, and they will explain to you."

This past weekend we had our annual regional student conference.  this year the conference was called Remember.  The theme was all about the stories of long ago and remembering where God has brought us all from.  The conference was held in Pine Valley, CA.  Schools from California, Arizona, and even Hawaii joined up together to hear teaching from the word of God, worship together, and fellowship together.  It was an amazing weekend of fun and growth. 

We heard four different messages from two campus leaders, the parents of our regional leader, and the director of the Middle East Navigators.  These ranged in topic from "What does a full life look like?" to "The blood of Jesus."  Also during the weekend we had two breakout workshops all attendees picked beforehand.  These covered topics from Guy/Girl Relationships, to How to Disciple someone, and also Jesus in Popular Culture.  There were about 10 to choose from.  A lot of our students attended the relationship workshop, as this is a very hot topic in the college years, as we all know ;).  It was fun being able to talk about subjects and dig into the Word to look at what God says about relationships.  All of the male students woke up on the second morning early together in order to spend some time looking at the example of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24.  It is so encouraging and exciting to see students really dig into the word and have a desire to learn what God has to say about certain topics.  Another workshop that seemed to be a popular    one with our students was the Biblical Masculinity workshop which looked at Genesis 1-3.  Everyone learned so much this weekend and it's neat to share what we've all learned and see it applied. 

The last night of the conference after the large group meeting, we played games.  This was a great time for our campus ministry to get to know other students from other campuses.  Our school had a great time hosting a few games of "Mafia!"  This is a classic game our fellowship enjoys playing together and it was a great way to new people involved and comfortable. 

Will you please pray that as we continue on after the conference and as the weeks pass, I and everyone else from the conference will continue to seek God, apply what we've learned, and encourage each other as it is often times after great spiritual passion that the evil one attacks others.  This has been a great time for our ministry and we pray God will continue to use it for HIS glory.   

A New Quarter, a New Nav Night

Welcome back to UCSD!  We are already weeks into the Winter Quarter at UCSD.  We have revamped our Nav Nights, continuing our Bible Discussions, been to a students conference, and seeing students grow more and more. 

Last quarter our Nav Nights theme was serving as a team.  This  quarter we really want to help our students recruit and reach out to their non believing friends.  So instead of doing a service project every other week, we decided we would have our normal Nav Night Bible Study time an d then have a different, fun activity afterward every night.  We also moved them to Friday nights as to make it as accessible to all the studying students of UCSD.  This has been a blast to see new faces come to our Nav Nights.  Also, this quarter we are going through the book of Ephesians.  This has been a great place to take our fellowship into a little deeper material and look at what it looks like to be the body of Christ and many other things. 

One of our first weeks activities was taking the group out to Boomers for some miniature golf.  This was actually a really cool way we saw God provide.  All that week leading up to Friday night we had been looking for coupons for miniature golf at boomers, so as to make it cheaper for the students.  We couldn't find any all week.  That Friday, we had our Bible Study in Ephesians with all of the students and went down stairs in the Price Center to get dinner together as a group.  As we went downstairs, an employee for Panda Express was handing out coupons for a free entree.  So we decided to go there for dinner.  God provided a cheap dinner.  However, once we got there, ordered our food, and went to check out, they handed each of us another coupon.  This coupon was an exact answer to prayer.  The coupon was for a free round of mini-golf at Boomers!  That's it.  No other purchases necessary or anything.  Just a coupon for free miniature golf.  So we ended up all getting in free and saving over $100!  God is awesome!  It was a great example for the students to see God provide, even in the little things.

BIG NEWS Over Christmas Break!!

In December, the students at UCSD get Christmas Break.  That means as a staff person who ministers to college students my primary job of investing in students on campus gets put off for a few weeks.  However, there are many other parts of the job that we continue to work on during the holidays, such as fundraising, donor communication, Bible Study prep, planning for the next quarter, and staff training and development. 

The first week of the Christmas break was spent in training and development at our EDGE Corps Summit.  We have summits in the summer and winter.  EDGE Summits are times when all the EDGE Corps staff from across the country come together and receive training, get refreshed, and learn and share about the different things God is doing all across the country on different campuses.  It's an extremely encouraging time!  The summit took place at Glen Eyrie Castle, the official headquarters and home of The Navigators.  During the summit we had different classes on the New Testament, relationships and marriage (more on this topic later in this post), intentional friendships, having a vision for the World, and more!  This was a great time for refreshing after our first quarter of ministry for the year.  It was also so fun to connect with many friends who are also doing EDGE Corps in other places around the country. 

The break was a really neat time to be with my family.  All of my sibling were able to come out for break.  Unfortunately, my brother Dave and his wife Stacy got delayed in Seattle and had to stay there through Christmas, but they were able to make it out the day after Christmas.  This Christmas was also the first Christmas that Tess got to spend with my entire family.  I also got to spend a lot of quality time with my close friends back home, whom I had left and had not seen much of over the previous four months.  It was really fun! 

And there was one other reason this Christmas break was so amazing!  The Big News...

I GOT ENGAGED!!!!! 

That's right!  Tessica White, who I have been dating since last year, and I got engaged this Christmas!  December 23rd to be precise.  For a long time now I have been praying about Tess and I and our future together.  Over the period that we have been dating, God has really melded our hearts together more and more and has led closer and closer.  Spiritually and emotionally of course, due to us being in two different states at the moment, I in California and she in  Colorado.  From the start we both saw God working in our lives and our relationship.  One thing I loved about how we started dating was that God brought Tess into my life in a way that I could not and did not try to put together or make work myself.  Before we had met, God had taken us both through trying times that made us rely upon Him more and more and begin to surrender our lives and futures to Him.  And for some reason, he found fit to bring us into each others lives.  We have both been extremely grateful and excited at what God had done in our lives and who he had brought into our lives.  Little did we know at the time he would slowly bring those two lives closer and closer together through Him.  Though we have had hard times, God has always seen us through them and used our relationship to remind us of His awesome love, grace, and to see and try to personify his character.  Especially when our dating relationship changed gears into long distance mode, we have had to trust him even more with our future together.  More and more, time and time again, God gave resounding confirmation that this relationship was one that honored and pleased Him.  And honestly, it has been more than a pleasure for us, and I am truly honored to have the chance to know Tess!

   I am so excited to be engaged to Tessica White.  She is a godly woman with such a servants spirit.  One of the first thing that really made an impression on me was how much she tried and extended herself to my parents and my friends.  She just seemed to fit perfectly amongst both groups of family and friends.  One of the first talks we had together was about our similar heart to have ministry be a part of our lives in whatever fashion God would call.  That was something I had not seen in a whole lot of girls I had been around in the past and it energized me to be sharing hopes and interests with someone who felt some of the same ways.  Tess comes from missionary parents who Pastor a church in France.  In this way we have been able to understand a little bit of where the other is coming from, both having ministry parents.  Another thing that I found so attractive and intriguing was the knowledge and experience Tess had in the world.  Growing up in France, she has experienced many parts of the world that I have only seen in movies and read in books.  The fact that she was fluent in two or three languages was pretty impressive too ;)  I know it is such an encouragement to both of us that we both come from parents and families who love the Lord.  Honestly, I could go on for quite sometime about all of the things I love about Tess and what has attracted me more and more to her, but I should probably stop there.  If you would like to know more about her just ask.  Oh, did I mention she is the most amazingly beautiful woman I know?  God has blessed her with a truly natural inner and outer beauty.  How did I get so lucky and blessed?  I thank God everyday for Tessica.

*****This next section is for those who would like the detailed events of how I proposed.  If you know the story or would prefer to skip this section, I have placed a few pictures at the end of this post.*****

On December 23rd, 2008 I picked Tess up from her work with a bouquet of roses.  I told her I wanted to take her out on a nice date, because I don't get to take her out often, due to living in another state. Tess suggested that maybe we could try out the Jack in the Box fast food restaurant that recently opened near her house :).  I said, well we could go there, or I made reservations for Biaggis if you like.  She was more than happy to go to Biaggis instead.  Biaggis is a nice Italian restaurant and the first place we ever went out to eat.  It was fun going back there and talking about the first time we hung out and got to know each other.  After having her favorite dessert, tiramisu, I suggested we drive around town and look at all of the Christmas lights.  Before we checked out lights around town, we got come coffee.  I took her to the first place we ever met, Starbucks.  We got our favorite drinks, sat, and talked for a while.  We reminisced over all the things God had done in our   lives and relationship since first meeting.  We got back in the car and I suggested we check out the castle at Glen Eyrie.  This is where I had planned to propose and share different things God had laid on my heart having to do with Tess and I, and show her places where I had spent time praying for her and us.  However, this is where the comedy of errors begins.  We pulled up to the driveway of the Glen and discovered the property was blocked off with cones and signs saying closed.  They had just shut down the property that night for Christmas.  So, it was on to plan B.  We turned around and I suggested we head down to the Broadmoor.  The Broadmoor is a nice, old hotel and resort in south Colorado Springs.  It's a very beautiful location with a lake that runs through the property.  While trying to get down to the Broadmoor we took a wrong turn and ended up in a completely wrong location.  After turning back and correcting the turn a few miles back, we finally reached the Broadmoor. :)

We got valet parking and walked into one of the two main hotels.  The hotels were all decked out with Christmas lights, a huge gingerbread house, fireplaces, and Christmas trees.  After checking  out all of the neat things in the first hotel we walked outside to check out the pond and walk to the other hotel.  It was fairly cold outside with snow on the ground and the trees all decorated with lights and ornaments.  We walked around and took  a few pictures together.  Looking around I saw that it was perfectly quiet and calm outside and it would make it the perfect location to propose.  I decided we would walk to the other hotel to check it out inside and when we returned back outside, I would propose in the stillness of night.  We walked into the other hotel and right away Tess could smell lilies everywhere in the main lobby.  Unfortunately, she is allergic to lilies.  So, we quickly moved to some side rooms and halls to look at the rest of the venue.  Knowing we were heading outside I began talking a little more deeply and intentionally about our future.  However, right after walking outside a family with cute little kids exited behind us.  The little kids followed and walked next to us.  For some odd reason, all of a sudden there were a lot more people outside.  It was pretty funny how it worked out that way.  So after walking back over to the first hotel we walked around for a few minutes trying to find somewhere to sit and talk.  With a little convincing I suggested we venture outside once more to look around a little more ;)  I pointed out a spot we had not gone to yet, which was off to the side with a few sweet lampposts and snow all around.   We stopped and talked a for a minute.  I looked at Tess and kissed her.  I told her I wanted to give her my Christmas present a little early this year.  She said OK.  I got down on one knee and asked her, Tessica Lanelle White, Veux tu m'epouser? I asked her to marry me in French.  She said Oui!  Yes, of course. :D  I put the ring on her finger and we had a long embrace.  It was an amazing time!  And yes, she cried.   After taking some pictures and enjoying the time and joy of the moment, we headed back my house,  where my parents and sister were waiting with Champagne  to toast our engagement.  It was a joyous time!  And it continues to be today.

WE ARE SO EXCITED TO GET MARRIED.  It will have wonderful times and hard times, but we will be together through it all and have God to trust in and rely on.  Please pray for us as we prepare for our lives together.  I will continue to update you all with what is happening in our relationship and in the plans for the future!  We love you all. 

Here are a few of our engagement photos: