Let the countdown begin...

My first thoughts on launching this blog in replace of my old one were to create a blog that would incorporate my new, "better half" into my life and update others on the direction my life was headed. My second thought was not to launch the new blog until after our wedding. Obviously I got a little excited (aka I've run out of things to occupy my time with before the wedding) so I have decided to let everyone in on the count down until our Big Day! For those of you I may not see very often and need to be updated.... I'm getting married!!!!! The Lord has been generous enough to bring an amazing man into my life and I couldn't be happier. My fiance, Wes Miller, is the love of my life and one of the most humble and Godly men I know. Through this process I have seen him grow closer to the Lord on a daily basis and I cannot tell you how excited I am to see God grow him into the man He has called him to be. What a unique and special experience this has been.

A little bit of background...

Wes and I met through a friend of a friend after I moved to Birmingham in 2007. It actually took us a little while to become friends because I was in and out of our group for a while. He was part of a group of guys that just really stole my heart the more I got to know them. God used Wes and our friends Sam and Fletcher to speak to my heart over the next year and to heal some areas that I thought were completely hopeless. One example of how small our faith can be at times but how faithful the Lord continues to be through our UNfaithfulness! Continuing on to 2009 - 2010 I became close friend with all three of them with no thought of there being anything more. I think for the first time in my life I could look at a group of men and see them as true brothers instead of potential dates (and ladies.... let's be honest! We all tend to do this and you guys are not exempt either ;). As I spent time with them Wes and I really hit it off and realized we were very similar in a lot of ways but still no thoughts as to where that would lead.

Around September of 2009 God called me to a new job in Nashville, TN and I accepted with no hesitation. I knew the job was something the Lord had cultivated in my heart over the years and I stepped into an internship position with a PR company in the middle of a very down economy. I left a full-time job at a ministry that I loved knowing that I may never go any farther than this internship but I knew it was something I had to trust God with. As this process unfolded and Wes and I got to know each other a little better I began to think that there could be something more between us. Mostly I just passed it off as a fleeting thought, convincing myself that there was nothing there. Something unimportant that I was just day dreaming about but would never happen. I was moving to Nashville in a few months and there was no way that would work at all. Little did I know God was spurring the same thoughts in Wes as well.

Then with the weekend of my departure right around the corner Wes decided to more-or-less "talk" to me about his feelings. I was completely caught off guard and did not respond well at all. I believe my first response was "well, where did that come from?" Not exactly what he was expecting... oops! I was leaving that weekend for Nashville and so many thoughts came flooding into my mind. How could this work? How could this possibly happen when I was about to leave? And even... Do I really want to leave now? We talked things out and decided to wait for a little while to see if things progressed after I moved. Looking back, this was mostly my idea because of a lot of fears I had tied up in everything and again, a lack of faith in what God was doing.

A few months passed after I moved and Wes and I kept well in touch. He was so consistent in calling and keeping up with me that I never had to worry about what he was thinking or what his intentions were. He made them VERY clear :) We began dating about a month and a half after my move to Nashville and God has been drastically growing our relationship ever since. There were many hardships and adversities we faced in our time of dating and a lot of things God brought us through. However, in all of these things He has continuously grown us together as a couple and closer to Himself. He continues to bless us, even when we do not deserve it. Our relationship has been a huge test of our faith in God and his plan for our lives and a testament of God's unconditional love for His children! He even provided a full-time job for me back in Birmingham so we could be closer and continue growing together. Although my time in Nashville was one of the best in my life, it was only for a season. God used that time to bring us out of the hustle and bustle of every day life and provided an escape to a different city with friends who only knew us as a couple. It was a sweet time and encompassed some of the defining moments of our relationship.

A very important day...

On Saturday, December 4, 2011 Wes decided to wake up early in the morning to take me to Huntsville to a park where we used to meet when I was in Nashville and we could not see each other on the weekends. One weekend at this particular park God revealed to us that there was more to our relationship and that He was moving us forward to marriage. (picture taken by Wes's brother, Brad Miller, at Monte Sano Park in Huntsville) I was very concerned about leaving Birmingham that day because I had my first major event that I was planning for The Foundry (my new job in Birmingham) that night. I argued with him and asked him why we could not just go another weekend? He asked me to trust him and told me how much fun it would be to get away and de-stress before the event that night. I was absolutely clueless as to the events that would unfold that day. Somehow He talked me into leaving and off to Huntsville we went.

On the way there I asked to stop three or four times to get snacks or coffee. Once we finally got there, we got out of the car and I started to get the food out for lunch. Wes asked if I would like to leave it there for the time being and take a walk instead. I agreed. We walked straight out to the most beautiful look out point that reaches out over a huge valley. The view was beautiful that day and we were the only people in the park besides a lady and her daughter who were playing on the swings. As we were standing there Wes began talking. I honestly don't remember what he was saying to start with because I felt him back away from me and I wondered why. Then I remember him talking about our relationship and what I meant to him. How he had seen my heart for the Lord and my composure and faithfulness in many different and sometimes difficult situations and how in awe he was of that. I remember thinking he was crazy and giving me way too much credit. I turned around to look at him to understand where all of this was coming from only to find him down on one knee. I immediately knew what he was doing. I was so overwhelmed that I dropped down to my knees with him! Silly I know hahaha. Then I heard him ask the question that I had been waiting so patiently and at times impatiently ;) to hear. "Jessica, will you marry me?"

I SAID YES!!!! Whole heartedly and with absolutely no hesitation. He would probably say that I answered before he finished and that may be true :) I love him so uncontrollably and unconditionally, a way that I have never loved anyone before. We both have flaws and at times we get frustrated as every normal couple does but I know at the end of the day that this is the man I have been created for. Created as a helper to continue bringing glory to our Savior through our life together.

God has been so good to us and has proven his love for us time and time again. Our prayer is that in this new journey we continue to seek His will above all else and continue to share the love of Christ to others through our words, actions, and lives. Please be in prayer with us as we wrap up this time of planning and step into our new roles as husband and wife. That God would continue to strengthen us individually as well as a couple and that we would be willing to say "God your will be done" and "here we are... send us!"

Pray with us this verse: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." - Pilippians 3:12 - 16

Officially 18 days to go.... Let the countdown begin!