Let me start by saying the Lord has been so good to us. Rachel and I currently have enough support to fully pay tuition for Training School and for living expenses while we are in Clarkston. We are so appreciative to all of the people who have been a part of the Lord's amazing provision for us.
Please continue to pray for the Lord's ongoing provision as we prepare for the years to come in India.
After months of wedding planning, the momentous/emotional/surreal day finally came. Our wedding was such a beautiful mix of our lives joining together, of all of our close family and friends celebrating with us, and of the Lord's name being glorified. For all of you who came, it meant the world to us that you were there to support and celebrate with us.
For me, as the main wedding planner (with the wonderful/much-needed help of my mom and our wedding coordinator, Paige), the day was a beautiful moment of all our hard work reaching its climax as I walked down the aisle. Floods of relief (that our planning was ending with this exciting moment) and waves of emotions (from realization of the weight of what Grayson and I were doing) overcame me. All that to say that our ceremony was more meaningful than I could have ever imagined, AND boy was I glad that I never had to plan my wedding ever again.
After the ceremony we journeyed to Seattle! Where we drove to the Olympic Peninsula and stayed in Port Angeles for two nights then stayed on Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound. While in Port Angeles, we made sure to venture out to the Olympic National Park where we spent a day of driving and going on random detours where we saw things like Sol Duc Falls.
We picnic'd at beautiful Cape Flattery and saw the west coast in all its glory.
As we traveled around the Olympic peninsula and the Puget Sound, we saw sweet things like black bears, an otter, deer, and tons of awesome priceless views that are unlike anything we'd ever seen. Our trip can be summarized by the word DETOUR. Our favorite way to adventure is to drive around and find cool things. One of our favs was the detour up a gravel road with a sign that said "Tsunami Evacuation Route." Of course we had to check it out. After ten minutes of winding and a treacherous (slightly painful) climb up a crumbly rock, this is what we found...
In Seattle, we went to some of the scenic places like Pike's Place Market, the first Starbucks, the Space Needle (which we didn't go up in b/c it was way overpriced), and the new Experience Music Project (which was closed when we got there). Who needs to actually go into those famous tourist places anyway? But you bes believe we got our monorail ticket's worth by having a photo shoot with all these famous places.
I'll give Seattle 3 words: Eclectic. Granola. Environmentally-friendly. It was like no other city I'd ever been to. Very neat city to visit if you get the chance. Overall, our trip was superadventurous, relaxing, and of course filled with lots of good foreign food eating. My favorite was definitely our first dinner as a married couple eating Pho Ga at a small Vietnamese place in Port Angeles :) love being in cool places eating good foreign food.
We're so thankful for our opportunity to travel to a place that we've really wanted to go to and for the relaxing vacation that it was. Now we're back to semi-normal life. The big difference is that now we're doing life together. In the same city. In the same house. Always with the same God. Our adventure totally didn't end with the honeymoon.
Way more to come with "Fleas, Flumes, and a Forgotten God"... so till then, peace and blessings!
Rachel Luther
So the wedding will be t-minus 14 days tomorrow, and I am so stinking ready for it to be here. All of the most important things are pretty much done and ready, so now is just me waiting for that wonderful moment to be here. And then whirlwind through it to the honeymoon. Haha. The feelings I am having for the marriage are very similar to what I feel like our world is feeling right now. It seems that everyone and even the earth itself is groaning more and more in anticipation of Christ returning for His bride and making all things new and right. Its like all of creation is crying COME ON JESUS!! WE WANT YOU NOW!! WE NEED YOU NOW!! But it is not yet here so we patiently wait in anticipation. And I patiently wait in anticipation. Anyways, know that many of you reading this will be there to celebrate along with us, and we are so excited to be able to share this moment with all of you and hopefully share our life together with you as well. Whether that is here in the States or in India or wherever the Lord may lead us. Many of you know that instead of registering and asking for wedding gifts to start our home here, we are asking that you would send support to help us start a home in India. We ask that all of you would consider regularly supporting us either with your prayers or monetarily or both. Let us know if you would like to commit to doing that so that we can send you updates of what is going on in our lives. And if you would like to send us support please make it out to Grayson and Rachel and send it to:
Heritage United Methodist Church
3 Baracuda Drive
Hattiesburg, MS 39402 We love and thank all of our wonderful family and friends that have encouraged us along the way. Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you or ways that we can pray for you.
Much Love Grayson
So in case you didn't know, I got back from a scouting trip to India a week or so ago. I feel like I should post about that, but I'm gonna save most of that for another day. I had heard that even from a shorter trip there is some reverse culture shock that happens after you get back, but I didn't really know what that would look like for me. Well, seeing your fiancee after three weeks of being on opposite sides of the world was pretty stinkin awesome. Just sayin.. But, I have been struggling to live in light of what I saw and experienced, while life is pretty much the same as a month ago before I left. One of the things that the Lord really put on my heart was being aware of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us all of the time. Just really being aware of the schemes of Satan to distract us and pull us away from focus on Jesus. Another was praying with faith in the power of Jesus name. While we were in India prayer became my lifeline. I could feel the darkness of that place, and besides I felt very small and powerless in a world where I don't speak the language or understand the culture. So, prayer was my connection to a power that has overcome that darkness and is over all cultures and peoples. And the Lord really convicted me while I was there that prayer is something that I so often forget here where I feel like I have things figured out. So, since I have been back I have been trying to spend more and better time in prayer with the Lord. Especially, as Rachel and I are preparing to make this huge commitment to one another. So pray for us as we are preparing to become the beautiful picture of Christ and the Church that marriage is. And pray that we would continue to rest in the power of our Lord and not in our own strength.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 4:6-7
14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
So, what every person has been dying to hear… our story! How this power couple was formed! (Haha, just joking, we’re not a power couple, just a couple that the Lord brought together for His glory. So I guess we are a power couple that the Holy Spirit empowers daily. I digress...) So here goes, just a (maybe not so) brief (with some details of course and slightly more from my point of view) overview of how we got to be 100 days away from our wedding day. Brace yourself.
First off, I’ll start with a few interesting facts about us to set the scene.Grayson was born in Arkansas in 1986, and I was born in Mississippi in 1989.However, we both moved to Mississippi to suburban cities our junior year in high school.We both share the same middle name (Leigh/Lee) and both are the oldest child.Grayson and I both have siblings that are 2.5 years younger than we are.I’ll be graduating from Mississippi State in April with the same degree Gray received (Communication with an emphasis in PR, and a minor in Religion) and both having been Wesley Foundation interns. Kinda fun facts.
Our story started my freshman year at the Wesley freshman and transfer chili dinner, where Grayson was an intern. Let’s just say I’ve had a crush on him ever since (and jus throwin it out there, I’ve had a lot of crushes in college, but he was definitely the longest running one). We were friends and whatnot, and I thought for a bit maybe he was into me and almost got the courage up to invite him to a date party, but alas! I misread him.Which I was pretty bummed about, but whatev, I was still a sophomore when he graduated so kinda lost track of him after that.
That is until I got back in touch with him the summer after my sophomore year to get his help with my internship. So we grabbed dinner when I came back to school just to catch up b/c he wanted to hear about what cool stuff I got to do that summer. (Aside: At this point, I was reminded about how much I used to crush on him, but had come to terms with the fact that he just wasn’t into me. Crazy how when I get to a point in my life when I’m really not looking for anything how the Lord changes my path.)
Alright, so I will attribute the first time we started talking after he DJ’d for Klub Wesley.After that, it was kinda down hill, we texted a bunch, he came down for a few different events, I stopped through Amory a few times when I was driving between Alabama and Starkville, which led to eventually us talking on the phone.He came down and met my family in December and we started “officially” (whatever that means, sorta means commitment I spose) that day. Also, first kiss. Bleck! Terrible. My fault. Enough said.
After that, I met his family and his super legit and special friend group the next month. No big deal. Mighta been a bit nervous. They’re kind of a big deal. I had the best (and first ever) Valentine’s Day date I could ever imagine and a sweet (by this I mean awesome) birthday trip the next week.
Throughout our dating, road trips pretty much identified our relationship: backpacking, beach, Atlanta visiting and concert, Birmingham, to name a few. And the best one yet was last summer in July when we drove to Baltimore to have fun and visit my aunt and uncle.Such a blast. Really great time together after half the summer apart while I was at camp.
Alrighty, so by the time September rolled around, it was about a year since we had started talking, and we hadn’t said the “L” word. Not that you have to say it a certain point or anything, but by this point, I had really prayed and thought through a lot of my feelings and was dying to tell him how I felt. So yep. I told him I loved him first, and I wasn’t expecting him to say it back, but yeah, he sure did. Little did I know that once he said it, he was fully committed and all it took was a Labor Day trip to his favorite place on earth (Mountain View, AR) to seal the deal.
One month later, I was accidentally finding pics of rings on his phone and freaking out. We got engaged in Natchez, MS by HOT AIR BALLOONS! (My personal fav, very thoughtful.)
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. I fully believe that the LORD has brought our lives together, because He will be most glorified by our lives being joined. I’m very excited about the way I have grown and matured in my relationship with Christ because of my relationship with Grayson. We both know that the Lord has called both of us to a life of sacrifice, service, and ministry. In response to the call on our lives, we will be moving to India in about a year to LIVE A NEW LIFE and spread the good news of Jesus Christ for at least two years with a team of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There will be more to come soon on India, but until then, I will leave you with a verse that was really encouraging and challenging to me when I was in a period of uncertainty about my future (it’s all about a daily seeking of the Lord and His kingdom rather than a planning of future events and plans):
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:33
so lately God has been teaching me, and i think i can speak for Rachel too and say us, about coming to Him. it has been so great at different times for us to come to Him together, but most of the time that doesn't work out because of the distance between me and her. i cherish the thought of being able to do that on a more regular basis once we are together. i have been going through a spiritual drought lately. and though i don't often remember it at the time, it is always a matter of drawing closer to the Father. why i most often wallow in it and wonder why i am trapped in this funk, i am not really sure. probably because i'm pretty much a dummy. haha. but the thing that i have been realizing lately is that most of the time i'm not pressing into Him because i am dwelling in some kind of sin. so for whatever reason i've gone back to the Adam & Eve model of hiding my shame from the Lord. but what a lie from the devil. praise the Lord that in spite of my shame He wants me to come to Him. and He wants me to tell Him about it, just like He asked Adam & Eve, even though He already knows all about it. how amazing that we have a God that is so merciful to stoop down to the wretched man that i am and love me and care for me. and whats more longs and desires for us to come to Him so we could enjoy that love and care. all so that His wonderful and merciful name would be glorified that much more. pray for Rachel and i that, whatever state we may find ourselves in, we would continue to draw close to the One who satisfies all our needs. much love. G
so being engaged is hard for me.. i dunno if i'm the only one but i would guess not. it is such a weird feeling knowing that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together but that life can't really start yet. but i was reminded by a good friend the other day how wonderful a picture it is of our (the Church) current state, waiting to fully joined with Christ. so lately it has been so great when i have those feelings of longing to be with Rachel, i remind myself to long for Christ and love and longing He has for us, his bride.
i have also been reminded that this is a transition time, for us to enjoy our last few months of singleness and unattached living, and for us prepare for marriage and the new life ahead of us.
definitely my least favorite part of this time is all of the planning and decision making. so many things to worry about and so many things to figure out before that time gets here. but i know that it will all get worked out and that this is just the beginning of us living our new life.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
Song of Songs 8:4
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
We are just two young people who love God and love one another. Both of these passions take us to new places and on new adventures. Currently, our adventure takes us to live in South Asia. Thanks for visiting our blog. Read on for some of our adventures and lessons from the Lord. Cheers!
