How do you feel 4 days before your wedding?

A question I have asked many brides. Here is the answer

stressed
excited
anxious
nervous
thrilled
happy
sad
ecstatic
exhausted

10 days.....10 days?!?!?!?!

Well time has for sure hit overdrive. Amanda is a graduate of Texas A&M University! WHOOP! TJ finished a ridiculously hard semester with a fantastic GPA thanks to the grace of God. No way we could have survived this semester if not for the grace of God. And now....Christmas in 3 days, wedding in 10.

Things engagement has revealed to me
1. I am selfish beyond belief. When we started planning this wedding, I had it set in stone that we would finish planning under budget, that our wedding would be small in College Station, that I would have a huge ball gown dress, and that we would serve breakfast for dinner. Obviously, things didn't pan out the way I expected.
2. I have a feeling of entitlement. This was revealed through the registry. Stupid, i know. But looking at friends who have a registry that is completely bought, made me feel like we deserved the things on the registry. After 4+ years of dating, waiting for marriage, not living together, being good kids and having good grades, it seems like we should have all the nice things that established married couples have. But the truth is, we deserve death for our sins. A cruel death on the cross that Jesus died for us. The fact that people have given to us out of the goodness of their hearts is something we are so thankful for.
3. I am NOT a patient person by nature. Some people walk out of the womb casually just spilling over with patient and that was not me. I'm sure I was the person in the womb looking at my watch asking when we could get this show on the road.

oh my goodness....35 days

Where has the time gone? How is it that in 5 days I take my last final and in 20 days I walk the stage of Texas A&M? In 35 days my name changes and in 37 days...hello Mexico :) This weekend we had our last shower before the big day. TJ got so many tools so I have started coming up with a honey do list ;) Watching his face light up at each gift was hilarious and very fun. We got to hang out with some very dear friends of ours who we haven't seen since their wedding in May. It is so nice to have friends that you can just come back to after being apart and it is like you never left. You know what I mean? The awkward coversations that we go through with most people..."so how is school? how is your family?" With Jenna and Andrew we just skip all that and catch up on life.

Let me sum up our life lately
me: "hey TJ want to have dinner together Tuesday? I'm making fajitas."
TJ: "No I can't i have to work on my senior projects for my engineering classes"
me: "That's ok, I forgot... I have to work, finish 435 hw and figure out how to cook fajitas"

All of this takes place from opposite couches.
1. purity
2. petroleum
3. work

welcome to the lives of the future Mr & Mrs White. Patience is key. Humor is essential. Laughter is often needed to keep your sanity. Aside from all this, we are still wrestling through how God wants our lives to look post january 2. Alot has happened this semester, most of it focused on money. Long story short, BP failed to remove TJ from payroll and we came into a large sum of money. Only to later have to return it. Which is lame. But the thing we learned is that the riches of this world are so temporary. There is no reason to put our faith, our existence, our livelihood on these things. God is the supreme ruler of all and has proven Himself faithful over and over again. Yet when I look at our bank account I constantly catch myself swinging back and forthing between thinking "we don't have enough..." and  "what will we do with this money?" Clearly my life is an emotional roller coaster. Often my fiance looks at me and says "God has always provided for us. He has never let us down or let us starve. Trust Him" I am so blessed to have a man of God who speaks truth to me when I get all caught up in what our lives look like on paper. And I do get very caught up in that. Number are a big deal to me. And when the numbers don't add up that is usually when I take the license to go ahead and melt down. More and the more the Lord has been pulling my heart towards teaching. I want to be someone He actively uses to further the Kingdom, and teaching seems like a great way. God has shown both of us that He has a big family in store for us. We don't know exactly what that means, but we know He is very serious about it. You know the movie Cheaper by the Dozen? That's my dream family :)

Totally crazy, mostly out of control, chaotic and wonderful. Sounds like the life of a petroleum engineer and a teacher? It amazes me that after 400 days of engagement, 6+ years of friendship we are almost husband and wife. God has been very specific in showing us ways that marriage works, and ways it doesnt. We have been blessed with fantastic families that are great role models for us. And yet, the Lord continues to challenge the way we view marriage and the way He commands us to act in marriage. Needless to say, I am intimidated by the roles God has for me, but I am excited to serve TJ in that way.

Prayer requests
1. PURITY- 35 days til the wedding...need I say more?
2. Peaceful transitions for our family and for our new family. The leaving of the parents to cleave to one another is exciting, but a little sad at the same time.
3. Pre wedding stress and jitters- This one day has been in the works since before we were born, but it has been actively planned for the last 14 months. Thus there is some stress and anxiety that come before the big day. Please pray for peace for us and to calm any pre wedding nerves
4.  Pray that we continue to seek God and what He has for our family. Pray for TJs leadership that he would lead our family well, and that I would submit to his leadership well.  Pray for unity for the two of us and that we would reflect Christ and the church


Shalom
Amanda

Oh blog...you get neglected

54 days til the wedding. Our weekends are packed. Only 7 weekends left until the wedding. Strangely enough, wedding details have yet to stress us out too badly. We have spent time with new friends over the last 2 months which God has totally used to refresh us daily. God has really shown us what it means to be the Body of believers and reach out to those who need help and serve in whatever ways our church family needs help. The devil has been active causing insecurities, doubts and nerves. But above all our Savior is mighty, and His grace is sufficient. Daily I ask Him for more grace.

In church we have been talking through Galatians, and how Paul loved the Galatians so much that he was on his knees begging for them to turn away from their sin and rebellion. Over and over again the question is presented, do we love people that much. Hell is real, and sadly, many people that claim to know the Lord are going to have Jesus say "Depart from me, for I never knew you, you worker of iniquity" Heartbreaking. Looking at how life is about to change and the relationships within family and friends that we are going to face as a married couple, we are starting to see how love for the Lord is hatred toward the world; and what it means to be truly sold out for the Lord and love others out of the overflow of Christ's love.


Rescue the Perishing
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.






Waiting stinks. Please pray for us. Please ask us how we are doing. Please hold us accountable.


1 Cor 6
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[c]


18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Where are we at?

67 days until the wedding...studying for midterms, running petroleum simulations, working 9 hours a day, serving at LHBC, driving home to do wedding stuff, trying to spend some time together before the big day. Life is getting hectic for us.

Oh Wedding Planning....why do you cost so much?

Funny story about wedding planning....it has its own agenda. Sure you tell it, lets only spend a certain amount on this one day....but then it gets its own ideas. You are just sitting there happy as a clam until one day you pull out that trusty calculator and realize you left the budget back in the dust. It is unfortunate as you scramble looking for quarters in the couch cushions, car seats and winter coats. And Ms. Wedding Planning just sits there and scoffs at you.

I'm told that in retrospect this will all be funny one day. We will look back on these days of frustration and laugh. Maybe. But despite all the number crunching, coupon clipping, and debit card swiping, we have been blessed to have parents that love us and help us pay for this once in a lifetime day :) Even better has been the number of married couples who have come alongside us an encouraged us to stay focused on our marriage and make sure that it is built firmly in Christ. The women who have encouraged me to use this time as a learning time to focus on the Lord and have Him prepare my heart for marriage and the men who have challenged TJ to imitate the leader that Christ was to the church have been the biggest encouragement and blessing through the last 11 months.

So here we are 2.5 months left until the big day. What an exciting thought!! Through Countdown this semester God has slowly but surely changed our way of thinking and our heart attitudes towards one another. It is so cool to see God change habits that we have made over the last 4 years. What a great joy it is to serve our King!

Ephesians 5:22-33
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.


25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.


1 Peter 3:1-7
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 1

Where we are at

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. -Gandhi
This was someone on facebook's religious views. How heartbreaking, because too often it is so true.

Psalm 145:13b-14
The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down

Basically we are in a state of waiting. TJ has accepted the job at BP and now we are trying to figure out what I am going to do. TJ will be gone 2 weeks at a time for the first year doing rotation work to provide for our sweet new family, which leaves amanda alone, without a clue what to do with her life. I graduate in December ( by the grace of God) but do not have a meteorology job. I've been throwing around ideas of teaching high school math, applying to oil companies, tv stations etc. But TJ will have a full week off when he comes back so its hard to commit to job that would cause me to miss out on that week. Please pray for peace for me. We are seriously considering me staying in CS another year to be close to our Living Hope family. We have watched the body take care of wives when their husbands are gone and that is the main motivation to stay here. But what to do for those two weeks. I'm watching all our married/almost married friends who seem to have everything together and the truth is I'm not sure what this will look like come July. I know that God is faithful and He clearly provided this job at BP for our family. There was one line that God put in TJ's offer letter that was clear evidence God was at work here. Uncertainty is still here as people ask me over and over what I'm going to do since I'm graduating and it is very disheartening to say "I don't know" over and over again. But the LORD is faithful to all his promises and we trust him in that.

4 years?! No way!

Oh hello four year anniversary date. What a sweet blessing it was to spend all day Saturday with my sweet fiance. We went to Atamis and got to spend time watching movies and just relaxing together. Saturdays are my favorite days of the week. No school. No work. Just relaxing enjoying one another's company and fellowship with other believers. We were blessed to have Kristen come visit this weekend which is always such a blessing. My sweet man put up curtains all around my house this weekend so it is starting to look like someone actually lives there. Yes, Vanessa and I did move in almost two months ago but better late than never. Pictures to come once we are all finished making everything cute. Believe it or not we are almost to double digits until the wedding. On Thursday it will be 99 days until I am Mrs. White. Scary? YES! Exciting?! You know it!! Wedding plans are in full force as we figure out what we want for our ceremony, flowers and a bunch of other things we don't know we "need" yet. In our minds we have cake and a pastor so what else could you need? Haha! Jokes jokes. This semester is flying by as we are about to start our 4th week of the year, meaning....test week. dun dun dun. Only 2 more test weeks after this until I am a college graduate! Praise the Lord. I don't like tests. at all. I guess not many people do. But here is to a week of studying and preparation in order to excel in my last year. 

Prayers for this week

This week is a big week. Our God is bigger, but this week is a big week. TJ has decided to accept the job offer from BP. How thankful we are that the Lord has provided. (He always does)What a great joy it is to see TJ's excitement towards this job that he enjoyed so much this summer. For the first year it will be rough as he is on a rotation schedule; but our God is so faithful to bring comfort to the wife :)

Please pray for me as TJ is gone. I don't have a job yet in Houston. The Geoscience Career Fair is this Thursday and my nerves are already shot. I don't know which is worse, the realization that I am graduating in 13 weeks and will be officially a married adult, or the idea of actually getting that "real world" job. Either way, it is a big week. Please pray for calm nerves. Please pray that the Lord would put me where he wants me. God has given both TJ and I a heart for the orphans. I am praying that even if God doesn't bring me a job, that He will show me where I can serve and be used by Him. One of the things that really calmed my nerves about TJ working at BP is that there was a little section (one sentence) in his offer letter that said BP supported adoption and would cover the cost of adoption for its employees. We couldn't have asked for God to speak with more clarity.

Aggie Football has begun!

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 1 Peter 1: 5-9

Authentic Lifestyles

TJ has a full time offer from BP. What a blessing we have been given. And yet....it comes with a heavy responsibility. After reading Scripture, the Bible clearly says that we are to look out for the poor and the oppressed, the fatherless and the widows. Luke 16 shows us that God takes care of the poor. Lazarus is sitting at the gate of the rich man, covered in sores and starving. And yet, Lazarus enters the kingdom of God while the rich man doesnt.
   In a time in our lives when we are registering for the "necessities" of life, it has begun to hit us that the things we can't see ourselves without, serve to remind us of the rich and the poor. The difference between the comfortable life we live (even as poor, almost married college kids) The abundance God has blessed us with over and over again. But why? Why has He given us a petroleum salary? Why has He allowed these blessings to pour in over and over? What plan does He have for our lives to serve Him and look out for His people? How can we use these things to further God's kingdom?

Please pray for us that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and react faithfully with what God commands us to do.

2 More Days

So, I don't have a whole lot to say right now, I am just taking a break from preparing for my final presentation here at BP tomorrow and I wanted to say how excited I am to be moving back to college station on thursday evening. I realy have enjoyed working here this summer but this whole leaving Amanda every sunday thing is getting really old, and the moving back and forth is no fun either. So I am just very ready to be back to be able to see my sweet fiancee when ever i would like. So wish me luck on my presentation tomorrow and I wouldnt mind a few prayers if you think of it (tomorrow at 2:00). Well, thats all I have to say about that.
Shalom,
TJ

move

Well the move is basically complete. Our living room has just a few boxes left, and most everything has found a place to live. The internet, still lacking. The cable...not set up. But we are settling in. It was strange to make my new bed, where one day my husband and I can sleep. It is weird to picture the near future where I have a husband and share this simple place with him. Its strange because this place doesn't feel like home just yet. It feels like another temporary  place to sleep.


 My sweet friend Vanessa lives with me for the next four months. What a fabulous blessing she is. What a great gift God has given me in her. Our friendship grows stranger and stronger each day.

You know its love when....

When he drives 180 miles to go to the grocery store with you on a Monday night
When you check your blog and he has written a love letter to you
When he looks on the top shelf at Target to find an address book
When he sits on the couch and just holds you


I am so blessed. In five months (ish) I will be a blessed wife. The idea of leaving my father and mother hit me hard this week as my last family vacation ended. The last time I will go on a family vacation as Amanda Boudreaux. But in a way it was good...well after the meltdown it got better. Any encouragement from you married ladies is much appreciated!!

But what God showed me is that by trusting Him and committing to his plan for my life, He will bless my life in greater ways than I can imagine. I have been so focused on the various changes, adjustments and decisions that are coming up, that I forgot to focus on the fact that the Bible says "Leave your father and mother and be united with your wife" God designed marriage to bless us and to create a picture of Christ and the church.

Obviously I have no idea what this will look life post January 2, 2011; but I know that God has promised that He knows the plans for my life and that they are plans to prosper and not to harm me. Plans to give me hope and a future.

And I know that the Lord has blessed me abundantly with a family who loves me dearly, a future husband who passionately pursues the Lord and serves Him daily, and a sense of peace towards the changes to come

Grace and peace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, with an undying love
-AB

Sacrifice

So, i just had a brief thought while listening to a breakaway podcast that i wanted to share before leaving to go into the field till thursday. This weekend amanda and I both had moments where we realized what we were giving up in order to get married. We both agreed we still wanted to do it but at times had trouble quantifying why it was worth it other that thats what we knew we wanted. And i heard the reason in a teaching from the Gospel. Readers digest version is, Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is and they say messiah, making a commitment to follow him. He tells them the cost of following and they still do. This is because to truely be devoted to Jesus, or the parallel on Earth, you spouse, there will be sacrifices. But those are considered worth it because by truely making that sacrifice to Jesus/spouse you begin to develop a deeper intimacy with them that before wasnt possible. Jesus shows this by then immediately begining to teach the disciples His truths "plainly". Well in marraige when you make that sacrifice to pursue your spouse, the parallel happens and you begin to know them on a whole new level never before possible. Yet another way husband and wife is a picture of Christ and the church.
I love you amanda.
Shalom,
TJ

Distance is hard...

I know it may sound a bit pathetic since we are only 90 miles apart and get to see each other every weekend but that doesnt necessarily make it any easier. We have just passed the halfway point for finishing this summer apart and it has really started fighting us. But one thing it has taught me is a little about what to expect in marraige. Though we refer to ourselves as crusty love aroud our friends because by our age's standards we have been together forever, to the couple that has been married 50 years we are still very much new love. What this summer has shown me, especially this week, is how delibirate and conscious love has to be. Just this week, i was going along thinking i was doing pretty well at loving Amanda and making her feel loved, I was just loving her however and whenever it just naturally came out, but was making little no conscious effort to love her in a specific way. After only two days of this it was brought to my attention that she was feeling no love from this and I was taken aback, in my mind I had been doing pretty good. What it made me realize is that just taking for granted that your love is being conveyed effectively and assuming your natural tendencies are enough is a very dangerous road to take. It made me realize that if I do not have a very specific plan and concentrated focus on how and when specifically I am going to love her, I run the very real risk of neglecting her. Now, to tie this back into my original statement about what it has taught me about what to expect in marraige, is that I will have to be every bit as deliberate and more in our marraige. If this is how out of whack it can get by just being a little tired and not seeing each other for a few days, I can only begin to imagine how much more that this is true 15-20 years down the road when the natural tendency (just a guess) is to take each other for granted, and at times the desire to love each other ebs somewhat. If that day comes and I have not learned how to love deliberately and intentionally, I can only hope to let her down in those harder moments. So now the action from this lesson, since a lesson is no good if you don't do anything about it. For starters, I am going to start each week thinking of one special thing to do for her and plan it specifically out. Then, in addition to doing that, I am going to start the habit of in my morning prayers each day, asking God what little ways I should love her throughout the day and then commit to doing them. Thats all i've got so far but I can only assume I am going to learn a lot more about loving her over the rest of my life, and nothing in this world excites me more than that thought.
Shalom,
TJ

Only 198 days

Only 198 days until we are married!! Yay!! Thank you Jesus. Time actually is moving! TJ is still enjoying  working at BP, which is good because he still has 8 weeks to go. He finally got paid a petroleum paycheck which is very exciting! Amanda has started her new job at the Heights, which is alot of work, but its a new challenge. She is also working at KBTX in the mornings at 4:30am, which is very early but has been more fun than she has ever had with meteorology. So life has been busy, but the Lord is faithful to keep time moving.
All of the sudden we are 6 months away from getting married, and honeymoons are being booked, the venue, cake, caterer, DJ have all been booked. The dress has been purchased. The photographer is amazing http://www.rachelledbetterphoto.com/ and the bride and groom are so excited.
    Jesus keeps stretching us. Amanda has gotten less patient and TJ has gotten more patient. She keeps learning that God's timing is not hers, and patience is always an area that needs work. The verse "Love is patient" keeps coming back to my mind.
  Dear TJ,
      I love you. I love that you get to go to College Station every weekend. I love that you stand outside my front door smiling with a jar of JIF Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter. I love that you help me do all the wedding planning. I love that you text me " Good morning beautiful" every morning when you wake up. Basically I love your querky, goofy, enginering self.


Essentially, you rock


Love
Amanda

Its been a crazy week

Well what was supposed to be a short work week turned into a crazy, God is totally in control of our lives, week. Needless to say, God has a plan for us and while most of the time we "never saw that one coming" i is amazing how God provides abundantly. After reading the Treasure Principle, we committed to include giving in our monthly budget. Money was very tight and we weren't entirely sure where the money was going to come from. God has so blessed us because we were given a raise!! Amazing! Proof that God rewards those who follow His commandments.
   Like TJ said we have been reading Love and Respect. I have been told all my life how the husband needs to be respected. It is in the Bible everywhere as well "wives submit to your husbands" "and the wife must respect her husband" but I guess I didn't know what that looks like in real life. This book has opened my eyes about how everything I say or do conveys a message of either respect or disrespect. I am really enjoying reading this book because it is showing me every place that I am falling short and how I need God's grace to get it right.
   Not a huge fan of the distance this summer, but its ok because we have both been so busy I don't know if we ever would have seen each other anyway. I start at KBTX this week, bright and early at 5AM....oh goodness the life of a meteorologist.  So I will work 5-9 and KBTX and then 9-6 and Heights/Crossing Place. Plus summer school. Exhausting. I'm just going to focus on the Lord and it will be ok. " Let your eyes look straight ahead fix your gaze directly before you. Makelevel paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left. Keep your foot from evil" Prov 4: 25-27

Love and Respect

So Amanda and I are reading the book Love and Respect this summer as we try to prepare our relationship for marraige. We have decided to read two chapters per week this summer so that it will last the whole of my internship so not only will it help our relationship, it will inspire conversation in spite of the awkwardness that can be caused by distance and neither one of us enjoying long phone calls. We have just finished through chapter four and I am already super excited for what it could do for us. The book promises to help teach me to love her unconditionally, in the way that she needs and desires, not the way I think is best. This excites me because it is something I desperately want to be successful at. I also think it will be good this summer because I will have to make sure that I make a conscious effort to do so, not just out of habit or absent mindedly, since we wont see each other and habit won't translate over distance. This too excites me because I feel like if I can learn to fully meet her need for love from a distance this summer, hopefully it will make it that much more second nature to do so when we are together and I will be much less likely to make her feel unloved. Well those are my thoughts for now, I'll probably go further with this train of thought once I'm further into the book. I love you Amanda!
Shalom,
TJ

update

So for those of you who haven't heard yet, I am in houston for the summer working as a Drilling Engineer Intern for BP. As a first time intern they gave me a rather large project; it's a part of a possibly billion dollar project being planned. So that's a little intimidating, but is exciting too. Being here in Houston is bitter sweet as Amanda is still in college station, and everyday I come home from work makes me realize how much I truely want her to be my wife and I just can't wait until she is and when I come home everyday she will be there. So yea, that's made me miss her just a little bit. Other than that, I played frisbee one night, tore up my knees and made myself incredibly sore, so good game :); I hung out in the biggest house I've ever been in with a friend who lives in Houston. That's about all from my first week but I just wanted to give everyone a brief update and tell Amanda that I love her <3.
Shalom,
TJ

It's that time of year again....

Long distance time....TJ starts his new job at BP today :) What an incredible blessing this job is. God once again blows me away with His provision. We could have never dreamed up a job that would provide for us as well as this one. The sad thing is that Amanda is in College Station and TJ is in Houston. Better than last summer when we were 8 hours apart, but still tough. Please keep us in your prayers. Just going through this last year showed us how easily satan can cause division and temptation. Please pray God will comfort both of us as we are apart; that He will protect TJ while in Houston, and that He would give Amanda peace.

I would just like to take this moment...

to brag about my amazingly awesome, ridiculously smart fiance. Who took 18 hours of class/engineering at Texas and got 4 As and 2 Bs. Unheard of! He is basically the smartest guy at A&M. You might think you know someone smarter, nope you don't. By far he has worked harder than any other person at A&M this semester to get these amazing grades. You might be thinking, well Amanda I feel like I worked pretty hard this year...I'm sure you did. But this is my proud fiancee moment. So don't ruin it. Plus my fiance could get better grades than your fiance. ok, i'm done. But everyone should know, that TJ White is the most amazing fiance ever and he is the smartest engineer at A&M. And I can't wait to be his wife. I'm a lucky girl

The end.
-ARB

Almost done :)

 "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished 1Chronicles 28:20

What a busy weekend

Well this past weekend was Aggie Ring Weekend! We were so blessed to have our families here for the weekend. We got our rings Friday, dunked Saturday, and TJ was baptized on Sunday. We are so thankful for our fabulous families who gave up 3 days of their week to come support us.

The dunk was...interesting. I'm not sure who decided it was a good idea to chug an entire pitcher of gatorade but that is what we did. Needless to say we felt pretty sick after that. But TJ finished his pitcher of yellow gatorade in 54 seconds and Amanda finished her pitcher of blue gatorade in 60 seconds. And now they are both taking a break from gatorade for awhile. 

Only two weeks left before finals. Praise the Lord! Amanda is so ready to be finished with her last semester at A&M and TJ is ready to sleep :) TJ will start his summer internship with BP at the end of May and Amanda will begin her internship at KBTX in College Station. After last summer of being 8 hours apart, we are so thankful that God has put TJ closer to Amanda this year. Right now we are focused on "running the race worthy of our calling" Looking back over this school year, we are completely different people from August. The Lord has really convicted us in every area of our lives that we need to transform our minds, our words and our actions to match those of the Father's. From pursuing purity, to putting our best effort forth every week at school/work/relationships, God has really shown us what He expects from us. 

God has been alive and moving in our life. He has really just shown up over and over again providing in the craziest ways. At this point, He has given TJ a job this summer, provided Amanda with a full time job and internship, and has been working in our friend's lives to give them jobs/internships. God has just really been moving very quickly. But the Bible says we are to pray with expectation that the Lord will answer our prayers. What an amazing God we serve. 

258 days til the wedding. Which may seem like alot, but when we first got engaged it was over 400, so the Lord has blessed us in that time is still ticking down. We have started to realize how hard it will be when we get married to balance family time between the Whites and the Boudreauxs. But the Lord has provided thus far and will continue to bless us in the future. And for that, we are so thankful.

Love

Amanda

Engagement Pictures :)

What a fun morning, we left early to meet Rachel Ledbetter in Downtown Dallas to take our engagement pictures. It was such a fun fun time. We met at Cafe Brazil, which naturally the tomtom sent us down the DART railroad and we got semi lost. But we finally found Rachel and she was so so fabulous. We had such a fun time and only got one parking ticket. Pretty good for Downtown Dallas. We should get the pictures in 2 weeks...just in time for ring weekend. Which is only 13 days away W11OOP!!!!!                       

In other news, we are so excited for the newly engaged Scott and Kristen :) What wonderful friends God has provided for us. It was such a beautiful proposal and now the journey to marriage begins!

time

So, with school back in full swing after spring break i have come to a full appreciation for the time i got to spend with amanda over the break. I had forgotten what it was like to get to see her more than a couple of times of week for a few hours at a time, and so getting to see her everynight over the break was just refreshing. Now that we are back in full swing though it just made me realize how things can quickly get hard when we never see each other and how it becomes infinitely easier to begin focusing completely on myself and not even include her in the picture. And though its not fun I'm glad I realized this because this is just yet another area where I am learning to rely on God to provide because if i were on my own i would mess everything up so incredibly fast. So, point of the story, i am excited to be continuously learning to not try and love Amanda on my own but instead letting God love her through me, and this is just the latest thing He has taught me about that. I am excited for this summer though because even though we will only see each other on the weekends it will be nice that we dont have to worry about school while we are together. Well thats all of my ramblings for now, i hope i made a little bit of sense.
Shalom,
TJ

Spring Break :)

With all the tests, papers, engineering projects, forecasts I somehow forgot how delightful my fiance is. He is absolutely hilarious (but don't tell him I think that) He is sweet, generous and a blessing to my life everyday. He takes care of me when I'm sick or upset. I am so thankful that God has placed him in my life. Engaged life is challenging, but it is so beautiful the things God is teaching us everyday. I wish we were married, but at the same time I don't think I would trade one day of our engagement. God has been so faithful to provide for us as we plan for our marriage and I am excited to see how He continues to teach us.

Learning to be a husband

So for the past few weeks I have been in the man class at Living hope, learning to be a biblical man. Last nights topic was fighting for you family and it was such a cool lesson because the first part was about loving your wife. It was cool because some of the things said are things I have already observed with Amanda, like how leading in the way I am called in the bible will make her feel pursued, and that she desperately needs to feel pursued, which is something that I have seen from my experience, and it was cool to see that this is the way God made us to be, not just a unique experience to us. I also learned even more how she does not want me to simply do what she wants but to make decisions, and show leadership and she will like that infinitely more than simply letting her make all the decisions. We also watched this incredibly wise video that helped us gain some incredible wisdom.

So thats about all for today, basically I am just super excited to continue learning to be a better man and husband as we approach our wedding in 297 days :)
Shalom
TJ

What a blessing it is when God provides

Looking toward the future, which sometimes seems like time has stopped moving, I am endlessly amazed by the unique ways God provides. As we watch lots of couples "tie the knot" it is easy to feel restless and anxious that our time will never come. But it is so sweet to trust in Jesus. He has provided life abundantly for us here and now. The future is full of uncertainty, but praise the Lord, we are not in control of our future. To us it often sees like God is behind the time table, when in reality He made time and is outside of it. How refreshing. We have been engaged four months, and honestly, what a blessing. We have both learned so much about each other that we never would have learned otherwise. With each new challenge that presents itself it so cool to watch God show up. Lately we have not been able to spend time together, but last night I (amanda) got a phone call it was TJ so I answered and he started acting nervous...I was confused because we were already engaged sooo I didn't understand what the deal was.
" Oh ... um hi. This is TJ"
me: "Hi TJ whats up?"
TJ: "I was ummm wondering if umm you were free on Friday night?"
me realizing he was asking me on  first date " umm ya I get off work at six. What did you want to do?"
TJ: Well, I was thinking that umm maybe we could go to Chilis? If you like Chilis, then maybe go to a movie, or go to U Paint it or umm wander around the mall?"
me: " Oh sure that sounds like fun"
TJ: "Ok well i'll pick you up"

Yes, he was right down the hall when this conversation occurred. And yes, 10 months from the day this phone call we will be married. And yes, this month is our 3.5 year anniversary. What a tremendous blessing he is to my life.

The Prosperity Gospel

And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? how is it that you have no faith?

Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? how is it that you have no faith?

I feel like so often we get wrapped up in things of this world and the many stresses anxieties and pressures of today. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Its like I don't have time to spend with my wonderful future husband because I am so busy doing the things I feel like I need to. Being this busy also creates anxiety. But the Lord demands us to "be anxious about nothing" which is such a hard thing for me!
This semester is growing us in so many (painful) ways we never could have imagined. It amazes me how I never expect what God will teach me next.

It's only February 3?!

Dear friends,
    Please pray for Amanda because her flesh has no patience. none.at all. And the problem is that she has already been dating the love of her life for the last 40 months, and quite honestly, doesn't want to wait another 11 months to marry him. Please pray that I will just stop focusing on the future and be content with what God has blessed me with now; which is a wonderful fiance and fabulous best friend :)

-Amanda

Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
-1 Corinthians 13:1-3

I read this passage this morning and had a thought about it that i wanted to share. As it is read, i have always seen how these verses talked about doing "Godly" things but without His love in our hearts, and how doing this this way is worthless. It says that our motivation must always be love and we learn in scripture that this love only comes from God. Well my thoughts of late have been on marriage, for obvious reasons, and how a marraige is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the church. This verse then i thought is very applicable in my future marriage and current engagement as well, and i have seen the effects. As the verse says, i can do all of the most amazing, above and beyong things for Amanda but if they are not out of a God motivated love, they are a worthless waste of time. I have seen this in the past in that when I am not loving her with Gods love and am trying to just do things on my own she can always tell, and things just dont have the same affect (effect?) no matter how big they are, but when i do things with Gods love for her, even the smallest thing, like making her bed for her while she goes through her end of the day ritual, seem monumental and make her feel loved. So i have realized to an even deeper exent yet again how much my marriage vows to her will really be commiting to Love God and Love through God. Well, that was my brief thoughts from this morning, time to go to class.
Shalom,
TJ

The Treasure Principle

The Treasure Principle



You can’t take it with you–but you can send it on ahead.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" Jim Elliot


So I just finished this book last night and it has really revolutionized how I think about giving. The entire premise of this book is that this world is not our home, so why build up these earthly treasures that we can't take with us when we die? I have to admit, this is one of the few books that I have read cover to cover as carefully as possible.
 One of the things Randy Alcorn points out is that we are stewards of all of God's assets. We should  carry no sense of entitlement to any of his assets. It is our job to find out what God wants us to do with HIS assets, and then to carry out his will. Alcorn points out that when the basic needs of life are met, why shouldn't the remainder of our money go to further the Kingdom? This book really made me think about my priorities with money. TJ and I have had alot of really good talks about money since God placed this on our hearts a few weeks ago.


" Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find a way into my heart" John Wesley

Here are the major points in the book
T r e a s u r e P r i n c i p l e K e y s


1. God owns everything. I’m His money manager.

We are the managers of the assets God has
entrusted—not given—to us.


2. My heart always goes where I put God’s money.

Watch what happens when you reallocate your money

from temporal things to eternal things.


3. Heaven, not earth, is my home. We are citizens
of “a better country—a heavenly one”(Hebrews 11:16).



4. I should live not for the dot but for the line.

From the dot—our present life on earth—extends a line

that goes on forever, which is eternity in heaven.



5. Giving is the only antidote to materialism.

Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and

a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.



6. God prospers me not to raise my standard

of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

God gives us more money than we need

so we can give—generously.

"I am not the point. He is the point. He does not exist for me, I exist for Him. God's money has a higher purpose than my affluence. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him. I recognize God as owner, myself as servant, and OTHERS as intended beneficiaries of what God has entrusted to me"

Read it. It is 94 pages. You have time for that. It has had a huge impact on my life

Adoption

This is something that has been our hearts since we met. Especially with the disaster in Haiti it is something that we have really been talking and praying about. Adoption has always had a soft spot in my heart because of my precious sisters. I am so thankful that God chose them to be in our family and I hope that one day, God will choose children for the White family :)





Hereis the blog with the adoption story

Life has gotten a little crazy...

School has started. The madness has begun. In two days I have seen people that have been stretched to what they think is their max capacity. This will be a demanding semester no doubt. Between forecasts, oil logs, work and wesley, this semester will demand a servant's heart from both of us. God is showing us that no matter what kind of day we have had, it is selfish to assume the other person's day was easy. I feel like so often I assume TJ can serve me because he didn't have work all day, but in reality he has been in class ALL day! Seeing this servant's heart is an intimidating thing. Proof that we need Jesus every second of every day. Praise God! In the last two days I feel like we have gotten a huge dose of reality, between the stresses of class, work, classandwork....it really feels overwhelming. We serve a mighty God who is able to help us in immeasureable ways. what a blessing. It is a weird thought, trusting one human to be faithful to you forever and serve you, and doing the same in return.
   This semester, please pray that the Lord will teach us, that He would sustain us, and that in everything our faith, our passion, our hope will be in the LORD, not each other, not things of this world. It is only in His presence that we are strong. Only here are we energized, motivated. Only here can we love each other and do our best. Pray that we would be here in the presence of our Lord everyday, all day.

Sweet friendships

I cannot be thankful enough for the wonderful blessings God has given me through my friends. It amazes me how an evening with good friends can completely refresh and encourage me. I am seeing more and more that the attacks from Satan are meant to isolate me. They are meant to make me focus on me and my situation and forget to engage myself with fellow believers. There have been such sweet friendships formed during the fall semester and looking back, it was such a God thing. God placed you wonderful friends into my life to encourage me, build me, and give me courage to face tough decisions. I am so thankful. God designed the body to constantly interact with one another and "do life" together. Seeing my sweet friends multiple times a week (some as much as every day) encourages me. I don't think I fully understood the impact the Body of Christ can have on a person, but hindsight is 20/20 right?

a penny for my thoughts

So I Just had a couple of thoughts that I wanted to share.
So I cleaned my room today, and not just one of those weak, just pick up the floor cleans. This is probably the cleanest my room has been since i moved in. Well anyways, point of the story, while cleaning i kept coming across all of the little cards, and notes and pictures that amanda has given me over the last 4+ years i have known her and have kept every one of them. Well i needed a place to put them so i decided to make an amanda box where i now keep anything she has given me. Well going through it today took me back through so many great memories and i think itsx kinda funny and cool that now i have, the best 4 years of my life in a 4x6x10 box on the top shelf of my desk :)

Second is somethin i realized talking to amanda last night. We had one of our trademark long conversations last night, discussing what marriage would look like and how we wanted to build ours and how to do that in a way that was biblical and honoring to God. Well afterwards amanda texted me saying, "And when we work through things i enjoy being with you." and that got me thinking. Satan tries to get Godly relationships to end most often by causing worldly stresses so that the individuals are tricked into believing that they just dont have enough time or energy left at the end of the day (or at any point during) to invest in loving each other biblically. And this statement amanda made, helped me realize how yet again God knew what he was talking about, and that when you sacrifice your own "comfort" and love your partner with Gods strength and Love regardless of how you feel, it leaves you feeling refreshed and just enjoying spending time with that person that previously may have been annoying you simply being there. So those are my thoughts, i'll post more brilliant wisdom later :)
Shalom
TJ

Haiti

Haitians are piling bodies along the devastated streets of their capital after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace and the main prison, the cathedral, hospitals, schools and thousands of homes. Untold numbers are still trapped.


President Rene Preval says he believes thousands of people are dead even as other officials give much higher estimates — though they were based on the extent of the destruction rather than firm counts of the dead.

His prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, tells CNN: "I believe we are well over 100,000," while leading senator Youri Latortue tells The Associated Press that 500,000 could be dead. Both admit they have no way of knowing.

Being engaged is hard....

Learning to serve one another in every circumstance is hard.
Learning what it means to respect TJ in everything I say and the way I speak to him is hard.
Learning what it means to pursue purity and holiness is hard.
Learning what 1 Corinthians means when it says "Love is patient" is hard.
Understanding little by little what it means that we (the church) are the bride of Christ is hard.
Learning how to communicate when we hit roadblocks is hard.
Being attacked by the Devil all the time, is hard.


Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy 1 Peter 1:13-16

The struggles we are going through are a constant reminder of what our Savior did for me. To be the perfect sacrifice with all the junk in this world. The fact that marriage is supposed to paint a picture of how Christ loves the church, that He gave up His life for her. It blows my mind. I am starting to see such a small small fraction of what that might look like. It's overwhelming. Learning to persevere when our relationship isn't easy has built more character over the last 3 years than I could ever imagine.

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.


Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

And this is our goal. That our marriage will be everything this passage from 1 Peter 3 says. That my attitude will be one of respect and submission towards TJ, even when I don't feel like it. That my spirit will be gentle and quiet. I am engaged to a fabulously wonderful man, and it has been such a blessing to spend the last 3 years of my life with him. Please keep praying for us, especially me, as God changes my heart and breaks old habits that I have had for 21 years. Please pray that I allow God to change me into the Biblical wife I need to be
-Amanda

Checklist

Pick a venue : Done
Set a date : Done
Pick a DJ : Done
Choose a photographer: Done
Propose to Bride: Done
Propose to Groom: Done
Choose a caterer: Almost done
Fall more in love with Groom: Done
Fall more in love with Bride: Done

359 days and counting

So we have a date, a location, an officiant, a couple, a few witnesses and a DJ all but booked, so in my mind once the caterer is secured we are done planning :), not sure if amanda would completely agree. But we are finding now that having spent more of our free time over the break planning and talking about wedding stuff, that now that we are done planning for a while we are having to relearn how we were before we started planning. We dont know what to do with free time that we have before school starts. We are going home this weekend and will therefore be confined in a car together for 7 hours this weekend, and though I'm tired of making the drive I am excited to spend the time together because we always have our best conversations in the car. Please keep us in y'alls prayers, that we continue to learn to create a biblical marriage and that we rely on God's strength to work through our own struggles and the traps of the devil we will encounter.
Shalom,
T "head over heels for his fiancee" J  :)

Verses for today

Here are some verses that I have been reading today

"..I will live among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore come out and be separate" 2 Cor 6:16b-17

"Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Cor 7:1.
     This second verse is the one that meant alot to me today. Just realizing how many things I do that can contaminate the body and spirit; everything from eating food that is not healthy, to being harsh or rude towards someone. In this world it is hard to remain set apart from the things of the Earth and set apart to God but He calls us to come out and be separate from this world. This means sticking to my committments about working out and being healthy, not only because I want to, but because God calls us to take care of ourselves because our body is the Lord's temple. drat.



-Amanda

Define Engaged

Listening to Matt Chandler this Sunday we heard something that rings very true for us

engaged (n) ; all the problems of marriage, with none of the benefits of marriage

Please continue to pray for us as we plan not only a wedding, but our Biblical marriage together