Team Awesome

My Baby L :)

2009-04-21T09:40:00.002-05:00

I cant even begin to describe how excited I am about having a little Lipscomb on the way. Okay so it was kind of a surprise, but we are thrilled none the less. Just so everyone knows, we are still very early. Amanda is probably about 5 weeks into this deal...which is very early to tell folks, but we were just so excited and wanted to have a support team around us no matter what each week brought. So, pray that baby L is doing his/her thing and that everything goes smoothly.

So as you can imagine I have not really been reading or doing much the past few days. Despite this, God has already been changing both my heart and Amanda's. It is absolutely amazing to see the instant connection a mother has with her child. The love we both have for this little nugget is unreal. I am so proud of my wife and so excited to get to be a parent with her. Anyway, yeah but just in case you dont believe in God....wait until you get pregnant. The whole process of having a baby being formed inside momma L is insane! Every day is perfectly planned as far as how much the baby grows, when the organs start working, when the heart starts beating, etc. It is insane! I can't get over it! I really believe that God's hand is on each and every child that patiently waits inside their mother's womb. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

I am so thankful to have had a great dad to learn this whole thing from. Part of me was bummed that I can't ask questions and vent and be scared in front of him, but my mom reminded me that God knew when dad was going to go home which means whether I feel it or not right now, my dad already taught me everything I need to know.

Finally, my wife would be mad if I did not inform you all of how we actually found out we are pregnant. So, Wednesday morning of last week Amanda got up and took a test before she went to work. I was just barely awake but I remember her saying it was clear...although she did ask me to get up and double check her. After agreeing that we were in the clear I made the ironic statement "We tricked fate once again!" Yeah, joke was on us. About an hour later I got up and walked into the bathroom. I noticed that Amanda had not thrown away the pregnancy test....more importantly I noticed a blue plus sign on the test that had not been there earlier. A little confused I kind of moved on and waited till Amanda got home to show her. Well, it was a good thing I waited because she freaked. Three more tests later and a blood test we confirmed that she was in fact pregnant. So I was the one who found out there was a little baby L in her belly....had I not seen that test we probably would have just found out. Pretty crazy and funny :)

Aight, thats it for now. We will keep everyone updated on our little nugget!

Day 4/5- My Carpe Dieum

2009-04-16T09:18:00.003-05:00

Didnt have a chance to blog yesterday....and actually havent really read or written much this morning. Got up early with my wife and went to Starbucks. Had a pretty crazy/exciting day yesterday. More on that in the coming days :)

Had a great chat with one of my best friends Mr. Wyatt Sassman yesterday at Fido(s). We always have these awesome spiritual conversations. I always walk away feeling uplifted and re energized. He and I are totally on the same wavelength about God's presence on earth, how that effects us individually and collectively, and how that plays into other religions, world issues, etc. Insight from another person is always an encouraging thing. Remembering that God is out there and loves us right where we are is also an amazing thing.

Not sure i have much else to say right now. Thankful to be digging through all of this and feeling the presence and joy of God slowly return and be revealed to me.

Day 2- My Pharisee

2009-04-14T10:08:00.003-05:00

The big thing that stuck out to me as I was reading through Ragamuffin was how judgmental I am...even when I think I am not. I am especially judgmental towards other Christians and even more towards the Church. I struggle with feeling almost resentment towards the church because of how bad I think they have screwed up Christianity in America. Same goes for many Christians. The truth is, that is me just thinking I am better than they are and that my faith...or lack there of most of the time...is better than theirs. That mean I am no better than the various religious leaders of the New Testament. Each group thought they were right and that everyone else was a sinner.

Who am I to judge another persons salvation? Who am I to say you are not hearing from God? God forgive me for the times I have done this. I want my heart to be clean. I want to truly love unconditionally.

I think my dad did an amazing job of just loving people. In fact, I think he is the best example I have of someone who truly just loved people and never needed to speak loudly about his faith. I got really sad this morning thinking about how such an amazing example was right in front of me yet many times I dont think I let him know how much I respected him for his faith and love. But the truth is, it impacted me and countless other people and I KNOW he knew that. I am honored to continue his legacy and hope I can do half as good of a job as he did.

I will say this....even after two mornings of just digging in I can already feel a large weight taken off of my heart. I am excited and anxious to hear from God again...or just be a little quieter than before so I can truly listen.

My 40 Day Challenge

2009-04-13T10:03:00.002-05:00

So after venting and dealing with myself yesterday, I woke up with an idea. As I am dealing with the loss of my dad I really want to deal with my spirituality. Kind of get a clean slate going. The thing I love most about my God is that I do not have to be perfect. So, I am not re-committing my life or anything "church created" like that. I am just sitting down and working this out with God, just He and I, one on one, until my heart and His voice are back in tune. There are many accounts in Scripture of God just going silent on a person or group of people such as the Israelites. I kind of feel like that is me (as does my wife) so I have decided it is time to put the ball in God's court. I am going to sit, be still, read, write, listen until I hear from Him. I am calling this my 40 day challenge because it is a good, biblical, reference number to put on a journey. Lots of things took place over 40 days in the bible....so figured I would start there. If it takes longer, great. If it takes less time, even better :) I am going to be reading through The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning and if I finish that probably picking up where I left off in Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. The thing I love about these writers is that they give great points to pick up Scripture and just dig through as you are reading.

So today was the first day obviously. Read a great chapter in Ragamuffin and journaled a little as well. I am trying really hard to dig deep and find out where I am hurting the most without dad. I am very very afraid of letting un-dealt with anger get the best of me. This week I can tell you I am hurting a lot for my mom...which makes me angry with God because I do not know Him to be one who leaves us alone.

I think that is a good place to start...honest with God, accepting His grace with arms open wide, and beginning a journey to rediscover my identity in Christ so that I can lead my family through this time and follow the path set before me for this present moment. I hope you all enjoy reading my blogs and maybe we can help eachother out along the way.

-DJ

Mice and Easter

2009-04-12T09:31:00.002-05:00

So im sitting here at 9:30am after being woken from my slumber to the sound of a mouse scurrying back and forth in our wall, I am wondering DO I honestly feel like going to church? And honestly the answer is no. Everyone gets so excited about Easter, but I just cant this year. Not sure if I could last year either. The human side of me is winning this morning...today is just one of those days where I cant be excited about Jesus. Or at least not in the same way everyone around me is I suppose. Today is just a reminder that life is short and that I have loved ones who are no longer here. I guess in some way Easter should be exciting because I know my dad is having a party, but I am just not excited about it in that way. I hope that God respects my honesty because if not I am in big trouble ya know? I could care less about walking in to church this morning and singing some stupid praise and worship songs that I haven't liked ever since Chris Tomlin started using the exact same framework that he stole from U2 that everyone else copies now, or listening to the same Good News that seems to mean absolutely nothing to people in America, or remembering that death is a part of our journey.

As much as I believe and know that God is real, there are days I just want to punch him in the face. He had the power to not take dad home and for some reason he chose otherwise. I am not necessarily asking why but I am admitting there are days like today where my faith/prayers/passion feel pretty useless. And I have been here for a while now..this "valley" I suppose. I havent lost faith, but certainly feel as if my chest has been ripped open and my heart is just kind of out there waiting for some kind of answer.

So, "Happy Easter" I suppose. Go celebrate and be joyful for those of us who just cant do it right now.

Warning Sign

2009-04-01T15:02:00.002-05:00

One month and a week later we are still standing on our feet. Everyday it is a little more weird too think dad isn't coming back though. Sometimes I imagine he is just on a long vacation and it will only be a few more days until we get to see him again. I guess that is kind of what he is doing...especially when compared to eternity.

I was just sitting here at the office looking at my guitar junk that I finally set up after like two months and thinking about all of this mess. I am constantly amazed at the speed in which things can disappear from your life. This may be a loved one, a friend, a relationship, or even a job. I have friends who like me have lost loved ones in an instant, friends who lost their long time gig in an instant, and then of course there is my family who lost someone they loved. The obvious question is why. The obvious answer is..we have no answer. Something I really respect about the people who are walking all of their own mess and mine is their resilience and stead fast belief that at the end of the day we serve a God who loves us.

I am a mess ya know? It hurts when something exciting happens and I cant call my dad. Instead I just kind of look up and smile thinking "ya, you already know." God I hope I can help others the way I have been helped through all of this.

And yeah I sound kind of sad and disappointed but in all honesty, their has been so much healing already.

And now I have totally lost my train of thought.

I think the point was....we all go through a bunch of crap. And I am amazed and how people handle all of that crap, whatever it may be.

Thats all I got!

Here It Is

2009-03-01T01:02:00.002-06:00

Well its 1AM and I am still awake waiting for my mother to get home from the Moore's house on this icy, snowy evening (go figure) and thought I would update the world on how things are going.

First off I hope that none of you are offended when I hit the ignore button on my phone right now. I wish I could explain what it feels like to be on this part of losing someone but it is really hard. Some of you know that feeling and have been through this therefore can say "yeah I did the same thing." I promise I will call everyone back, it might just take a while.

Now, to get to the good stuff. My dad was an amazing man. I am so honored and grateful to have had a father who loved me and my family as much as he did. I have been wanting to write that out for a few days now but was worried I would just cry...and that is just one sentence. These past few days have sucked pretty bad, however, I am also very thankful that dad got to peace out so peacefully. My mom will get to hold onto that moment forever...such an amazing thing. God do I miss him though. As happy as I am to know he does not have to battle cancer anymore it sucks to be on this side of it...this side of heaven to be cliche. Im watching my mom try to figure out life without her man, watching my brother figure out life without pops and then looking at myself and my wife doing the same thing.....its tough. The best way to describe the feeling I get when I realizes this isnt just some bad dream (one I am getting as typing so this may be in real time) is that it is like being stabbed in the chest and the knife going from there all the way down to your gut. Okay okay Im not here to boo hoo. More than anything I wanted to get that out so I could share some great memories of poppa bear.

I was thinking back today about him going to all of the stupid things I was into when I was in middle school and high school...specifically paintball. He drove us and helped pay for at least two paintball tournaments even though we really had no hope of winning. He is the reason I started playing guitar and the reason I am so in love with music today...even though he quit playing guitar when I got better than him. He is the reason I want to continue to be involved in the Christian music business. His character makes him better than any manager who is around the entire music world...yeah I said it. And I am pretty sure everyone would agree. If I can be half of the man my dad was I will have accomplished something great in my lifetime. He came to almost every concert I ever played...even if it was more than an hour or two drive. He loveeed loveed my mom...god he loved my mom. I have the perfect example of a marriage to learn from as Amanda and I share our life together. He helped me when I was an idiot..but never made me feel like one. I could always come to him and get advice without feeling like I would get in trouble. He took me on some bad ass trips for significant birthdays. We went snowboarding when I was sixteen and to New York for a U2 concert when I was 18. He let me work for him when I wanted to get a job even though I was an air head for a long time and probably a little irresponsible.

Seriously, this is just the beginning. What a life he lived and lived with us. It is an amazing feeling to say that I have no regrets, no second thoughts, no anything I wish would hav been different with my dad.

Dad, you're a great man and I miss you like crazy. I miss our talks and hang times. But I am so thankful that you left me such an amazing legacy to live by. Do some good work up there. I know we look forward to seeing so someday so we can all party together.

Thanks for letting me get all of this out...it is really healing to just post some lame old blog. This is how I work my shyt out....so work it I shall!

time

2009-02-21T10:37:00.002-06:00

Time is a funny thing ya know? Right now time is very precious to my family because we don't know how much of it we have. These past two weeks have been amazing despite the circumstances though. As much as we are going to miss poppa bear, we sure are loving every minute we get to sit and talk to him now. It is a strange thing to watch a loved one as they are passing away. So peaceful for him yet so painful for us at the same time. I have heard my dad say a number of times now that he has made peace with the circumstance and is just so excited about heaven. What a strong man! I am so thankful to have a dad who loves me and my family the way that he does. So many people respect and look up to him, people we don't even know in many cases. Last night we decided that God better have a serious task in heaven for him since He is taking him earlier than we would like. For now though, we will enjoy this time and know that Gods timing may not be ours but there is always a bigger clock ticking away that truly keeps time for Gods divine plan for each of our lives.

New Day

2009-02-04T09:08:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was pretty down about the whole cancer mess. Today I woke up with a bit more strength despite my inability to fall asleep last night. So after Amanda left and I could not fall back asleep, I decided to just enjoy the quiet of the morning. This has turned out to be a good idea. I feel alive this morning. Good cup of coffee, good book, some U2 (again my wife with give me some disgruntled look later), and just a little time to get centered for the day.

Read a little Up Most for His Highest, a devo I always enjoy coming back to. Chambers always had some brilliant things to say. Then I picked up Searching For God Knows What and read a few pages of that. I started that book a year a go and still have not finished it so I decided it was time to get through it. I really enjoy reading anything that Donald Miller puts out because I feel like he and I think a lot a like. He doesnt seem to be comfortable with the typical Christan answers to questions. In this particular chapter he was talking about World War II and the wars we are facing today. There is one quote that really stuck out to me..

"Caesar, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Hussein...they all believed they were right, defending truth, doing what was best, propagating sentiments of patriotism to a nation-state, as though God Himself believed one country any better than another."

This is one of those quotes that hits me in so many ways besides the obvious of feelings towards war. My plan wasn't to write a whole blog on the quote but for some reason it just struck a chord in my heart today. I think it is very easy for us as the church to believe we are the only truth and the only way and the only hope and that if you arent a part of our nation you are screwed. We see this here in the US with denominations. Everybody honestly thinks they are right. I am thankful that many churches have let go of that today...and happy to be a part of one that does not believe that. It is easy to go there in our own personal thinking as well...I mean I can have such an ego sometimes.

There are so many times in my life where I have just sat back and pictured what the world would look like without the conflict of who is wrong and right, good or evil. I mean truly, can you imagine? What if we were able to bring the kingdom to earth in this manor just by changing our own personal hearts? Who cares who is right or wrong...in fact we can't even be the judge of that. Other religions think they are just as right as Christians. What makes them so different? "Ah but DJ the Bible says.." well yeah I know what the Bible says. I think in my little fantasy world God really does love the whole world and he truly gave his one and only son for everyone who believed....no matter how that belief looks or how it comes about.

Not really sure how I got on such a tangent. For a long time I was seriously concerned about my spirituality and my relationship with God but the more I walk through life the more I realize, God just freakin accepts me right where I am. I dont have to do anything to make him love me.

Man, what a relief.

Walking Through It All

2009-02-03T14:07:00.002-06:00

I'll tell ya what. This whole cancer thing sucks mega balls (just being real here sorry if I have already offended you). There are days when I hang in and days when it is just wearing on my soul. Please continue to keep Poppa Bear in your prayers.

Amanda and I are in the process of trying to sign over our lease to someone else in order to move closer to my parents. They only live twenty minutes away in Spring Hill but it is amazing what a difference that 10 miles makes. So if you know of anyone please please please send them our way. We can be outta of there at the drop of a hat :)

Other than the obvious mess that is hanging around us right now I think we all still have faith that God is at work...somehow. The whole thing just numbs my spirituality though. I dont really feel anything. So, I am trusting in everyone around us to keep hoping and to keep the faith..especially when we dont feel like it.

Sorry to drop such heavy crap on everyone...my heart is just there right now ya know? We love you guys very very much and despite the darkness are so excited to keep moving forward and watching God work through all of this.

If You Would Like to Stay Updated

2009-01-15T00:32:00.002-06:00

Hey guys, Amanda here. Just so you know, David, DJ's dad, has a website that keeps you up to date with everything that is going on. Its gets to be really difficult (for many reasons) explaining the updates, so this is a great way for everyone to know the skinny.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidlipscomb

I'm pretty sure you have to register to read it, but it is a great resource! Honestly, I find a lot of info about what's going on in detail on CaringBridge...haha

We are rallying you all for prayers of healing for Mr. Lipscomb! Just as a quick update, he's in the hospital right now getting some tests and procedures done that will hopefully help him feel better so he can get back on chemo. The detailed story is on CaringBridge.

It has been so encouraging to read all of your support. Everybody is really taking care of us and we are so so thankful.

We love you all!

Mrs. L

Important Update

2009-01-14T14:08:00.002-06:00

Hey all,
Wanted to update you on my Poppa Bear for those of you who are not on Caring Bridge. We found about a week ago that his cancer has returned and spread to the liver. Not good news at all. Right now the doctors are working on getting some food and fluids in him and trying to regulate his medicine. He has started back on chemo to see if that will help fight whats going on. Biggest prayers right now are getting his diet and nutrition back on track. The tumors are causing some issues with digestion and stuff so they are trying to figure all of that out. He is doing better the past two days than he has been but it is going to take some time to get him feeling better.

Many of you walked this with us last year and we are so thankful to have friends to walk this new road with us once again. Love you guys and we will try to keep you updated.

-DJ

If only I had written this song..

2009-01-09T14:06:00.001-06:00

Shadowlands lyrics

God, please bring the rain
Yeah, and bring it soon
Let it flood right through the houses
Into Judy's room

With a father on amphetamines
Her mother hides the pearls
Reach out into the darkness
And find my little girl

'Cause she's angry like a salesman
That couldn't make a sale
Threw her wedding ring in the sewer
And damned them all to hell

Please lead her to the mountain
That you fashioned out of sand
While the roaches climb the walls
From the hotel where he calls

Most people never find a love
Most people never find a love
Sometimes you just can be a man
Sometimes you just can be a man
When your living in the darkness
Of the shadowlands
The shadowlands
The shadowlands

Wanna Get Away?

2008-12-27T10:47:00.003-06:00

I sure do.

Things are just heavy right now ya know? The simplest conclusion seems to be just run away. Running is so easy. Eventually the weight catches up with you though and is usually in the form of a brick wall. That brick wall is named reality and its a.....you fill in the blank. My soul is restless right now and I cant seem to hold it down long enough to get peace.

So here I am God. Not wanting to look your way but realizing that is all I can do. I am tired and I cant take any more. I want to give the world the middle finger and hide in a hole. But there is a light so much brighter than the darkness. And so I wait to see that light, so we wait to see that light. In the mean time stay by our side.

Done for now folks.

2008-12-11T23:45:00.002-06:00

So I am listening to people slide around outside of my apartment on the ice hoping they dont slide into our car. Man I hate ice...and I especially hate people who think they can drive on ice. Although I myself was once that idiot. Worst idea I have ever had in my entire life was to drive home on the snowiest iciest night of last year.

Anyway, we are done with school and that freakin rocks. Now we get to hang out, be on vacation, and be married. Yup, thats right, awesomeness in a can my friends.

I think we may both do some guitar playing and writing over the break which is pretty righteous. I love my woman!

Im still hearing cars on ice and that is not good.

Hey if you havent heard Bon Iver please go listen (Amanda would not endorse him but that is okay because she fell asleep during Prince Caspian tonight).

I feel change, rest, inspiration, and awesomeness in the air. Hope you guys feel it too this holiday season. See you soon!

Finals....lame

2008-12-09T17:52:00.003-06:00

Study study! I took a picture of my lovely wife but she gave me the look of death so I decided posting it may get me into some serious trouble. F you finals! We are almost done though. And that pretty much rocks. I just finished writing an 8ish page paper that pretty much owns. I still have to go back and make sure I have cited everything correctly but I need Amanda's help with that junk because I am no good at it.

I am looking forward to busting out of Panera, putting on my PJ's, and enjoying a nice cold Blue Moon when we get home tonight.

Peace.

Ahhh the days ahead

2008-12-08T18:50:00.002-06:00

What will they bring? More importantly, what do we want to do with them?

Those two questions have been floating around in the Mrs' and I's head for the past month or so. I dont know, something about today kind of clarified some of the fog for me. We are both ready for something different, something new, someplace new, something crazy. Some of you may stop me there and say "well, you just got married young. Is that not enough?" It totally is enough in the sense that we are both complete people now...and I think through that we are realizing we want to live out some dreams. We want to go and be able to go. We want to try some new things, which for me means maybe looking at a little different of career path for now. I am definitely getting tired of the business side of music. Part of that has to do with the fact that a lot of what I do requires me to wear both hats. I just want to play to play! Anyway, so we are pondering and praying and seeking what our next move is going to be. I am so excited to see where our life together takes us. In fear of writing a novel tonight (my head is very full) I shall end on that note. More to come as we figure this whole life thing out.

"I Have Been in The Darkness"

2008-12-07T18:29:00.001-06:00

I have been in the darkness
Stumbling in a rush to find just a hint of light
But for the moment none was there
For the moment I was stuck
For a moment I was blind

I have been in the deepest valley
With no path back to the top
Of the mountain I once stood on
And Called out your name only to hear
My Voice echo on the walls

I Have been on my knees
With my face pressed against the floor
Just waiting for you to move
Waiting for you to pick me up
And tell me its over
When is it over? When is it over?

But Here I am
Knowing that youre near me
Knowing that you will heal these open wounds
And restore what once was there before

The Wheels on the bus

2008-12-04T00:47:00.003-06:00

Yeahhhhhh thats right. On the bus tonight which is fun because I havent been on a bus in a while. Reminds me of how much I enjoy being on the road. Although now that I have such an amazing and beautiful wife it is a lot less fun to be away from home. In a perfect world she would get to go with me wherever I went. Maybe if I learn how to play guitar like John Mayer we can make that happen.

Anyway, the past couple of weeks have been awesome. Amanda and I have been so close and loving every minute we have had together. We were extremly excited to be able to do a little shopping this month for clothes and a variety of random items. For those of you who arent married you may think this sounds like no big deal but for those of you who are you can do a little happy dance/rejoice with us :) Just a really great month and we are looking forward to the holiday season.

I recently finished Rob Bell's latest book titled Jesus Wants to Save Christians. I tell ya, I dont deserve a relationship with my Creator or wisdom, or peace, or any of the other things He gives to me. I am so off of the mark half of the time it is to even funny. But for some reason God still speaks to me. This book was such a cool reminder of how God always hears my cry. Over and over throughout the Word you find God hearing the cries of His people. Such an amazing thing is it not? None the less we still find a way to turn our backs before we cry out again. And so the circle goes! I feel like after a long year, God is really drawing me back to His heart though and I am so thankful. Looking back, it is kind of like we weren't "spiritual" this year, and I say we because I think my wife would agree. We weren't spiritual but we were desperate for God. A very fine line to walk ya know? Really I want a balance of the two now. Being on one side or the other sucks. If you are to a point in your life that you are so desperate for God that all you can do is weep on your knees, that usually means life is pretty much in pieces and if you are super spiritual life is just fake. So I am ready for some balance again. I want to be desperate but with a sense of discipline to my faith. That has been my heart this week. My heart has really been broken for the poor and the widow again as well, another thing Bell's latest book delves into. Not really sure what God is preparing our hearts for but I know Amanda and I are extremely excited about what our future holds.

Sorry for the long and kind of rambling post...although most of my posts are like that. I hope you all know you are loved and that over the holiday season we get to catch up with you and hang and just freaking enjoy life. Till then, us lipscombs will party without you.

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT...I'M PREGNANT!

2008-11-16T22:00:00.002-06:00

Just kidding. ;)

Now that I have your attention, I'd like to discuss a sad truth. I learned a lot after DJ posted his election blog. For one, it is a lot easier for people (especially people who don't know DJ and his heart) to say harsh things versus saying something positive. When DJ posted his blog, the comments poured in. Some were nice, but most of them were not so nice. In fact, we still find it strange that people read our blog. Anyway, after the election blog no one left us any more comments. I guess its a lot easier to be angry. I decided it would be nice to focus on showing people love instead of verbally pouncing on someone that writes about a controversial topic. So, to all of those who left us comments--we love you! :) Even though harsh words were exchanged, we still care about the hearts of people and the reconciliation of relationships. We voted for Obama, but we love you, McCain lovers!

In other news, last week was a difficult week. I was sick in the beginning of the week and then on Wednesday DJ fell ill. By Thursday afternoon, we were at Vandy until Friday afternoon. I hated seeing my husband sick and I really hated those stupid chairs they give you to "sleep" in. I just jumped in DJ's bed because I could not sleep at all. He was such a trooper haha. I'm sure if I was that sick I wouldn't want anyone in my hospital bed, but he let me sleep. :) DJ is home now and feeling all better...I'm glad because seeing my husband sick is one of the worst feelings in the world!

The end of this semester is wrapping up and I could not be happier. I will graduate in May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next semester DJ and I are taking the same classes so we're super excited.

I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week!

I Enjoy Married Life...Here's Why

2008-11-11T23:18:00.002-06:00

So, today I've been really thinking about how much I love my husband and I thought I'd share with you all:
* He makes me laugh (even though he thinks he can't)
* If I'm doing something absolutely crazy, he'll join in with me.
* He loves doing the dishes --now he'll read this and think I'm flat out lying because I loathe the sound of running water and freak out when he tries to do the dishes around me, but I really do appreciate it.
* He teaches me new things
* He balances me out
* Let's just face it, he's a good looking man!
* He's the most loving man I've ever met
* He doesn't let diabetes ruin his life and takes care of himself well
* He loves my cooking (especially funfetti cupcakes!)
* He let's me pop his toes...hahahaha
* He sings me funny songs
* He gives me butterflies every day.
* He does the best impressions that absolutely crack me up.

Now, I'll stop here, but I could go on forever. He's the greatest man I've ever known and makes my heart happy. :)

I love being married!

The End.

Sunday Night

2008-11-09T23:08:00.002-06:00

Got back from Kentucky yesterday. Amanda was able to go with us this weekend for the gig in Lexington which was awesome. Thanks Aaron and Beth! I can't complain very much because I am not gone half as much as some of my good friends are, but being away from your loved ones is tough. This was the first weekend we had been together in almost a month and we were very thankful. I will say that Amanda is already asleep on the couch and has been for about an hour and a half...poor girl caught my cold and caught it much worse than I did.

This past week has been a really cool week. Well, this past month really. God is teaching me so much about what it means to be a husband. I have a hard time not being selfish in many situations. But, I am really learning and loving sacrificing what I may want in order to take care of my wife. And honestly, that makes me so much happier than anything I could ever do for myself. I am so thankful to have such a great best friend to walk life with and grow old with.

I have been working on hard on actually spending some time with the Lord and in the Word, something I lost quite a bit (or didnt make time for) in all of the chaos that was/is 2008. I am reading Rob Bell and Don Golden's new book right now titled Jesus Wants to Save Christians and loving it. Amanda and I are loving our church and small group as well. I think I can finally feel some water being poured back into my soul and man...once you get that taste in your heart all you want to do is drink more. Such a great feeling! I love digging and working through my faith no matter how hard and messed up it may become at times. I want to learn more and more what it means to love people the way that Jesus loved. Being married obviously paints that picture in a new light along with the everyday mess that seems to find its way into our path. The true test for me personally is where I let my heart go once I am stuck in the mess, and believe me it has been a messy year. I hope I have loved well. If not, I hope I can love better now.

Been working on some new songs here in the past coupe of weeks as well. I think I may have enough tunes to actually make a record of my own and I am very excited! Blogging has helped keep some of the creative juices (the very little I have) flowing so I think I will keep it up again....although this may not be good news for some of you ;) I appreciate everyone who shared their opinion on our political blogs despite some pretty hateful statements that were made. I hope we can all remember that we are on the same team here. We may not agree with one another but at the end of the day we do serve the same God who showed the same grace to all of us. Satan would want nothing more than for us to be a divided Body.

Well, Amanda just woke up (well more like sleep walked) into our bedroom so I suppose I will call it a night. Please keep my Poppa Bear in your prayers this week...long story short he is going in for another scan this week so the doctors can take a closer look at some things. Stupid cancer...thank God for the team of doctors Pops has though. Goodnight all and have a great week.

Our Last Political Post

2008-11-08T21:39:00.001-06:00

MY Only Election Blog

2008-11-06T22:55:00.002-06:00

Okay, so Barack Obama is the new President-elect. It is a very exciting time to be alive. I am personally so excited to be able to say that I voted for the first black President. It is truly a shift in our American history.

I would like to take some time to address what my husband wrote. He is an educated man and has an amazing heart, first things first. I don't think he was out of line (and I would honestly like to know who thinks he is). As an American, everyone can express their opinion, even if you don't agree. I don't think its "out of line" to say that you should educate yourself on each candidate's personal policies before you vote. I don't think its "out of line" to think globally and care for the poor and recognize immense global suffering. Additionally, I think instead of just voting we should actually do more for the issues we care most about. I don't plan on leaving all of the issues up to Obama and the rest of government. Just because my husband didn't write what you wanted to read doesn't mean he is out of line. (Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. )

When I voted on Tuesday, I was a proud American. I picked what I thought was the best candidate and went on my way. I was so happy until someone found out who I voted for and said, "He is going to steal your soul....He is blah blah blah....Communism....blah blah blah....Antichrist...." It was ignorant and hateful. I have nothing that hateful to say about anyone. I don't think Obama is going to steal my soul. I don't think McCain was the right candidate, but I also wouldn't spew hateful word vomit if he were elected.

All that said, we should take our freedom into consideration with the things that we say, but also respect our authorities and abide by our government. Obviously, a lot goes into why we vote the way that we do. Most of our friends are very conservative and that is perfectly fine. I would like to feel the love though...you know, don't hate on me for the way I voted and I won't hate on you. :)

Thanks so much for all of the input on the previous blog. It doesn't matter how you voted, we still have love for everyone. DJ is passionate about being an informed voter and I love him for that. I think making an informed decision in any situation is a good idea, don't you?

My Only Election Blog

2008-11-04T21:32:00.003-06:00

I have to say TN, I am almost embarrassed by the percentage of people who voted for each candidate today. Only thirty-eight percent of people in TN voted for Obama. I firmly believe that this vote is a result of a myth that the Church has created in America, or at least in South, that in order to be a Christian you have to vote Republican. Now, I know many of you honestly took the time to research each candidate and make an intelligent decision on who you felt would make the best leader of our country, but for the rest of you...why did you vote for who you voted for? Honestly, i don't even care who you voted for, but I do care why you voted.

Amanda and I sat down and looked over the issues we felt strongly about and looked over where each candidate stood on the issues in order to make our decision. We felt strongly about poverty in third world countries, something Obama has a plan to help fight even more than the AIDS program Bush started. We feel strongly about heath care for children and the option to ave national health care available. Both candidates take a moderate stance on abortion (do your research Mccain supporters), both are doing tax cuts in one way or the other, and both plan on having our troops somewhere. Obama has plans to clean up our environment where as Mccain seem to not care about the green issue at all. Also, we did not like Mccain's stances on the death penalty and gun control.

So why did you vote? I hope that you know that just because you are a Christian doesn't mean you have to vote Republican. God is not a part of a political party. I would challenge all of you to take a long hard look at where you stand politically. Obviously our votes are already in and you cant change that now but please please please dont fall into the trap of the Christian Nation Myth. There is a great book out by Greg Boyd titled Myth of A Christian Nation that speaks on this myth. If you do your research and look back in history this nation was never truly a "Christian Nation." I could spend a whole book just on that book but I will say it greatly influenced how I viewed my voting rights. I would highly recommend you all pick it up and read it or borrow my copy or someone else's...it is that good!! I mean can we honestly say "God Bless America?" Sure a nice thought but I mean why just America? Why cant we think globally? What about the fact that more than half of the world lives on less than $2.50 a day? Or maybe the 30,000 children who die a day due to malnutrition and poverty. Instead, we get hung up on a myth, race, and religion. It is just sad and ignorant. Thats right, ignorant. If you did not do your research and voted republican because you are a Christian, you are ignorant. Im sorry, but that is how I feel. If you did your research and honestly believe the candidate you picked is the right candidate, then thank you for using your right to vote well.

I am proud to have the right to vote. I am proud to call myself a Christ Follower. First and foremost I am proud to call myself a Christ Follower. MCcain is not Jesus and neither is Obama. I challenge you all to seriously take a look at how you view politics on this election night. Congrats to Obama for running a great campaign and winning this election. I believe we have a great four years a head of us.

Following the Way

2008-10-20T08:41:00.002-05:00

I have been challenged quite a bit the past few weeks to make sure I am following what God has for Amanda and I's new life together. The trick is not being lazy about listening to His voice and watching His hand move in your life. Amanda and I talked about the fact that it is not that we are angry with God or not expecting Him to do something, rather quite the opposite. We just expect things to happen therefore we don't hold up our end. We don't dig into the word and we don't spend time with our Father. Once you get out of the habit of spending some time alone with God, it is really difficult to start up again. All of that said, I fell really close to my God this morning, something I can honestly say has not happened in a while. Not that I have been sinning like crazy or giving God the middle finger, but I just haven't spent time with HIm. I know I need my God in my life now more than ever. I want to build such a beautiful picture of love for others to see that people cant help but stop and stare. Hopefully they can see this through Amanda and I's love for each-other and the life we have started together and maybe even through our actions towards others. Apathy is such an easy way out though. Just not caring is exactly what the enemy wants I think (yeah I know I am sounding mega Christianeese today).

All of that said, I think Amanda and I are both looking for that fire again. Trying to figure out how to light at at this point in our spiritual journey. Not trying to light an old fire, because honestly that fire has already been put out and is not worth restarting. Instead, searching for that new spark. God has really blessed us with an amazing life. I could not ask for anything more. I am the happiest an luckiest man on earth. But, I know that God calls me to give Him all of me and through that He takes what we think is a great life and makes it unbelievable. Not always good in our eyes, but a powerful and true image of God's love for us.

Two weeks later :)

2008-09-05T21:13:00.002-05:00

Hi friends!

It has been a while since we posted anything so I figured you all would enjoy an update on the life of Mr. and Mrs. Lipscomb.

Married life is simply incredible. I don't think we have ever been happier in our lives! As can be seen in our pictures, we had an awesome time on our honeymoon. We pretty much did nothing but watch movies and relax...a much needed vacation. Living together is pretty much the coolest thing on the planet. I can't get over the feeling I get coming home to Amanda or waiting for her to come home knowing that I do not have to leave later on that night.

God really did design this thing perfectly. Such a testimony to what true Christianity, in my opinion, should look like. Serving each other, loving each other, and learning more about each other are all things we should be doing with everyone. What a beautiful picture it is to practice that with my best friend.

I hope all of you get to experience what Amanda and I share someday. I never imagined that being married could be as amazing as it is. Thank God for coming up with such a kick a idea ;)

Last deep breath!

2008-08-08T15:22:00.003-05:00

I think that may have been the title to another blog but oh well.

Man, as many times as I have said it already I am in this place to say it again today. What a heavy year! Now that we are on the home stretch to our big day I find myself replaying all of the events that have come to pass so far this year...part of that do to the amazing interviews my band mates have done this week and part do to sharing our story with new friends. August 23rd is going to be such an incredible celebration. For me, it is a beautiful day of selflessness. I want everyone to enjoy this moment together with us. Marriage is a huge act of selflessness and I love it. I want to give myself up, let go of who I have been and become who I was made to be, for Amanda and ultimately for God. So, get ready for a party! It is time to celebrate the journey that 2008 has brought us, victories and failures, darkness and light.

I have had to take many deep breaths the past few days for sure. Just trying to wrap all of the details up. I have thought about everything so much I am not even sure I know what we have left to do :P

I am seriously scattered brained at the moment...what was I blogging about...well we are ready to egt married, ready to move on in 08, ready to start a new life, and ready ready ready reaaaadddy to see where God is leading us. That is all I can think of right now. This new journey. Im ready to start life over and so thrilled that I get to do that with my best friend. Wow, so beautiful. Anyway, I should stop before I continue to ramble.

See you in two weeks as the new Mr and Mrs DJ Lipscomb!

-DJ

Less than a month away!

2008-07-25T18:22:00.002-05:00

Wow...we are seriously almost to our wedding day. I laugh when I read our old posts because it seems like it was so long ago. Everything as far as wedding planning is wrapped up minus the minor details. Its so crazy to think about our wedding being less than a month away! What happened with all of the time we had to plan? ;)

It wasn't until this week that I became a bridezilla. I can feel it coming out of me and I can't help it (I know I can, but I'm just cranky). I've seriously said things like, "if we don't get their RSVP's, they don't eat!" While we're on the subject, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send in your response card if you got one. PLEASE!!!!! We're trying to wrap up numbers and there won't be enough food if you don't.

All in all, the last 30 days are stressful! We have so much to do in such a short amount of time and I'm not even sure what we have left.

DJ and I are doing so well. I'm so in love with him and I can't wait to call him my husband!

I've have DJ update soon! Love you guys!!

Oh Snap!

2008-07-04T07:46:00.004-05:00

Okay so this is kind of an update slash a chance for me to share something I have been working on for a while. Amanda is moving into our new place next week! We are so freaking excited! We have been working our butts off trying to save up some money for next months party aka our wedding. The only downer at the moment is that Amanda had to get her wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday and she is in quite a bit of pain. SO, be praying that she heals up quick and can enjoy moving in. We can hardly believe next month is our wedding. We are pretty much done planning minus the last details. It has been nice to just chill the past couple of weeks rather than run around like mad. Exciting! Okay, okay, now I have to be a little selfish and share something cool with you all. I started working on a book back in January and kind of put it on hold until now because of the madness that is our life. Well, I think I have finished the first chapter so I wanted to post the Foreward and that Chapter to see what you all think. I apologize if it is a little scattered brained right now but I am excited that I have had some time to work on it. Amanda really thinks I should be a writer/teacher and I have been feeling a tug to maybe change directions with school a little. All of that to say, God is giving me a new vision for life and I am excited. Music will still be my main gig for sure, but I think God has some cool plans for Amanda and I when we get married and I think part of that is this new vision He is revealing to me. Anyway, here is what I have so far...sorry this is a killer long post. Please dont feel obligated to read ;)

Foreword/ Ch1?

Here is the truth. There is this point that I came to in my spiritual journey where I just did not know anymore. I did not know what I believed, who I believed in, why I believed in it, so on. But, I did not give up. Most people know this “fork in the road” as the twenty somethings. The amazing part about being twenty and becoming an adult is that everyone has to go through that stage of their life. So, everyone whether they are religious or not goes through this stage of figuring out what in the world this life is all about.

I have been a Christian for most of my life. I grew up in a Christian home with parents who worked or helped in the church until I was in middle school. Very safe, very happy I suppose. I am very thankful for how I was raised as a matter of fact. Although, now that I am twenty years old and getting married my perspective is very different. The whole process of growing up can really mess with your faith. You think that you are secure in something you have had for all of your life and then all of the sudden it is as if the ice has broken under your feet and you are left to swim in freezing water. I think that is a pretty good picture of how I have felt for the past year or so. God and I are on great terms though. I had conversation recently with one of my best friends and accountability partners about that specific feeling. The feeling of, man I just don’t connect with God during worship or I don’t feel sincere praying this bold prayer about changing the world. I also heard a recent sermon about not trying to have the same spirituality you did at a past point of your life. The conclusion my friend came to, and I as well, is this: at the end of the day there is something inside of me (and most likely you) that cries out to God. The God of Abraham. The God of Jacob. The God that sent Jesus to save the world from itself. I can’t really explain why I do or why I wake up and talk with this God, but something in my spirit demands this interaction.

So I kind of lied in the beginning. Although I felt as if I did not know what I believed, deep down I still believed the same thing just in a different shape. This book is my attempt at sharing how my journey has developed over the past two years starting on my 18th birthday and leading to now as a soon to be married young man. I would not call this a self-help book or some formulated guide to being an awesome Christian because I am definitely not that. Instead this is more of a therapeutic way for me to be honest with others and to be honest with myself. In the end I hope someone can pick this book up, read it, and feel like they are not the only Christian in the world that is going through this strange stage of life.

Ch1

I remember laying in my bed the night that I turned 18 going through this crazy thought process and realization that I suddenly had the choice to do a lot of crazy things. I had the choice to get married, move out, buy cigarettes, and more importantly the choice to not believe in the whole Christianity thing. This is a very significant moment in time for anyone who has believed the same thing as his or her parents for 18 years. I begin to analyze my whole spirituality piece by piece, break it down, and then put it back together. I am sure this is a very normal thing to do. The interesting thing to me is that everyone has a moment where they start to wonder if what they think to be true is actually true. You don’t have to be a Christian in order to think those thoughts. Everybody turns 18, moves out, goes to college, and starts their own life. This requires one to decide what they want to do for themselves. You no longer have your parents telling you that you are not allowed to have a girl or guy over, you no longer have someone calling and asking where you are at three in the morning, and you no longer have someone to provide for you. IF you are a Christian, you no longer have parents telling you to go to church on Sunday morning or telling you to go to youth group on Wednesday night. There is this new freedom in life that was not there before. Yeah, yeah, you already know all of that. That speech has been given a thousand times by fifty other authors. What’s the point? The point is what do you do next? So you have all of this freedom, so you have this choice to be who you want to be. What do you do with it? As a follower of Christ what do you do with this new freedom?

For me, and I imagine for many others, I had to figure out what I actually believed. Youth group can really screw up a person’s idea of spirituality. You go through this crazy four years of super hyped up worship, prayer, and spiritual mountain tops, to basically nothing. Nothing being a truer picture of reality in the world than the super youth group feeling. Now don’t get me wrong, youth group is awesome. I would not take back the experiences I had in my various church youth groups for the world because it made me who I am today. But, I do not think the spirituality that is presented in a youth group setting is always a clear picture of what spirituality is like in the real world. Over the past few years I have really struggled with figuring out how my spirituality is supposed to look outside of the youth group setting. And believe me, this is not an easy thing to figure out. Part of me wants to never go to church while the other part is desperate to have a strong community with other believers. I know this is the typical thing for a college age student to think and feel but I also feel like there has never been a great solution to the problem. So rather than complain, here I am writing it all down in hopes to help others in the future.

Right now my fiancé and I are in the process of leaving the church we have been involved in for a number of years and getting plugged into the place we want to call home. We both came to a place where we were no longer being filled and felt like something needed to change in order to preserve our relationship/spirituality. Switching churches is a scary thing to do. You leave the place you have been most comfortable for a number years feeling empty and arrive in a new place trying to figure out why you felt empty in the first place. I will be honest and say the first few weeks have not been awesome. We are still getting plugged in to a small group and all of that so I understand some time is needed to start fresh. There is something cool about starting fresh especially spiritually. You kind of reach this point where all hell breaks loose, literally, but then God reminds you of His grace and life kind of falls back into place. Sound familiar?

Grace is a bizarre thing to me. Amanda and I were talking recently about growing up in church. Well, for me growing up in church I suppose and for her what it has been like since you became a Christian in high school. Grace becomes this gift, in some but not all cases, that is only available to a certain group of people. There are all of these rules and ideas people create. If you don’t fit that mold you are just stuck. I have never felt like I don’t fit that mold, but I have never been thrilled with the idea of there being a mold in the first place. Now that my angst against some churches is out I should also mention that I am constantly amazed at when the church is really being the church, the world takes notice. When we really love each other and practice the free grace that was given to the whole world, “Since God so loved the World,” people take notice. This is one thing youth group spirituality does a great job of presenting and why I mentioned so much about it earlier. The issue is, when you get out of that bubble it becomes extremely hard to figure out how to connect on a spiritual level with the world around you.

College is an interesting place to try and figure out your spirituality. A lot of new comes with being in college. Depending on where you go to college also determines how much new is put in front of you. College becomes the plateau of freedom after you turn eighteen. You finally move out of the house and are free to make any decisions you want. My roommate Preston and I had some crazy stuff happen before we actually made it to Middle Tennessee State University. For a very long time I desperately wanted to go to Belmont University to study Music Business. However, Belmont is not a cheap school. I tried really hard to get the scholarship money needed in order to pay for Belmont but the money never added up to the cost of tuition. In fact I don’t think I got anything from Belmont because my ACT score was not high enough. So, I ended up taking my second choice in schools, MTSU. I was pretty pissed about going to MTSU. On top of that, the apartment building I was moving into caught on fire after being struck by lightning, which meant I could not move in. I was stuck going to the second school on my list with no place to live for the first few months of the semester. Frustration does not even begin to describe how I was feeling. There were so many moments where I just wanted to not go to school at all. But then some crazy stuff happened. Preston, the guy I mentioned earlier, found a house for us to live in while the apartment was being fixed. The house was just a few minutes from campus and had about 6 other guys living there. These guys took us in and took care of us. They helped us get adjusted to life away from home and became our best friends on campus. They had a bible study and worship thing we did every week that helped us to stay connected spiritually. We finally made it into our apartment and I still found myself very angry despite the great start we had. I was very confused as to what my purpose was and why God would put me in a place I didn’t want to be in. These surface thoughts sat with me for some time and turned into some deep questions from my spirit. I became very angry for a while. This mindset stayed with for a pretty good amount of time. In fact it has not been until recently that I think I can safely say I believe God is here to help us.

The key to conquering this new freedom and keeping your faith is to just be honest with yourself. If that means you need to say “hey, I don’t believe this stuff right now. I don’t believe God is there or that if He were to be there that He would be good,” then say it. Once you say something similar to that statement, a reaction is required. For every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Newton’s law even explains spiritual things. So, you have questioned God. Now what? You either decide to just drop the idea or more likely, you go searching for an answer. The tricky part, and the part you don’t learn much about in Sunday school, or at least on what I would consider an intelligent level, is that there are a lot of different people providing answers to this God question. In fact, some people provide pretty good answers. Rob Bell mentioned in one of his messages how truth is not just something we find in Christianity. Rob was talking about the Muslims and how they never build or buy a house unless they have the money to pay for that house. If that means the house is only half finished or just barley even finished before they move in, they do not spend the money. This is a great example of a financial “truth.” Think about how practical and even “Biblical” that is. All of these other religions also focus heavily on treating other people well and doing good deeds or doing yoga (I mean come on, yoga is clearly spiritual). What if the Church today loved people a little more like Jesus did? What if we practiced the same financial truth as some Muslims do? What if we treated our bodies with even more respect? I do not know if this would solve all of our spiritual issues as twenty somethings or even as adults later on in life, but I do believe there is something to be said for following what we believe is truth. And we know it is truth because other people who follow truth, whether they call themselves a Christian or not, live a joyful and prosperous life. Let me just say I am not advocating the Prosperity Doctrine or anything but I do believe when someone follows truth, their life flourishes. At this point you are still trying to figure out what you believe, you have been given all of these options, you feel like there is a lot of truth in a lot of different areas, and now you are left to decide what you believe.

Piecing a worldview together is an especially difficult task for anyone. At this point I should probably mention that it has been a good five months since I have sat down and even thought about working on this book. In fact I should/could probably start the whole thing over and give an entirely new perspective, but oddly enough, where I left off is a great place for me to start. No matter what your age, background, upbringing, there are things that stand in the way of you formulating a worldview, or better put, influence how your worldview is pieced together. Something good happens in your life, you may have a positive outlook on life. Something bad happens, you may have a negative view. Pretty simple really. This year my dad was diagnosed with cancer. That did not have a great effect on my worldview. I am getting married in August and that seems to be having a pretty good effect on my worldview. My best friends little sister died in an accident this year, which did not help my positive outlook on life so much. Kind of a roller coaster of emotions wrapped up in a short amount of time. I’m sure many of you have similar stories of ups and downs and how these events shape the way we view life and more importantly, God.

One of the hardest things about this year so far has been continuing to have a worldview that includes a good God. The last thing I wanted to think about for a good majority of the year was God being good. I mean, how could a good God let my dad get cancer and a little girl die in such a tragic accident? And further, how could anyone expect me to just put on a happy face and keep going? Oddly, I have had people tell me more know that they think I am an example of a “real Christian,” whatever that is, than I ever have. Despite all of the doubts and moments of pure anger I have had towards my Creator this year I have learned a few simple truths that have brought me back to a beautiful understanding of my relationship with Him and others. A relationship with Christ cannot be made up of rules and formulas. A relationship with Christ is at the most pure form us being honest and realizing we need something more. We need something bigger than ourselves. Despite the high level of discomfort that follows after dropping all of the fauve pa smiles and happiness, an honest, broken, raw, real relationship with Christ and others is the most fulfilling worldview anyone can piece together. Finding comfort in the discomfort is so incredibly powerful. God is so much more real to me than He has ever been. I am not going around trying to prove to people that I have my life together, because I don’t. Plain and simple. I have to fight for my faith. I have to fight daily to continue to believe in God. But, I would much rather be in a constant search for Truth in the brokenness than sit in a pew every Sunday, sing some worship songs, and listen to a warm fuzzy message. That just doesn’t work for me anymore. I could never go back to that. I think that is why the church finds itself in so much trouble today.

The Christian worldview is very formulated. Donald Miller talks a lot about this in Searching For God Knows What. As I continued to piece my worldview together, I came to a realization that formulas fail at some point. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, or nothing happens at all. There is no correct answer one hundred percent of the time to life. So, where does that leave me? Where does that leave you? Where does that leave the rest of the world? Whether you are eighteen, fifteen, twenty-five, or ten at some point you too will begin to work through this life long process of holding on to your worldview, whatever that may be. My challenge to everyone is don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself and with the world around you. Honesty, although a very narrow path if we are going to use a Biblical term, is the most fulfilling road you can take.

We're Almost There!

2008-06-16T20:55:00.003-05:00

Hello, everyone! Amanda here.
I figured I would update because I rarely feel motivated to write anything worth reading.
DJ and I are working away (two jobs for each of us) and saving our money the best we can. I never knew how easy it is to actually save money. With a little thought and effort, we have managed to save a lot of money (all that will eventually go out to bills and new apartment things next month!).
Needless to say, 2008 has been a hard year for the both of us...well most of us have had a challenging year. Our circle has taken some hard hits, but God remains faithful and continues to bring calm in the midst of every storm we've endured.
Father's Day was especially important to us this year. We celebrated with Mr. Lipscomb all day and just enjoyed all making it this far...I guess you can say our expectations are very different from previous years. We are so thankful for life and family.
What else? Apartment life begins in a matter of weeks for me (DJ will have to wait on the amazing independence from parents)! I can't wait to move in and start setting up our new life.
That's all for now.
Love you guys!

2008-06-06T15:45:00.002-05:00

I dont think I even remember posting anything in the past few weeks although I think I posted something?

Great, already not making sense...pull it together DJ.

I am sitting at Starbucks right now listening to board tapes to try and learn guitar parts and just kind of in awe of my Creator. We live in such a broken world. But yet He makes this ugly place so amazingly beautiful even in the worst moments. He draws near even in the moments we are trying to pull away.

Everything that has happened to Amanda and I this year has created a faith in me that I never thought existed. I would not necessarily call it a normal type of faith as far as how the church looks at faith but wow, what a powerful work God is doing in my heart and the people close to me.

There are some hard days ahead for sure. But some amazing days are near as well. We are getting married in 78 days! I can hardly believe it! Life just seems so busy and rushed right now that on very rare occasions do we take a minute to just breathe and look at all of the awesome things we have to look forward to. God is working, moving, and teaching us to Love even more. I am so excited for the coming days.

Long.....2008?

2008-05-26T13:54:00.003-05:00

So far 2008 has been quite a year. We are 89 days away from the wedding and have spent almost an entire month in Vanderbilt hospital. That is entirely too many days in the hospital for reasons no one should ever have to experience. One thing that has confused me a little bit is that so many times in life the only thing that shakes us up are the moments no one ever really wants to go through...such as pancreatic cancer or the death of a little girl. Why is this? Why are these the only moments that we feel so desperate that we are forced to rely on something bigger than ourselves?

I guess the tough moments are the moments where we are truly who we are.

Now we have to kind of keep going and finishing planning the wedding....which we could care absolutely nothing about. Amanda and I felt so bad for dale because his graduation happen to fall on the same day as Maria's memorial service....just an unnecessary juggling of emotions. So kind of a strange day of celebration...new life and a new part of life I guess you could say. I will say this, God moved so powerfully at the memorial service...we could barely stand up.

God truly reveals himself in the moments where we need real, true, and beautiful love. Something His character demands Him to give to us. What a feeling to know we are protected .

89 days from now we get to be husband and wife. We get to live together. We get to live life together. I think we are ready for a new part of life....and although it has been a tough 2008 thus far, we are so thankful for the knowledge and life experience we have gained. I am not really sure if this blog makes any sense....just trying to get some of this out of my head. Please be praying for our other little brothers and their family as they are working through this moment. God is very real though and has been so true to His character.

On a semi fun note....although I did get in a wreck three weeks ago, Amanda and I are buying a VW Golf this week or next. Watch out Franklin! We will be rolling around in a pimp daddy car..?

Revelations-Read if You Dare!

2008-05-19T13:10:00.006-05:00

I would say a good majority of our past year or so has been spent trying to figure out what spirituality is really all about. One of the cool things about when Amanda and I met is the fat that we were both kind of on this new journey of "Where is God in the world now?" I can personally say that there were quite a few nights when I was on Winter Jam that I would sit in the front of the bust till 3Am just trying to figure out if I believed that God even existed.

The hard thing about going through a point like this in your life is that the Christian world today tends to scream/present a message that says something must be wrong with you if you are not happy and trusting in God all of the time.

I was listening to a Rob Bell message today, ironically titled "I Dont Know" (well sort of ironic since the title was what caught my attention), and was reminded that it is perfectly, if not Biblically okay for us to be confused, distressed, worried, and doubting the very things we believe. There is no reason a person can not be so close to the heart of God and yet at the same time be in a place where they are fighting to believe in that very thing they are so close to.

Think about this in terms of relationships...another area where the church presents this daisies and roses message some of the time. You can be totally in love with a person and yet have to fight every step of the way to keep a relationship together. Now I dont say that to scare anyone about Amanda and I, but it is something we both noticed about relationships, especially when it comes to being engaged. We are now firm believers in a long engagement because it gives you the chance to get to know the person you are engaged to before you are married...because it is nothing like dating.

God is so much bigger than our crap! He is so much bigger than our doubts, questions, angst, etc. Another interesting point Rob Bell made was to doubt our doubts because we doubt a lot. We doubt if God is there, doubt if we can make it through a certain situation, doubt if a relationship is going to work, doubt if we have enough money to live, etc. Doubt your doubts. Prove them wrong. Call them out.

Okay now that I am off of my soap box....Amanda and I are doing so well. We have a place to live, a bed, a mattress, some plates...i mean seriously we could survive off of those things. It is kind of crazy and awesome to think about. Our biggest "distress" right now is the fact that my car got totaled two weeks ago and we have to buy a new car. There are so many different options and opinions on what we should do that we just need some clarity. So please pray that God will provide us with the right car and the money to get that car. Wedding is in 96 days and we could not be happier. This engagement has been a very tough season for the both of us. A lot of crazy things happened, but we learned so much about each other that we would never ever want to take that time back. Look forward to seeing you all soon! Invitations are going out the first week of June!

-Team Awesome

We're sick and in love. We're lovesick.

2008-04-19T21:12:00.005-05:00

Today marks a special moment for the future Mr. and Mrs. Lipscomb... we printed our invitations!! It was a very difficult task. Basically we did a test page, hit print two hundred, put more invitations in when the paper ran out, and watched Juno. Tough I know. As the title hints, we are both feeling slightly under the weather this evening while we are waiting for the two hundredth invitation to finish up. Amanda has mono and I have allergies. No fun at all to be honest. She is ready to sleep and I am ready to plug my nose with tissues. My brain is pretty fuzzy now and I can't really think of anything else to say. We are ready to get married and live together! Four months to go!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2008-04-12T19:10:00.002-05:00

So, we're getting married in 133 days! It is such an exciting feeling to count down the days until I am a wife!

Wednesday we got our tattoos and they are pretty amazing. We went in thinking they would be fairly small and on one side of our bodies. Billy Joe told us that he would not be able to do the verse because the font was too small. We had decided that the verse was the most important part of the tattoo so we went big! I went first because we had a wedding planning meeting with CJ at 2:00. Man, it was painful! I freaked a little bit and almost fainted! After a few breaks, I decided that I was going to buck up and just finish. I'm sure it sounded like I was going into labor because I was screaming! :) Mr. Billy Joe was extremely patient with me and even took the time to pray with us as he was finishing my tattoo. He prayed for prosperity and a wonderful marriage. I don't think we could have asked for more. DJ, on the other hand, took it like a man and didn't take any breaks. They are a little shocking at first glance, but both beautiful representations of how we see our upcoming marriage.

CJ had everything basically planned out so we are seriously almost finished! Woo hoo! At this point, I could care less what kind of flower I will hold or what type of china we need for dinner. I just want to marry my man!

Also, I accepted a new position at Suntrust and it has been a really cool experience. I'm technically still training for the next week, a total of 3 exhausting weeks of policy, regulations and tests. We have health insurance. !!!!!!!!!! I couldn't ask for more. We have unbelievable benefits that I truly believe God has provided for us.

Honestly, every day it gets a little more difficult for DJ to go home. I just want to live together already. It gets so old sometimes. I want to wake up next to my husband and know that he will come back home that night. I am learning to be patient and enjoy everything that engagement offers. We are learning so much about each other. It is a cool thing to know that God has brought us together and he created us to love one another.

I will never get over that.

Exciting Week!

2008-04-07T11:40:00.002-05:00

Why you might ask is this such an exciting week? First of all, we are getting tattoos on Wednesday. Second of all we get to have a big planning meeting with our awesome wedding coordinator CJ. So, this is going to be an awesome week!

We had a pretty heavy week last week to be honest. A lot of crazy things happened at once. Just a reminder that life does not always go as planned..in fact very rarely does life follow your plans. Despite the rough week and strange Saturday, the rest of the weekend was very good. Sunday brought some new life and fresh air back into our lives.

I do have to say, church was over the top even slightly hilarious this week. Jamie was talking about Satan and the presence of evil in the world...but they used very cheesy key board sounds and lights to distinguish between good (blue with angels) and bad (red with dragons and some eerie minor piano thing). Anyway, despite the cheese the service was great and had Amanda and I deep in conversation the whole time (writing back and forth in my journal).

We were both thankful to just talk alllll day long, hang out, and relax. This week is going to be killer! We will have tattoo pics up Wednesday night im sure :)

142 Days to Go

2008-03-31T10:54:00.003-05:00

I can hardly believe how quickly the date is approaching! And yet, we still have a junk load of stuff to do haha. Invitations, decorations, all of that fun stuff. Anyway, not sure who is still keeping up with our blog but we have had a busy and crazy past few months. I am still learning so much about what it means to be a husband. I am continually being challenged by Amanda to raise the bar and by God to raise the bar as far as how I talk to Amanda and how we treat each other. No one has a perfect relationship or perfect marriage. It is very easy to hurt the people you are closest to. I found a cool verse recently that has really acted as a foundation for how we want to treat our soon to be marriage. "Therefore what God as joined together, let man not separate." Such a beautiful verse, straight from the mouth of JC. As I sit here thinking about this verse and thinking about the past few days I am realizing that the verse isn't just referring to other people outside of a relationship, it is talking to me as well. I am called to love, support, and cherish Amanda. She is called to do the same. This is an absolutely beautiful and amazing thing that I never want to take for granted. God brought us together. There is a reason for Amanda and I to be walking life together. I am a stubborn jerk nine times out of ten. I get defensive and selfish. The nice thing about blogging is that I can kind of say, "hey, I need to work on some things still. I do not have this whole being engaged and about to married thing down pat and would love some accountability."

To kind of move on here...I can hardly tell you all how excited I am to be with this amazing Woman. I cannot believe we are getting married in 142 days. I have no idea what we are going to do as far as money, living, school, and all of that but I can tell you there is no person in the entire world that I would rather figure life out with than Amanda Cook (Lipscomb).

See you all soon!

-DJ and Amanda

PS: We may or may not be getting tattoos this wednesday

Life is Good!

2008-03-20T10:13:00.003-05:00

Thought I would give everyone a quick update because its been a while!

DJ and I have been slowly but surely finalizing wedding plans. We actually finished our guest list! Hallelujah!!! Our numbers are finally at a normal place and I think we'll actually be able to pull it off.

Saturday will be a day of many decisions. We may or may not settle on a caterer and a wedding coordinator for the big day. It is like a breath a fresh air to have someone helping us out. Wedding planning for over 300 guests is stressful!

Other than that, we've just been working away and saving up money. Apartment hunting is also a little crazy. We know where we don't want to live and now we're narrowing down on a few options.

DJ is getting busier by the day! He's booking shows, working for the Pops, and working for Starbucks. And on top of that, he takes care of me so well. I honestly don't know how he does it all.

I can't believe that we're getting married in 5 months. Time has seriously flown by. DJ and I were talking about how January and February basically didn't exist because of everything that happened with his dad. David is doing well, by the way! He has been such a trooper through everything.

I hope everyone is doing well!

-Amanda

His Needs Her Needs

2008-03-01T21:32:00.002-06:00

DJ and I recently started the book, His Needs Her Needs, and so far we're enjoying it. Premarital counseling starts in April. I can't believe we're at this point in our lives. Soon, apartment hunting will begin and then we are getting married! I have little moments where I begin to fully realize what's going on and I'm so excited. I can't wait to live with my best friend and share life together.

In other news:
Yesterday I had a tooth extracted after I fractured it (stupid Wheat Thins!). After they numbed my mouth, I had a bad reaction to the medication, as I always do. I requested DJ's presence while they removed my tooth and he was such a trooper. He knows exactly how to make me feel better. I've been heavily medicated ever since and slowly making progress!

That's about it. Hope everyone is doing well!

Amanda

Lookin Fly Mr. Lipscomb

2008-02-27T15:51:00.002-06:00

Thats right folks,
The gentlemen of this wedding party officially have their "Dress to Kill" outfits picked out for August 23, 2008. Pretty much the Lipscomb (and Lipscomb to be) wedding party is going to look super fly. Not only have us gentlemen picked out some serious awesome suits, my wonderful fiance and her bridesmaids picked out a beautiful dress for them to wear. I have heard rumor that my ladies wedding dress is pretty kickin as well although I am not aloud to hear the details of this dress.

178 days from now Amanda and I will be husband and wife. I have never been more excited about something in my entire life. We are going to have an amazing life together. God has been so faithful to show us the way and lead us down the path He has for our life together....it has been an amazing journey.

Keep us in your prayers as we are finishing up the planning for the actual day. We are both getting over different bugs as well...been sick for a couple of weeks now...and we are both ready to be feeling better.

Thats all for now!
-DJ

The Countdown Begins!

2008-02-24T19:05:00.002-06:00

So today marks our less than 6 months countdown! It is amazing that we are already at this point. Time has moved so quickly!

We are so glad to be through January and most of February because they were some of the hardest months of our lives, but we are so much closer than we've ever been.

Yesterday we really cracked down on our wedding planning. We've figured almost everything out. I will say that DJ has been the greatest. Without him, the wedding planning wouldn't get done! Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by all of the planning that I want to quit, but DJ pushes me to get through it. He can even remember the dress number for my bridesmaids in an emergency! I think its safe to say I have the best fiance ever!

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone is doing well. We love you guys!

-Amanda

Wearing A Little Thin

2008-02-07T09:38:00.000-06:00

I went to bed feeling like a defeated and not so great fiance, I woke up with a stiff neck as if I had been in a car wreck, and I was once again reminded that this part of my life is not over yet. My mom and I talked about how waking up through all of this mess is pretty hard to do. You fall asleep and things are bad, you wake up not knowing if things had been bad when you were asleep, and that reminds you about everything that is going on all over again.

I think I can safely and honestly tell you all that we are pretty beat up right now. In fact it feels good to just say it. We are struggling to make it through all of this. Amanda and I both have jobs (well currently I have two), we are trying to spend time at the hospital, we are trying to spend time with family, and somewhere in there we have to spend some time just being together....and it is really hard to do all of that.

For some reason I always end up confessing a lot in these blogs. Writing is great therapy and I need to do more of it. Yeah so confessing...I am not doing a good job of balancing my life out right now. It is effecting my sanity, but more importantly Amanda and I's relationship. We knew very well that these next few months were going to be tough. We knew a lot of our time would have to be sacrificed. But I dont think you can ever prepare for your world to be pulled out from under you. So, this is my apology to Amanda as it is a chance for me to be honest and say...We need some prayer and some encouragement. It is so easy to just let all of the bad take over all of the good.

Okay, now that I have been a little selfish I would like to say that my dad is doing pretty good. I get really anxious when he is okay though because I always assume something else is going to happen. But I saw him last night and he is doing well.

We are all so ready for him to be home and to moving on with the next stages.

Man, even sitting here now I just feel so stupid for some of the things that have come out of my mouth lately to Amanda....Im so sorry. If this whole deal has taught us anything it is that God has us together for a purpose and we need each other. I know we are pretty worn down right now but we have to keep pushing forward.

*sorry this was more of a journal post....I was in need to put my thoughts on paper*

Question for Frequent Travelers!

2008-01-26T20:50:00.000-06:00

Many of you have asked to help out since DJ's dad was diagnosed. We have a need for some free hotel nights. If anyone has extra hotel points, please contact us! Robi needs to stay close by and trust me, the Vanderbilt SICU waiting room is far from accommodating! :)

Also, a lot of you have asked to make food. Instead, if you want to give gift cards to areas around Nashville (Panera, Jason's Deli, Logan's, etc), feel free!

You can contact me through email or facebook.

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

-Amanda

Check This Out!

2008-01-25T13:27:00.000-06:00

So, DJ and I have failed to mention that there is a website that you can be reading to check on the status of David, DJ's dad, as we are going through this surgery process. This week has been accurately described as, "a roller coaster ride in the dark that keeps going and doesn't let you off".

I am so amazed with the Lipscomb family. They are holding it together and staying so strong. David is being such a trooper.

Please, keep us in your prayers. Pray for rest. Pray for peace. Pray for healing. Pray for patience as we sit in the SICU waiting room and simply wait.

Here's the like to David's website:
www.caringbridge.org

Once you click on that link, you will see a place that says "visit a CaringBridge website. Type in "davidlipscomb". No spaces!

Thanks so much for the love and support!

-Amanda

Tumor Out!

2008-01-22T14:29:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,
The tumor has been removed and my dad is currently in recovery. That is about all I have for you right now...longest day of our lives as expected. We are ready to see him! We will update as we get info.

More Updates?

2008-01-19T19:19:00.000-06:00

Where to begin? Since the last update my dad has been given the go to have surgery in order to remove the tumor. Very good news to say the least! He will be having surgery this Tuesday morning and will be recovering for some time after the surgery. I am trying to think of more things to write but my mind is basically mush tonight. Everyone has been doing very well although we have had our share of rough moments these past few days.

As far as wedding things go we just registered for a bunch of things today. We have also decided cooking together is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend time together.

I will update everyone in the next few days on how the surgery goes. Thanks for your prayers!

-DJ & Amanda

Update

2008-01-11T23:29:00.000-06:00

Hey all,
I wanted to give everyone the latest on my pops. As we had been told and thought all week, the mass on his pancreas is cancer. My parents have been meeting with doctors all week to try and find the right person to do the surgery that is necessary to remove the tumor. He is ready to get this thing out and start on the road to recovery. Despite a rough past couple of days, everyone was in great spirits tonight. I really believe that all of the prayers we are being covered in are helping us keep our minds out of the dark. I have told many of you already this week but in a situation such as the one my family is presently in, you just have to decide that you are going to make it. If you let yourself lose the battle mentally from the beginning, you are screwed. We are going to have some good and bad days, but I think it is safe to say we are all in this to win.

As far as prayer goes now please pray that we all remain in good spirits, that we can find the right doctor to perform the surgery, that my dad would continue to feel okay and keep his strength up, that we can make all of the decisions we have to make with little stress, and that once the surgery is complete his recovery will go smoothly including never hearing the word cancer again.

I am not sure why my dad has cancer but I can tell you one thing. For some strange reason I think all of us ( the Lipscomb's and the soon to be Lipscomb and family) are very happy. There has been a lot of healing amongst the chaos. God is working in this situation. I for one am thankful to confidently believe that God is at work. We are trusting that He is going to make this thing right. I love you guys and I am so thankful for all of your prayers, love, and support.

-DJ

Need some Prayer Today!

2008-01-09T10:39:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone DJ here,
I need some serious prayer from all of you today for my dad. To make a long story short, he is on his way in for a biopsy due to a mass that was discovered on his Pancreas this past Monday. We honestly don't know much more than that. This mass is causing some issues and of course they are worried about what the mass is. Although we are all scared as to what the doctors will say today, we have come to a place of realizing that all we can really do is pray. I know lately I have struggled with figuring out where my faith is and where God is but these past two days have demanded me to believe in something other than just luck or chance. There are nearly 10,000 people praying for my dad right now as I am typing this message. God can work something amazing out of this seemingly dreadful situation. So, please join with me whether you believe in the same God as I do or not..or as one of Amanda's teachers said "just send out good vibes." We want this fight to be over today before it really starts. Love you guys.

-DJ

Home!

2007-12-27T15:43:00.001-06:00

Man, it feels good to be home. All in all, Texas was a great experience. I got to meet almost all of DJ's family and spend my first Christmas away from home with my fiance. :)

This trip has shown me that I'm more than ready to move out and be married. 8 more months! I can't wait.

Tonight is a show at Rocketown with The Following! Try and come if you can. :)

I'll update with pictures and more stories later!

Love you all!

-Amanda

Texas!

2007-12-21T13:09:00.000-06:00

Hellllloooo everyone!
Hope you all are having a great holiday season so far. Amanda and I arrived in Houston last night with my family after a pretty crazy 24 hours. Long story short, Amanda was in the ER until about 2PM on Wednesday. She is doing a lot better but still in quite a bit of pain and feeling pretty sick to her stomach. Sleeping the entire way to Texas helped a great deal though :) We got in around 11pm last night, talked with the grand parents for a while, stayed up and talked since she had been asleep the whole trip, and then went to bed around 1:30am. We woke up around 10:30 this morning to some coffee and donuts and played a little Mario Party on the Wii (which is still the bomb by the way). Our only miff with the Wii is that Need For Speed is too hard...so hopefully we can exchange it for something else.

So, that catches you up on our past two days. We also had Christmas with Momma T (Amanda's mom) and received some awesome gifts. We both got some clothes, including Christmas PJ's, and more exciting were some sheets and a quilt for our new bed! Woo! I love getting things for our new place because it reminds me that Amanda and I are actually getting married! This year has been the best year of my life and I can not wait to see what these next eight months brings.

Please be praying for my lady though because she is still feeling pretty nasty and really wants to enjoy this trip.

Merry Christmas!
-DJ and Amanda

Wii have a story for you!

2007-12-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

Sunday December the 16th began at 3am for Amanda and I. Wii were on a mission. After doing some babysitting, getting some extra cash from family, and deciding that wii wanted to go in together on a Christmas present, wii decided the only gift that could satisfy our hearts was the Nintendo Wii. At the time wii made this choice wii did not realize that the Wii is the most sought after Christmas gift of 2007. Once we finally had the cash to get it, wii began to search and see who actually had them in. Our journey lead us to BestBuy, who this morning would be selling a minimum of 20 Nintendo Wii's. After hearing this news, and hearing that the last time a shipment came in people were standing outside by 4am, wii decided to get up and be at Best Buy by 4am. Crazy? Yes, as a matter of fact it was pretty crazy. When I left my house around 3:30am it was snowing and 32 degrees. When wii got to Best Buy it was snowing on and off and still 32 degrees. So, wii brought a ridiculous amount of blankets, wore a ridiculous amoun of layers, and set for a ridiculous four hours. But, wii got our Nintendo Wii. Not only did wii get one, wii got two. One for us and one for my kid brother. After picking up our Wii's, Amanda and I went to Target to use a gift card and buy another game, Need For Speed.

Wii then headed back to her house to set up the Wii and get ready for our last day at the People's Church. Of course, the Wii made us a little late and wii forgot it was our last Sunday. Our last Sunday school at TPC was bittersweet but wii are excited to move on to Journey Ecclesia! After church, wii went back home and slept most of the afternoon.

To conclude our awesomness for the day, Dale (my bro) and I headed to GameStop, traded in all of our older systems/games, and ended up with three new games and $20 left over.

Basically, Wii have had a great day.

Ah yes, catch up time.

2007-12-14T16:17:00.000-06:00

Good lord I could probably write a book based on the past few weeks of our life. Most exciting news of the weeks is that we changed our wedding date and that we are getting a Nintendo Wii on Sunday. Or at least I hope we are because I am getting up mega early to go to Target and get one that they arent sure is actually coming in. Oh well! Wow, we finally finished this semester up and somehow remained in one piece. I think I speak for both of us when saying that there were a few moments when we thought we were both about to go crazy. It has just been a really testing few months of engagement. A lot of crazy stuff has happened. Amanda and I were talking today about the fact that despite all of the madness that seems to collect itself around our life, we are still so in love and still falling more in love with one another. Being engaged is like getting to know someone on warp speed. You learn more in one week than you did over the entire time you were dating. Its crazy! But, learning about each other, what you like what you dont, what pisses one of you off but not the other, what kind of food you like or dont like, all of those silly little things really make a big difference. Knowing the little things is the difference between just knowing someone and actually knowing someone. I think it is safe to say that Amanda and I actually know each other and it is such a great feeling. We can sit and chat about anything and I love it.

Anyway, kind of went on a bunny trail there. Now I can't remember what I was going to tell you all about....we have had birthday's, thanksgiving, about to head to Texas for Christmas, finals, a really good date or two (I love going on dates...keep dating while you are engaged. We need to do that more and yes bebe that is my job). We had a really amazing engagement party thrown for us that I still dont know how to say thank you for. Phew, I feel like I am leaving a lot out but I just cant remember everything that has been going on. That should give you a picture of how crazy it has been though. Amanda bought her wedding dress yesterday! I suppose that is important as well ;) We are so thrilled to be done with school for a while and super excited about Christmas. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays whichever you prefer ;) Im sure Jesus doesnt really care...such a fuss over nothing.

-DJ

Drum Roll, please!

2007-12-12T22:05:00.000-06:00

So, we have some news to share with everyone :) After much thought and wise council, we have decided to move our wedding date up a few months. Four months to be exact. The new official team awesome wedding date is August 23, 2008!!! Woooooo! For those of you who have never been engaged before, 14 months is a very long time to wait to get married.

We're so excited.

In other [great] news, this semester is officially over!!

We will blog again shortly.

Hasta pronto,
DJ & Amanda

P.S. I may or may not be wedding dress shopping tomorrow.... ;)

Its about time that we update...

2007-12-11T08:49:00.000-06:00

So, there are a lot of new things to post about. BUT, we can't post them for a few more days.

Get excited!!

DJ and I are pushing through exams. Let's just get done with this horrible week!

Seriously, it is a good thing to be engaged.

-Amanda

Greetings From South Carolina!

2007-11-23T16:39:00.000-06:00

Hello friends!

Hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed some serious southern cooking and some wonderful company for our turkey day. I think this has been the most relaxed Amanda and I have been since we have been engaged, which is probably what I am most thankful for this year :) We haven't had to cook or worry about anything. After the day settled down we finished out the night watching movies with the rest of the family. As opposed to our first night here, we got plenty of sleep (especially Amanda who woke up and then slept from 9 till noon again). Amanda's sister and mom got up at the crack of dawn to do some shopping so Amanda and I and her/my future brother-in-law, Adam, watched movies. Well like I said, Amanda slept, so really just Adam and I watched movies. Amanda and I stole the car for a few hours this afternoon to go grab some lunch and do a little shopping just the two of us. We are finding more and more how much we enjoy just being together. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp after just about one and a half months of being engaged of this whole I am about to get married thing. At least I think so.... other moments I kind of have to catch my breath but overall, I think Amanda and I both have a better vision for this new part of our lives. I can hardly freaking wait to be married :) We are just best friends and that is all there is to it! I mentioned earlier that this trip has really been amazing because we have not had to do a thing. Speaking for both us, some time to chill was much needed. School has been nuts, life has been nuts, work has been nuts, so having no responsibilities for a few days has been a real moral booster :) Sorry if this blog has been more like a play like play. Normally I would bestow some enlightening thoughts for the day but I have been so relaxed here I havent taken the time to reflect on life. That in itself is probably a big lesson for me to continue to learn. We have a long drive home tomorrow, although we wont be driving so no complaints there. I am so thankful for my new family and for my family and for all of our friends who are giving Amanda and I so much support. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

-DJ

Thanksgiving 2007!

2007-11-20T11:28:00.000-06:00

DJ really was a birthday princess.

Tomorrow we leave for Columbia, SC to see my sister's family. We're so excited to spend some time with them. Pictures will soon be posted.

Its so exciting to get to share holidays with each other now. Last year, exactly around this time, DJ and I has just really met and started to hang out. Its so fun to go back and remember the cute things we did with each other. I never would have imagined that this year I would be engaged to the love of my life. Its all so exciting.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Love you guys! Thanks so much for your prayers and support.

-Amanda

I think things are only going to get busier.

2007-11-16T20:57:00.000-06:00

So, if anyone actually reads this I think you will notice the lack of blogs from me. :)

I've been super busy with school. This is probably the craziest semester yet...15 pg research paper of Tanzania, 5 pg paper in Spanish over futbol and 2 papers in Spanish for Diaz. My brain is ready to explode.

I'm trying to stay calm at the thought that everything is only going to get more crazy. Planning a wedding, taking 21 hours next semester and working seem like a lot to handle. I'm hoping I can do everything and stay sane. It all seems stressful, but DJ and I can handle anything because we're Team Awesome. It doesn't get any better than that.

Other than that, DJ and I have just been relaxing together and going on fancy dates!

For DJ's birthday, I threw him a mini surprise party with a few of his friends that turned out well.

I'm so excited about life right now. I love my fiance very much! :)

-Amanda

Our Story

2007-11-15T13:12:00.000-06:00

So Amanda will probably get mad that I am writing another blog before she does but I really wanted to share some thoughts on a sermon I just listened to. Donald Miller, a well known author and familiar name to most of you I am sure, recently spoke at Mars Hill Bible church in Grand Rapids Michigan. I am a big fan of Mars Hill and receive their weekly message via podcast. So, I noticed Miller was speaking and decided to take a listen today while I was working. His message was on how our lives are basically a story, which is not exactly a new idea, but his twist on the idea was amazing. One of the things I have been learning as Amanda and I have been engaged is that we are living out this new story about our life together and really what that story is playing out to be. Miller explains in his message what is required in a story or movie in order for it to be interesting to the reader/viewer. A story has to have a main character or protagonist. A story has to have some sort of conflict, a story has to have a point of climax, and finally a story has to have some sort of resolve at the end. Miller goes on to talk about how many times in the Christian faith we kind of cut off our chances of letting God play out this story in our life with sayings such as "well, God closed that door." I found this very interesting because I myself have used that phrase before and I am sure many of you have as well. Miller mentions this mindset to point out that we should not defeat our own stories by giving up on a situation or defeat ourselves by assuming if something is not the way we imagined it would be that there is something wrong in our lives. God picks up at the point of our mistakes and creates the story from there. God knocks down the door he doesn't close it. These two ideas kind of struck me to the core. It is really easy to water down our own story rather than just live out a great story. So I started thinking about how this idea applies to Amanda and I's story together. We want to have a great story. You can't just want to have a great story though, you have to live out a great story, you have to be that story. Don gives an example of a friend of his whose wife just had a baby and how this husband was telling Don how much more in love with his wife he was now than when they got married. The sad thing was, he wasn't doing anything to show his wife that love so this love only existed in the husbands story. We have to live out our stories. I think Amanda and I are going to have a great story. We had great stories before we even met. But I dont just want to have a great story with her, I want us to be a great story. God uses every aspect of our lives to help push our story forward, we just have to keep on living. Sounds simple enough, but it is very easy to get bogged down with the crap life throws at you. I was very encouraged and challenged by this message and hope that this blog is a reality check for others as well.

On a side note...we have done basically zero planning the past few weeks. Instead we have just been hanging out and enjoying being together. We went on a great date Tuesday night, something we haven't done since we got engaged really. Next week we are heading back to South Carolina for Thanksgiving and then finishing up with school for the semester. Thanks as always to everyone who is watching out for us and supporting us through this process of writing our new story. We love you all!

One month down

2007-11-05T17:17:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can hardly believe Amanda and I have already been engaged for a month. Pretty crazy! I don't think I would have ever expected what this month would hold for us either. I think it is safe to say that it was tough. So many people to tell, so many people to see, so many people to please. This can really wear two people down when they are just trying to be together. It is easy to miss what your identity as a soon to be married couple is when you are trying to give all of your time in so many places. This whole weekend Amanda has been the most amazing fiance any guy could ever ask for. She took me out for my birthday basically all weekend, organized a surprise party at her house for me, took me out for a wonderful dinner at PF Changs, and then just sat and talked with me for hours. We realized last night how important our identity as a couple is. We realized how easy it is for things to get crazy when we lose sight of that. Because of this realization and the chance to talk about, we were able to connect on a deeper level emotionally and remember how in love we are. In fact, I would say we are more in love today than we were yesterday. It is an incredible feeling! Turning twenty, being engaged, and planning a wedding can be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully though, we are loved by a God who will stop when we stop and help us take a deep breath in and find the truth that exists when love is real. That is what we are holding on to.

PS- we took some amazing pictures if you havent cehcked them out yet. I have the best looking fiance in the world...no questions asked!

Engagement pictures from Michael Howard

2007-11-04T12:32:00.000-06:00

Check this out! http://www.howardphoto.net/
We're so excited!
Thanks, Michael Howard!

Strange

2007-11-01T13:02:00.000-05:00

I have come to conclusion that the whole concept of engagement is just strange. It is almost a game of how long can we actually wait before we elope :) I love being engaged but I am finding everyday, as many have said, it is just kind of lame on a scale of time. You find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you ask them to marry you, they say yes, and then you wait around for a long time until you actually get to be together. Amanda and I talked along time about this last night after going as Britney and K-Fed for Halloween. I was reminded how much I enjoy just staying up late and just talking and laughing with my best friend though. There is something very cool about relaxing on a nice evening and taking things easy with someone you love. Anyway, I have gone off on a million rabbit trails in this blog. I just thought I should share my angst against the whole engagement process. Despite my angst, the end result is going to be the most amazing day of Amanda and I's life.

-DJ

Number two for today

2007-10-29T23:39:00.001-05:00

I was just thinking on the way home how crazy this whole marriage thing is. I mean just in case you all didn't know, Amanda and I are getting married! That means we are spending the rest of our lives together! How unreal is that? I mean seriously, it is kind of crazy. I was thinking about how many things I get to do with this one girl that I randomly (or not so randomly for you faith based friends) met and fell in love with and I just go crazy! Half of the time I feel like such a dumb boy that doesn't deserve to be with such an awesome girl, but she still loves me and just kind of laughs and moves on you know? When you take a look around the world and see so many marriages falling apart this whole thing can get scary sometimes, especially because our generation has seen a major increase in the divorce rate. Even more frightening is the fact that most of that number is taken up by people in the church. I really believe this is something we can change and that I want to be a part of changing. Love is an amazing gift from God. The fact that He created one person for me to spend all of my life with, the good, the bad, the everything, blows my mind. It just kind of hit me tonight that Amanda is that girl for me 100%. She is everything I need and everything I have ever wanted. I want to be her everything and I want to be a part of change in our society that keeps this powerful Love alive. That is my prayer, this is my prayer, this blog really. A prayer that we wont give in to just giving up. My faith is crazy at best but I know one thing, I want people to know that I love God by the love I show to other people especially my wife.

417 days to go!

2007-10-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

Quite a large number if you ask me but the more I think about it the more thankful I actually am. I woke up this morning thinking about how many things I personally have to learn about before Amanda and I get married. There are things to learn about money, how to be a good husband, how to be the head of the house hold, and how to let God continue to be a part of our relationship. Although the money thing makes me a little nervous I can honestly say I am excited to find out what all of those things look like in our life. I was laughing to myself last night while thinking about what it would be like to actually be living away from home. I really only "moved out" for a semester my freshman year so I dont even know if I know how to live on my own. Luckily I think Team Awesome can figure it out together (plus I would much rather figure it out as a team than on my own). It is great to have a place to just put my thoughts on how things are going. We are still just as excited, if not more, about being engaged than we were three weeks ago. We have kinda been going crazy with the planning but you know, we are who we are. Till next time.

-DJ

Thankful!

2007-10-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

It feels like we've been looking at different invitations for months when, in fact, we've only been searching for a week or so. We've seen some of the most elaborate and beautiful invitations with a price that would make your jaw drop. I've been so overwhelmed by the cost of paper! It is unreal to see how much it costs to just let people know you're getting married.
As most young college students, we are on a tight budget so we originally said we wanted to spend $600 for 250 invites.
Last night, we were looking for some nice paper at Target and DJ picked up a box of Do-It-Yourself wedding invitations. They were beautiful and on clearance for 6 bucks! We purchased one box (50 invites) and tried out an invitation to see if we liked the quality. They looked amazing!
From there, we got the itch to find 4 more boxes in order to have enough to invite everyone. We drove to 3 different Targets and ended up with 3 more boxes. I called the Murfreesboro store at 9:15 and asked if they had it. They had one box, but they couldn't hold it or sell it to me over the phone! DJ and I looked at each other and decided we should try to make it to Target before they closed at 10:00. We raced from Old Hickory to Murfreesboro in 30 minutes! I still don't know how we did it.
So, instead of spending $600 on invitations, we spent a little over $30.
We are so thankful and humbled that these invitations were provided.
Other than that, we are still busy with the initial wedding planning.
We are continually blown away by the support and love of our family and friends. It is going to be an amazing journey.
-Amanda

It Takes Two When It Used to Take One

2007-10-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

That is of course, it takes two Ryan Adams shows rather than just one. We got to see Ryan and the Cardinals again this week here in Nashville and it was amazing! I think it is safe to say that the fiance and I have finally gotten our feet back on the ground this week. After three busy weeks, we have had some time to slow down and just hang out. Believe it or not Amanda even halted planning the wedding for a few days this week! I was very proud of her. One thing I have learned from these past few weeks is that keeping a relationship in balance is not an easy thing. Taking the time to keep everything in balance makes such a huge difference though! Once the wedding train starts rolling the focus of everything becomes that..so as Amanda wrote in her last blog, we have found how vitally important it is to take some time to slow down. Lets see, next weekend we will be getting some legit engagement photos done. Our friend and incredible photographer Michael Howard is taking them (www.howardphoto.com). Other than that we are just plowing through school and enjoying all of the things we have to look forward to. I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since we got engaged. Thanks to everyone for getting us all of the addresses by the way! We could sell our contact list for a good amount of money online its so big. Anyway, that is all I've got for now. Bout to meet up with the lady at Chili's for a little dinner date and relaxation time!

-DJ

Remembering to Slow Down

2007-10-23T15:12:00.000-05:00

We've only been engaged for two weeks, but we've already set up the guest list (with almost all of the addresses on an alphabetized spread sheet), booked the ceremony/reception site, picked out colors and registered! Phew! Its amazing how much we've already accomplished in this short amount of time. But, I think its important that we remind ourselves to slow down and just enjoy this part of life. I'm already turning myself into a planning queen. So, I'm remembering to take time to do nothing at all.

DJ and I are so happy to be engaged, especially with the amazing support of our family and friends. Its been so encouraging to be affirmed in that way.
We love you all so much!
-Amanda

Busy Busy!

2007-10-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!
DJ here. Amanda and I have been busy busy since we got engaged two weeks ago. We took a visit to South Carolina to see some of Amanda's family and see Mr. Ryan Adams in concert. It was a really great weekend and perfect timing to kind of get away for a vacation. When we got home it was straight back to school for a few days and then more planning for the big day! Guest lists, registries, more guest list things basically describe our weekend. And just so everyone is reminded, this blog is about to be our way to communicate what is going on rather than facebook or myspace. Telephones do still exist so please feel free to call us as well! Anyway, sorry if my thoughts are scattered this morning. Please come back and check on us!

-DJ and Amanda

We're Engaged!

2007-10-21T22:28:00.001-05:00

...more to come. :)