Winter Wedding

Alison and James tied the knot on 12.18.2010 in a beautiful ceremony in Nacogdoches, Tx! The picture above was from this past Labor Day weekend, they were my first visitors along with Claire and Blake. We walked the Kemah Boardwalk, people watched, and ate homemade icecream.

I have known Alison throughout college and so happy that she found her guy to share life with. Their goal as husband and wife is to strive to imulate Christ's relationship with the Church.

The wedding was beautiful. Christmas decorations in a church are so festive and make beautiful wedding decor.

Not only was it a wonderful day celebrating the joining of Alison and James as husband and wife but wonderful to catch up with friends!




the 442 girls



Tyler Roses



Sic'em Bears! Minus the axe'm jacks in the background. :)



I think I am turning into an adult.

I asked for a filing cabinet for Christmas. Some might find that odd to ask for. I had no qualms about asking for it, because I needed it. Beside the Christmas tree Christmas morning was.... A filing cabinet. It is now sitting in my closet with a pile of things to be filed. My inspiration to ask for a filling cabinet was the head of the OT department - she told us to find a way to stay organized or else on day we would turn out like her - her office has stacks and stacks of paper everywhere. I will keep you posted on how the organization goes! I do like to be organized!

I also received scrubs for Christmas from Wink. They are very cute and professional. They will have their first major use this semester. In March we go out into the field for a week. I cant wait to wear my new scrubs and put to use the knowledge I have gained already!



Thankful

This post is a little belated... its been in progress for a while.

I always try to count and be mindful of my blessings, but this month (November) I decided to write one down each day. I will just share a few. I don't deserve what the Lord has bestowed to me yet since I am His child, He blesses me. And in turn I pray I glorify the Lord and bless others around me. These are in no particular order of importance, just what I was thinking about that day.

Nov. 1 - My Half Birthday! I am thankful for 23.5 wonderful years of life in which I have grown in Lord and learned about my Creator and Father.
Nov. 2 - Election Day! I am thankful to live in a country where my voice can be heard and have no fear of my life being taken. I am thankful for the framework of government our founding fathers risked their lives to create.
Nov 6 - Ryan. Though he's in Georgia and I am in Texas, our hearts have grown close. It has been a wonderful adventure together so far and only more to come.
Nov. 7 - As a follower of Christ, I am sent to make disciples out of others. II Corinthians 5:19 says, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you [plural - meaning followers of Christ]." What an honor to be called to bring others to Christ- at the same time kinda scary.
Nov. 8 - School. I thankful that I am where I can learn about what I am passionate about - helping others and their families though enabling them to do what they want to do. I am thankful the Lord blessed me with a brain to think and a heart to have compassion, both of which I pray bring glory to him.
Nov. 14 - Forever friends. and those that are only in my life for a season.
Nov 19 - The human body, We were in the cadaver lab today and I couldn't help but think, the intricacy and precision only points to one thing, a heavenly Creator and Designer.
Nov 25- I am thankful to be able to gather around a table with loved ones to be grateful for our blessings together.

I am thankful for so much more. I thought I'd just share a small bit of my thankful list with you. What are you thankful for?

Midterms and an Anniversary

I am now 6 weeks into school...woah! It has not been a gentle glide into the program but rather a running jump full force planting both feet with your elbows out. Today, was our first of seven midterms so if I seem to fall off the face of the earth this month, just think, "oh yeah midterms". Nothing has seemed undoable, not to say its not a lot of work. My mind and heart are focused on glorifying the Lord in all that I do, because He died for me to save me from my sins- Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith --and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast".
Today, Ryan and I celebrate one year as boyfriend and girlfriend. Its crazy to think its been a year since I was working at Disney and he came to visit. This past year has been a wonderful year, traveling to see each other. Long distance relationships are definitely something to be worked at and something in which communication is key, then again working at it and communication are keys to any solid relationship. When the Lord's hand is in the midst nothing is impossible. Picture below is of us a year ago! :)

May the Lord bless you and keep you

This past weekend, I went to a beautiful wedding. I am so thankful for having been apart of such a special time. The weekend was filled with laughter and love to celebrate Nathan and Molly. Ryan created a wonderful video collage of pictures of Molly and Nathan's lives to be shared at the rehersal dinner. He truly had some sacrifial love for his brother because he did not play the new Halo Reach until he was finished with the video - thats a big deal. The video and many sweet toasts were shared during the rehersal dinner at Maggiano's (YUM!).
The wedding started with a solo of "Somewhere out there" by Wayne Watson. I don't think there was a dry eye in the sanctuary! I will leave you the lyrics at the end of my post. It was such a touching song; I think what made it so moving was it was song by the groom's mother and it a prayer from the heart of a little boy's mom about the little girl he will one day marry. During one of the prayers the groomsmen and bridesmaids circled around the bride and groom. It was a beautiful illustration of how are are to be a community in Christ, to circle around each other and lift one another up. The service concluded with quartet including the bride's father singing "May the Lord bless you and keep you". I don't think I have ever heard it at a wedding before but I thought it was a natural fit and was a beautiful way of sending off the new married couple!

At the reception, my favorite thing was the photo booth - not only taking the funny pictures but watching others take them as well. Of course there was a SIC'EM Bears and some Waco Dr. Pepper.

Sunday after all of Ryan's best man duties were completed, we were able to have a date day. It was wonderful to be with his family for the wedding but it was also very nice to have some time together on Sunday to explore Houston. We decided on the museum district - we walked through Fine Art Museum. The best part of the museum was the underground tunnels that took you from building to building. In one of them you felt like you were walking on a walkway that was suspended in midair. It was a little discombobulated when your head knew you were underground yet you felt like you were up in the air and could fall. There was a photo gallery of images post Katrina. The graffiti that was left on buildings was definitely an insight into how people think and their worldviews. One more touching message was Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts you".

"Somewhere in the World" - Wayne Watson

Somewhere in the world today
A little girl will go out to play
All dressed up in mama's clothes
At least the way that I suppose it goes
Somewhere in the world tonight
Before she reaches to turn out the light
She'll be prayin' from a tender heart
A simple prayer that's a work of art

Chorus
And I don't even know her name
But I'm prayin' for her just the same
That the Lord will write His name upon her heart
'Cause somewhere in the course of this life
A little boy will need a godly wife
So hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are

Somewhere in the world out there
That little girl's learnin' how to care
She's pickin' up her mamas charms
Or maybe, swingin' 'round in her daddy's arms
Somewhere in the world to be
Though the future's not real clear to me
Their's could be a tender love
Grounded in eternal love above

9/11

Take time today to pray for the families that lost loved ones. For those that still struggle with memories of that day. For those that have been sent out to protect and fight for freedom. For those that make decisions for our country. For those that planned the attack and those with like minds - that they my see Christ and turn from evil.

First Week: Blessed

I have been Marybeth Sparks-Bauer OTS (Occupational Therapy Student) for a week now. If you had asked me Wednesday, I would have told you I had been in school for 3 months. It has definitely been an adjustment to a new schedule and routine. After a wonderful refreshing Wednesday night church service and some good rest I was rejuvenated. All through the week I felt the Lord's hand and affirmation that this is where I am suppose to be and from this there will be great things. A worry I had had earlier was whether or not I'd enjoy my long commute twice a day. The Lord answered that prayer, I am carpooling now with two other girls and it worked out great this week, hopefully that continues.

I could have been in the OT class ahead of me, but because I had too many prerequisite classes I still needed to take after the application time, I was told to wait the year out. I didn't understand why then, now I do. I had a year to rest from college. I learned to trust more fully in the Lord. Ryan and I found each other. I now I only have to be in school for two years and not three. Yes that's right, even though I waited a year, I  will still graduate the same time as the class ahead of me. The Lord is so good.

I think I am in a pretty awesome grad class, if I do say so myself. There are 48 of us and we have all seven of our classes together. I believe we'll end up being family. Anyway to celebrate finishing our first week, one of the girls decided that we should go out to eat. We had 30+ of our class show up! We ate at this small Mexican restaurant, "The Original Mexican Cafe". Its pretty incredible. You should try it out when your in Galveston.

In Christ,

Marybeth