melissa and me! :) 
left to right: melissa, me, jeremiah, jake, josh, j.p., matt neff, robby, and como
again, me and melissa... :) in the limo!!!!
kim, melissa, me, and stevie
matt neff, j.p. and como being hams for the camera :)
after getting ready for the day, brindy and melissa and i went shopping. we went to old navy (they were having the most huge sale EVER!!!) and so i bought some way cute things for, like, five bucks a piece! yay me!!! i got this one really expensive skirt that i've been wanting since i worked at old navy for 3.99!!!! OH YEAH!!! :)
then brindy had to go with kim and stevie to the church to get the night ready for us, and so melissa and i ordered a pizza and walked to the nearest gas station to get some soda--we then had a girly afternoon of watching a movie and eating pizza--yum! :) after that we got ourselves all pretti-fied for the night... we didn' really know what to expect, but they told us to get dressed up, and we knew we were going to be given our purity rings.
so we got to the church and took some pictures with everybody and then, next thing we knew, there's a limo pulling into the parking lot!!! they got us a sweet black limo!!!! :) so we all piled in, rocking out to christian music :) and drove to this gorgeous mansion of a house. we were then escorted, one by one, to the backyard down this amazing staircase, all lit up with candles and surrounded by plants and trees, and there's this little set up in the backyard (which just happens to overlook all of san diego) that looks like a wedding! jason and jessica were there, and so we had a short coram deo service with a bit of worship, under the stars, overlooking the lit-up pretty-ness of downtown... and then jason spoke on the committment we all are making to God this year in master's. he compared it to a wedding--a time of total faithfulness to God--a time of an undivided heart. he said it was important for us to really make this our choice and not a rule, and so after he spoke, he gave us all time to go off by ourselves and pray before they gave us our rings. then, whenever we felt ready, we could come back and all of the leaders would pray for us and we would officially be "married" to Jesus. okay, so it sounds kind of corny, but it was so incredibly powerful! it was actually really hard to make the commitment just because i know it's not going to be easy, but jason said that david, in the Bible, talked about how he did not want to give God a sacrifice which cost him (david) nothing. it made me realize that true surrender does hurt, but sacrifices which are painful offer the hope of transformation. i am so excited to see what the rest of this year has in store for all of us students, because it seems like every moment that i'm here, spending time in God's presence, He's chipping away a little more at my rough edges and human weaknesses, and helping me to see just how much i need Him. i made my commitment tonight. eight more months of single-ness and trusting God to fulfill my every need--to be my everything. something that really encouraged me in my prayer time this morning was the realization that God can be a Lover--after all, He did create romance!!! i wrote in my journal this morning: "i thank you, Father, that you smile at me in the sunshine, and kiss me with the cool breeze. you send me flowers daily and wink at me through the clouds--you are just as hopeless a romantic as i am!! :) thank you for sustaining me--that i can meet with you at anytime, surrender all that i am, and then be refreshed and filled again with you."
goodnight everyone!!! :) :) :)
