Christmas time is here...

We're getting married! Josh proposed!

k

Wow.

Dear Mr and Mrs Meals,

It is with great pleasure that I am writing this letter to you. Your son, Joshua, is an amazing man. His character, though I'm sure he has his flaws, is beyond belief. His convictions are noble and just. His love, pure and bright. You may not take credit, but rather you look upward to give thanks for this miracle, this man.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of his life.

Ruthless

ruth - compassion for the misery of others

I am a Moabite. I am a Moabite widow. I am a Moabite widow stuck in the middle of Bethlehem. I’m lonely. I have a grouchy old mother-in-law for company. She’s hurting, and yet does not see my pain as well. She has lost a husband, a son. I have also experienced loss. Does she see my pain? Does she not care? She deserves to be called Mara. She is bitter. Her words, her thoughts, her looks. They all flow from the core of bitterness lodged within her.

My single relief from her bitterness is working in the fields all day for food. It’s hard labor. My back aches. I’m thirsty. I’m tired. I told her “…Wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Is she here struggling with the others in the field? Is she constantly worried for her own safety? No, because that has become my job as well. My job is to care for her, to put food on the table. And now? My job has become to redeem her.

Her only good humor comes from the fact that I have found favor in the sight of a noble man, one who is known at the city gates. She urged me to pursue him. She wanted me to go to the threshing floor, and yet, let no one know of my actions. I have done as she has asked. Her only good humor comes not from me, but through Boaz, our kinsman – our redeemer.

Money will be the death of me...

Money. Financial security. Bills. Car payments. College. Groceries. Stress.

So, about me. I am currently a college freshman. I come from a family that's relatively close-knit and I am the middle child. My sister, the oldest, is a genius in everything from schoolwork to music. The youngest of us three, my brother, is super athletic and quite a handsome young man. =]

I have a wonderful boyfriend, Josh, who is the sweetest man alive. There are two defining aspects of our relationship: he is 15 years older than me, and we share the love of Christ - toward each other and to those around us. Yup. Fifteen years. I'm 18. He's 33. No, we don't see a problem with it. No, our parents don't see a problem with it.

But, because of the age difference, there are different things in the relationship that have to be handled differently, like the idea of marriage.

Josh has dated two other girls besides me. His first kiss was while the two of us were stopped at a stoplight in the middle of Tennessee, going to his parents' house after dinner.

Josh and I are very serious about our relationship, which is not to say that we don't have fun. We both feel that God is leading us to marry one another. No big deal, right? It's time for him to "settle down" and "start a family." That's okay. I have no problem with that.

But, we're broke. Not broke in the sense that either of us are lucky to eat three meals a day. Broke as in, if we get married, will Josh be able to support a wife. He thinks he can. He's honestly unsure and doesn't want to ask me to make that kind of sacrifice.

I'm willing to take the leap.

k