Better late than never...

Ok, it's been nearly a year since my last post...and a LOT has happened since then.

I didn't get into grad school. But God had other (better) things in store for me.

Even as I finished up my final (fifth) year at Truman and stressed out about grad school apps and auditions, God was carefully orchestrating the timing on another wild card in my life: my relationship with one LT Andrew D. Tipping, U.S. Army (a friend from Truman who, incidentally, was one of my few avid readers from this blog's inception). Our friendship of 4 years turned quickly into something more after Drew gave his life to Christ on May 4, 2010. We both thought it would be a bad idea to date right away, so we essentially alternated 'breaking up' with each other despite the fact that we weren't officially dating...I'd just been calling him from London on my cell phone for 4p a minute for sometimes hours at a time (in the middle of the night, GMT, I might add), and he was regularly emailing me and more than happy to let me run up his phone bill like that. Well, after 3 pseudo-break-ups in mid-May, early June, and late August respectively, we finally started dating officially in late October 2010.

We dated 3 weeks before he happened to mention it to his parents, and only a week after finding out her son was dating me, Drew's mom proceeded to spend part of their family's Thanksgiving roadtrip bestowing unsolicited upon him her advice about the best time of year to plan the wedding! (People, I'm not making this stuff up.) Anyway, at least we knew she approved from the start! By January, Drew and I were the ones discussing marriage seriously, and we asked God at the end of February if that was His plan for us. It's another long story, but He said yes pretty clearly.

It took another 3 weeks, though, before we figured my parents were ready for Drew to ask permission to marry me. Once he did, and permission was duly granted, he proposed on Monday, March 28, 2011. On Thursday, March 31st, I got my final rejection letter (actually, it was a rather impersonal email) and we knew we'd be getting married in the fall instead of waiting until I was finished with grad school! I've never been sooo happy about being rejected in my life! And so, 6 months after Drew became a Christian, we starting dating, and 5 months after that we got engaged. Almost exactly 5 months from our engagement, we were married in Hermann, MO, on August 20, 2011.  (If anyone's interested in more of the story of our relationship, you can take a look at our wedding website, http://tiny.cc/AndrewandEmily2011)

Marriage is amazing and challenging. I've grown so much in the past 4 months that it's almost hard to believe how far I've come when I look back. I thought I was ready for marriage, but I had still so much to learn. God's been good and seen us through a number of challenges since our engagement, including Drew's mother's unexpected death in June, my first of 2 wrist surgeries (Nov), and--between the two of us combined--moving house not once but 4 times since May!

I confess some days I feel a bit like Eowyn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King.  Like Eowyn, I have always held in my heart a deep yearning for adventures and great deeds.  Maybe it's the traces of a Viking heritage not completely diluted with the passing of generations or perhaps it is an echo of a longing for the glory and adventure of the new heaven and new earth that are yet to come.  Whatever its source, settling always felt like a trap, and complacency always seemed the worst of fates.  Yet I have come to understand, I think, the change of heart Eowyn felt when she exclaimed to Faramir after months and years of restlessness and fears of adventure and glory passing her by, "I will be a shield-maiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying.  I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren."  She finds solace and a home in sharing her heart with a man--a friend--who understood her yearnings for something honorable, something more than ordinary.  She finds someone who understands her and loves her exactly as she is.  And growing in that relationship is a new and completely different adventure.  I, too, have found adventure in sharing my life with this man that God has given to me.  Because being in an ever-growing relationship is a constant source of exploration and discovery, and because God has given Drew and me to one another as traveling companions, I now know that no matter what we do or where life takes us, settling is no longer an option.  We have chosen a life of adventure together--the adventure of living for God's glory and the advancement of His kingdom, the most glorious cause possible.  As we follow our King, life can't help but become a daily adventure.

It's true that God's closed one chapter in my life--my years of Truman and studying abroad--but He's penning the opening pages of a new and exciting adventure. I hope to be more reliable and articulate in posting about both the adventure of the daily living and about where God's path take Drew and me in the coming years--whether it's Stateside or South Korea or somewhere else. As I look back on all that the Lord has done in my life to this point and how clear in hindsight His guiding Hand is, I am humbled at my own childish impatience and frustration when I didn't understand what He was doing and awed anew by His unfailing Love for me and all His children as He works all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8). I see His hand guiding my wanderings in this wide world so that--as long as I keep my eyes on Him--I may be a 'wanderer' but I will never be lost.

In closing, I leave you with a beautiful song by a talented Christian artist, Andrew Peterson, who shares his thoughts on wanderlust and the adventure of marriage:

In Christ, our great King, Guide, and Leader,
Mrs. Emily E. Tipping :)