The Adventures of Darcey & Watson

I know a lot of you have been waiting to see some photos from my wedding on June 20th, 2014. So without further adieu here are a few of the edited ones we got from our amazing photographers Clara and Cameron. (be prepared to scroll)

Decor:

Our cake topper

Flower girl pails and ring bearer pillow

Centerpieces

Make-up bells

Our cake bar

Our cake

Cake bar decorations

A game we had during the reception

The rings

Our converse and rings

center pieces

My bouquet

All the bouquets

row reserved

shoes and rings again

The Church

Alley Before:

calming my heart in prayer

me and Sieka

Happiness

me

Left to Right: Gma, Brandon, me, Mommy, Stephy

my Mommy and me

me with a blue wall

Chantelle, me and Sieka

my bridesmaids and me

my bridesmaids and me

my bridesmaids and me

my bridesmaids being goofy

my bridesmaids

Prayer beforehand

me and Chantelle

me and Jessica

Girls shoes

I have an owl in my hair!

our bouquets

prayer beforehand

me and Sieka

me and Katie (my maid of honor)

my gpa and me

me

me again

Brandon, me, my Mommy and Cooper

Jacqui, Brandon, me and Mommy

Brandon, me and Mommy

Brandon and me

Mommy and me

me and my bridesmaids

me and gma

mommy and me

final touches

my great gma’s necklace

zipping me up

MAKEUP?!

my dress

my dress again

Brandon calming me before walking down the isle

Tim Before:

Prayer beforehand

more prayer

Tim

Gotta love sisters (Tim with Vicki and Gayle)

Tim

Tim

Tim

Tim and flowergirls Ali and Keira

Tim with ring bearer Cooper

Vicki, Tim, Gayle and Adam

Tim with his gparents

Tim and his brother/best man Adam

Tim and his groomsmen

mug shots

Tim with his gpa, dad and bro

Tim and his mommy

Tim’s dad tied their ties

Tim tying his shoes

buttoning his vest

Billy getting ready

Adam getting ready

Tim

Tim

Guys shoes

Tim and Cooper

Tim and his dad

Tim with his parents

The Ceremony:

Worship to start the ceremony

before walking onto the stage

my brother giving me away

last hug from Brandon as a non-married person

Brandon walking me down the isle

Flower girls

During Worship

On stage

Prayer

holding Tim’s hand

Signing our vow document

Signing the vow document

More signing of the document

Communion

The kiss!

Prayer

my rings

Holding hands

skipping down the isle

Katie and Adam skipping

Sieka and Billy skipping

Chantelle and Sam skipping

Jess and Josh skipping

Ali, one of my flower girls

The kiss again from a different angle

Dismissing people one row at a time

Still dismissing people

Bride and Groom:

me and Tim

Kissy kissy

yikes! It’s windy!

me and Tim

me and Tim

A little privacy please?

kissy kissy

me and Tim

me and Tim

me and Tim

Bridal Party:

The Bridal party

flower girls and ring bearer

all our shoes

Walking outside

Bridal party again

Flower girls

me with the flower girls

Family:

Bridal party and family

grandparents, parents, siblings, nieces

parents and grandparents

parents

siblings

my new dad

mother-in-law and son-in-law

my second mom

Tim’s side, immediate family

my side immediate family

Siblings in black and white

awkward family photo

Reception:

cutting the cake

don’t eat my finger!

entering the reception

more kissy kissy

Mother and son dance

the first dance

om nom nom

more dancing

mother son dance

mother son dance

my brother’s toast

brother sister dance

brother sister dance

Tim’s dad

Dancing

Dancing

dancing

brother sister dance

Brandon’s toast again

Brother sister dance

SHOUT!

fellowship

dancing

Irish music

Adam’s toast

listening to a toast

more dancing

such coordination!

even more dancing

Chuck’s toast

bouquet toss

my mommy’s toast

Get Away:

Who needs rice or bubbles when you have rubber chickens?

CHICKENS!

they’re everywhere!

Sam’s car got covered

watch out for the chickens!

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Source: Zink Wedding Photos

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage…For you, bretheren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.‘ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” – Galatians 5:1, 13-18

Source: A Reminder from Galatians

     I am finding, as I am in the final month of preparing for marriage, that I have a hard time knowing when to rest and when to run. I am one of those people who will burn the candle at both ends, especially when there is something that really needs to get finished. This is sometimes a good thing, like when I have a deadline that needs to be met and not much time to complete the task at hand. Other times, if over a prolonged period of time, I will burn myself out and either get sick or be in a state of emotional and physical uselessness.

The Lord is so gracious. This past month, there were a few moments of panic and stress, but always the Lord used it to show me that even if I have plans all set, He is the One who knows the beginning and end. One quote from Ender’s Game that gave me an “aha-moment” was “The *way* we win matters”. This reminded me of something that I already knew, but had forgotten in the midst of my crazy life.

“’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts” – Zechariah 4:6

This made me stop and think. Why am I getting married to Tim? It’s all for the glory of God, and to make His name known through the whole world and to reflect His relationship with His church to everyone around. Yes, I love Tim. Yes, he is my best friend and I want to spend the rest of my life here on earth with him. But the real reason we are getting married isn’t to have a fantastic wedding. It’s not to fulfill needs that we think we have. It’s not because we have all the answers and are prepared 100% for married life. That’s ridiculous.

I’m very thankful that the Lord continues to slow me down to remind me that He’s got this under control. He brought Tim and me together and I don’t have to worry about what flowers will be in the reception, or the color of my dress. All that matters is that Christ stays the center of our relationship and we are so filled with His Spirit that He can touch hearts through our covenant of marriage to each other.

Two sinners, united as one before God, on a mission to spread His love through the nations. That is the beauty of marriage. Yeah, that’s easier said than done, but I believe God will continue to grow us in His likeness and I pray He uses us to reach those who have yet to hear His name.

Source: 28 Days and Counting

Happy Mother’s Day to the best Mommy a daughter could ever be blessed with! Not only is she my Mommy, but she is also one of my closest friends and my sister in Christ. Though we’ve been through some pretty rough times, God has protected us so much and has brought us closer to Him and each other in many ways. I’m still surprised at how alike we really are! But the older I get, the more I am happy that I’m becoming more like my Mommy because I do more things that remind me of her!

Just last night I had a longing for my Mommy that comes every time I’m sick or feeling blue. She was always there for me, and still always is. I love her more than words can describe. I miss those times we would dance to the credit songs of movies, or the times we created our own musicals as we cleaned the house or cooked together, the hundreds of times my friends would ask if we could go to my house because my mom was just so cool and fun to be around, the awesome birthday parties she would cater to our liking, the patience she granted to us even though she always had bad headaches, the values she taught us about how important family is, the warm embraces she gave to comfort me after the death of a pet, the encouragement she gave to pursue my dreams, the times she came to school with me for “bring your parent to school day” and my classmates thought she was a new student and not my mom, how she trusted the Lord to take care of me through my various mission trips overseas, how we would sing “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor while waiting for the doctor in the doctors office, how she believed me when I told her about my dad and walked through the difficulty of that situation with me, and even the times she would get frustrated at my rebellion in wearing non-matching socks everyday on purpose.

She will always be my Mommy and I’ll always be her Alleycat.

Happy Mother’s Day! I really wish I could be there in Pennsylvania with you to celebrate!

Source: I love my Mommy

    Often, I try to do things on my own. I guess it is something engrained in me that I need to be in control, and if I am unable to do something, then I’m a failure and should just quit, which leads to me becoming depressed and useless when the Lord wants to use me. When I get a project assigned to me, I used to believe that it was up to me, and me alone to see it to completion. Which made me feel even worse when I couldn’t do what I was asked.
It was last month, when I was becoming overwhelmed with everything involved with the Veil of Tears store that I was close to calling it quits. When I heard a message in prayer meeting about working together, and how we are the Body of Christ and aren’t alone. Some thing clicked in my brain and heart and I realized: I’m not in it alone! We are in a battle as believers, each with our different trials to work through. If we don’t rely on the Lord as our strength and allow others to help out when they can, the enemy will find a foothold and make you feel alone and eventually take you out of the battle. Together, we can stand strong as one Body in Christ.
This doesn’t mean that there will not be times of stress and hardship, but when those times come, I don’t have to f ace them alone. I can ask someone to pray for me, or I can delegate part of the task to those who are willing to help out, or I can stop what I’m doing and refocus my heart on the Lord because it is His work I’m doing anyways. When I take the focus off of myself, it is so much easier to relax and rely on the Lord to get the task done in His timing.
Serving at Gospel for Asia, I have learned many things about the Body of Christ that I never really noticed before. We are a family. We are not alone. We are one Body in Christ. We share the same Spirit. We are constantly looking for ways to love and serve others, to place them above ourselves. When one member is hurting, the rest hurt along with them. Reading through Ephesians is encouraging when I need to remind myself that we are in a battle, and that the Lord doesn’t leave us defenseless.
A neat scripture reference I happened upon recently calmed my heart, so I thought it would be nice to share it with you as well:

“Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas an all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.”
– Nehemiah 9:6

God created EVERYTHING and He PRESERVES it all. Why would I worry, why would I stress out when God has everything under control?

Source: Together as the Body of Christ

My Cousin Sammy and me

This past weekend, I took a trip up to Pennsylvania to take part in a bridal shower my mom, some family, and a few friends were holding for me. While I was up there, I had a great time catching up with those I haven’t talked to in a long time. I also had the opportunity to hang out with my cousin Samantha, she is 11 years old and enjoys art and writing stories. Here is a story she wrote for me, it took her about 20 minutes or so to come up with it based off a our conversation previously (spelling/grammar were not corrected):

The Adventures of Alex and her 8 Kids

The house was quiet at first but then 8 kids came running the house their shoes covered in mud. Each kid stop and put their coats on the coat rack and their shoes on the ground. Their were 2 girls and 6 boys. The 2 girls were twins Blair and Catherine. Both girls were 7 years old. They fought every day. The 6 boys names were Ezekiel who was 5 years old. Elijiah who was 8 years old. Asher who was 15 years old. Tobiah who was 14 years ld. Calvin who was 3 years old. And finally the youngest who was 1 year old was Jackson. Now 8 kids are not easy to take car of. There are a lot of reasponsibility. But Alex and Tim are veary proud of how they raised their 8 little mirials. They love each and every one of them.
When Blair and Catherine came in the house they started agueing over who gets to sleep with Fin the family dog. I want to sleep with him cried Blair. No I want to I am older. Said Catherine. By one minute said Blair. Girls girls said Alex you both can sleep with him you both shair the same room. Okay said the girls.
Whats for dinner asked the kids. Roast Beef mashed potato’s amd green beans said Alex. Yum said the kids.
Hey daddy’s home said Jackson. Daddy screamed the kids. Theirs my 8 little miriacls said Tim. Mmm do I smell roast beef said Tim. Yep said Alex. Hey don’t forget the green beans said Ezekiel. And the mash potato’s said Elijiah. With that the family went to the table and ate dinner.
THE END.
By: Samantha Hoffman”

Not only was I touched and super happy that she wrote me a story, I was also surprised that she is so much older than when I left 5 years ago that she can write a story, I was amused at how cute the story was, AND I was quite impressed at how good the story was for an 11 year old! I love my family.

Source: A Short Story from my Cousin

Saturday March 1, 2014, started out like a normal day. Darcey was serving at a women’s conference running the Prayer PC and I slept in and got some chores done. At about 1:30pm, I drove over to GFA to pick Darcey up and grab some much needed sustenance at my favorite fast food place: Chik-fil-A. It was such a nice warm day, so we decided to go to a park and swing some before going back to the Ferson’s to watch the IT Crowd with a few people.

The park we went to is in a neighborhood called Castle Hills which has many MANY parks in it, though we have nicknamed them according to what the park is “themed” after. This one was the “Castle park” because there are four pits all connected by a tunnel that leads up to a round opening that looks like King Arthur’s round table. The opening looks like part of a castle, hence the nickname “CASTLE park”.

We started off swinging, and enjoying our time together, and then I went down one of the slides leading into a pit. Darcey said “I’ll meet you in the castle!”, I said “alright!” and proceeded to race through the tunnels to beat him there. Apparently I’m a bit more out of shape than I thought because when I got into the castle and didn’t see him there yet, I plopped down on the ground and caught my breath. Soon he walked over to me and I gave him my hands to help me up.

As I stood up, he hugged me from behind and said “So, I have a random question for you, well, it isn’t so random”. At this point, I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary because our relationship was founded on asking “random questions” to each other. So I said “alright?”

Then, before I knew what was happening, he knelt down on one knee and said “will you marry me?”.

I said “WHAAAaat?!”, as my heart rate sky-rocketed.

So he put the ring in front of me, and I took it and said “is this real?!”

I placed it on my finger and jumped into his arms in a tight embrace. Then we sat down, me still hugging him, and he proceeded to tell me that he had had permission to ask me for about a week prior to this moment. I looked at him in disbelief, amazed that he had contained that excitement so well without me finding out. Though I do tend to be a bit oblivious to these kinds of things.

When we got back to his apartment, we shared the news with his roommate Sam, and then called/texted our families to give them the news. My cheeks were sore towards the end of those calls from smiling for two hours straight.

And so, Darcey and I are now engaged and are planning our wedding for either June 20th or 21st!

EXCITING TIMES!

Here’s some preview photos from the engagement photo shoot.

Source: He Asked, I said “YES!”

Source: T&A’s Engagement Shoot Preview

“Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” – Nehemiah 9:5-6

Source: An Encouragement from God’s Word

On February 4th, I woke up earlier than usual to make a 45 minute drive to Denton County’s courthouse. Why? Because I had been summoned to appear for jury duty. When the letter first arrived in the mail, unlike the majority of people who groan in annoyance, I jumped for joy. I had never been called upon for jury duty before and so I was excited to see what it was all about. I took time picking out an outfit to wear, trying not too look too professional, but not look like a bum at the same time. Made sure to leave a half hour earlier than needed to make sure I’d arrive on-time (I’m notorious for being late to everything, and getting lost).

As I drove to the courthouse, a sudden wave of panic arose within me. It took me by surprise, so I turned off the music I was listening to and started to think and pray about why I was having this fear rise up from the depths. Then it hit me. The last time I was at a courthouse was when I was 18 years old, terrified, on the verge of crying, and testifying against my dad. Back then, I had a small army of believers and family with me, praying me through. So I prayed “Lord, please use this time of jury duty to further heal me from the scars of my past.”

This was a very unexpected turn of events. What had started off as a fun venture into the unknown became a series of flashbacks, sweaty palms, and a strange sense of accomplishment. I hadn’t had flashbacks like this since the year following the moment I finally released the pent up story of my past. The Lord has healed me so much, and I had forgotten that the road to being fully healed is a long one. That is, until I started reading Mary DeMuth’s “Not Marked”. Praise the Lord that He has reminded me that I am still dependent on His grace and healing and I can’t do this on my own.

The first few steps I took across the parking lot to the courthouse building were rather timid, but as I released my fears to the Lord I entered the doors with confidence, knowing that I am not alone. Jury duty was rather boring at first. I walked into a big room with hundreds of chairs and not that many people. So I checked in and then made my way to the very back corner of the room so I could get a better view of what was transpiring in the jury selection hall. Soon the room filled to standing room only and a man came out and said that we only needed 244 of the crowd to stay to sit on jury.

After a short video to explain jury duty to those who were newbies like me, the guy came back and started to read off names of those who would be staying. One Indian guy who was sitting next to me asked if I thought he could get out of jury duty because he travels every week, I told him I had no clue. Then we came to the last list of names and my name hadn’t been called yet so I was thinking, “Alright Lord, I guess You just wanted me to trust You to get me through this section and I can go back to work.” Then my name was called, “Alexandrea Wessner” and I quietly said/wimpered my “here” and waited for more instructions. As I made my way to the hallway to collect my red “ticket” that told me where to go next, I saw a familiar friendly face. One of the ladies from Gospel for Asia had been summoned too! Unfortunately she hadn’t been called like me, so she went home after we exchanged hugs, but it was nice to have a friendly face in the crowd of strangers who didn’t want to be there.

After about 20 minutes, the bailiff came in and took the 32 of us to the courtroom we where we would be questioned and eliminated. Walking to the courtroom, I felt like my feet were like lead. So I kept praying “Lord help, Lord help, please help.” We all gathered outside the courtroom and they called our names in the order we would be staying in for the elimination process. I was first. So I got to walk into the courtroom first and find my seat to the far front right as the lawyers stared, not smiling, judging me and the other jurors the entire time. I felt so small, till my row slowly filled up. An hour of random questions later, and a few jurors making ridiculous comments and claims to get out of being chosen, we had a break for lunch.

I ate at Wendy’s because I couldn’t find anything else around. I don’t think I will ever eat out alone again… was so lonely! I was tempted to ask the elderly group a few tables away if I could join them just for company. Though, the kids meal toy was entertaining.

After lunch we all piled back into the courtroom to be bombarded by more questions as the lawyers tried to feel us out and eliminate those they felt wouldn’t help their case. Soon, it was time for the elimination process. As we were waiting in the hallway for the lawyers and judge to eliminate, I saw this elderly lady, who was one of the jurors with me, reading a book by Charles Stanley called “Finding Peace”. Again, I felt the Lord encouraging me through even the title of the book she was reading!

Filing back into the courtroom, I had a feeling that I would be picked to sit on the jury. I don’t know how, but I somehow knew. Though I wasn’t prepared for them calling my name first. That was really weird. Walking through the door that divided the floor of the courtroom from the seats we were sitting in, following the bailiff to the jury box and finding my seat first. I couldn’t help myself, I was shaking a bit. Had to bite my lip to stop it from quivering as I sat there waiting for the other jurors to join me.

The rest of that day was a lot less stressful. The bailiff took us back to the juror room and we got the low-down on what was expected of us, we got our juror badges, and then went back into the courtroom to hear the first part of the trial. It was a case that was really low in Civil court, so it wasn’t a murder case or theft, it was a lawsuit. One lady was suing another lady for injuries that supposedly occurred in a car crash from late November 2009. Which I found interesting because 2009 was the year I sat in court against my dad. Coincidence? I think not.

We listened to both sides for about an hour and then were dismissed to go home for the evening, but since it wasn’t over, we had to show up bright and early again the next day. So I went home and the next morning dressed a lot more comfortable than I had dressed the day before. This time when we got in the courtroom, it went a lot faster and before we knew it, we were back in the juror room discussing all the evidence that we were presented. It was a very easy decision on most of our parts, but we took a little longer discussing it than needed to ease the minds of those who had entrusted this decision to us as a jury. After about an hour of discussion, of which I’m surprised how much I spoke my opinion, we had 11 to 1 voting against the lady who was suing.

Back in the courtroom, we said what we believed the evidence showed and the lady came away with absolutely nothing. I kinda felt bad for her because she was obviously in pain because she had a degenerative disk disease, but she was not injured in the accident itself. So we were released from our jury duties and dismissed to the jury room again. In came the bailiff and the judge as they told us stories from prior cases and answered our questions.

Later, in the hallway by the elevators, the lawyers met us and asked us how they could improve in what they do and what we all thought about the case. I was tempted to tell them that each time one of them spoke I started to believe their side of the case even if what the other said right before made so much sense. Talk about tricky lawyers! Either that or I’m just too gullible…. Which could very well be the case.

As we took the elevators down to the parking lot, one of the lawyers stopped me as I was exiting and asked me about my mission work. He was like, “Hey! I wanted to ask you. Where do you work?” I said, “I actually work at Gospel for Asia out of Carrollton.” To which he said, “Do you travel places?” I responded, “Well, I went to India once but that was more of a ‘vision tour’ to see what is happening and such over there.” Then he asked, “Do you know any other languages?” I laughed and said, “None that I’m fluent in, but I do know a few words here and there in other languages.” Then he said thanks and walked away. I smiled and walked the other way thinking to myself “that was a tad odd, but cool at the same time.”

And so ended my jury duty experience. I later got $46 in the mail for my services, and my heart has healed significantly from the Lord walking me through that adventure. I look forward to my next journey to jury duty, if I ever get called on again. It’s cool how God really does use everything to grow you closer to Himself and to heal you from past pains.

Source: How the Lord Used Jury Duty to Further Heal Me