Today is Black Friday and everyone is out shopping and looking for the best deals possible. A couple of my coworkers and I walked to Target, it was fun to go into the midst of the chaos. There were lots of people moving fast, asking questions and digging to get stuff. Target had tons of cool electronics for sale at awesome prices.

I like Black Friday, but even more I love not being part of it. What I like to do is to recap the “stuff” I already have and not need to purchase. To name a few:

• The love of God
• The gift of an amazing soon to be my wife
• My mother’s health
• My family, Sarah’s family and my church family
• My two cat’s needs
• A dog’s happiness
• The joy of getting the sweetest parking spot this morning
• A job I enjoy doing
• Felling the cold air in my face getting warmed by the sun
• Holding Sarah’s hand in the morning

I could keep going but these is just a fraction of the “stuff” that has been given to me. I forgot my wallet today and had to borrow money for lunch, but what I haven’t forgotten is that I am a very, very wealthy man.

Presently, I am in the center of Wisconsin. I just met a very nice tow truck driver named Sal who loaded my dead-as-a-doornail car from the shoulder of the Interstate, onto his truck and into his shop. Sal was quickly able to determine that my car’s problem is a dead alternator. Unfortunately on this lovely Sunday afternoon, Sal is unable to procure the part due to parts shops being closed today.

In a rather sudden way, God is reminding me that I control nothing. I had my schedule today planned out perfectly. I visited my friend in Illinois until the last minute, had my rest stop planned, and would arrive for house church with 15 minutes to spare. As my car began to shut down and came rolling to a halt, my first reaction was frustration. I thought to myself, “This is screwing up my schedule!”

How silly. How silly of me to think my plans are mine. My schedule, my life, is the Lord’s. Sometimes he permits me to fit a bunch of things in and go see a lot of people and places. But sometimes, he asks me to sit quietly at Mauston Park Oasis Family Restaurant (while waiting for my wonderful fiance to come pick me up) and reflect on my total inability to control my life. It is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Prov. 19:21).

So, although I do not understand, I am thanking the Lord for my broken alternator today. I’ll miss my house church tonight and I look forward to the time God brings me to them again.

Here’s one of the things that came to my rescue today. This is the sticker on the side of Sal’s tow truck. Notice where it was made – yup, right in New Hampton, Iowa! I love that New Hampton, my favorite hometown, had a part in getting me off the side of the Interstate.

My other rescuer is my knight in shining armor, my man. I called Rafa first and he immediately calmed me down and started looking up where I was and where the nearest shops were. He then got in the car and started coming toward me. He’ll be here in a couple of hours to bring me back to Minneapolis. I love him so much. This incident is another in a string of incidents where I feel pretty high-drama, but he is taking it in stride. He is cool, calm, collected, and always reminding me to be content in the Lord and to honor him in every situation. I love him!

What a day! we got a lot of things accomplished for our wedding. We have been working really hard, but at times it feels as if we weren’t getting much done. We had been working on things separately, we covered some ground but not much. Today we combined forces and scratched a few things off the list. It feels great when we get to work together, I can definitely see how we complement each other. As an example when we have been working on our wedding invitations, Sarah gives a lot of creative input but ultimately makes sure the writing is good. I know little about writing, so I mostly help on the creative aspect of the task.
We also settle in a wedding band for me, and its on its way here. We went for a Tungsten band, since it’s the most resistant metal. It was a tough pick, but I can’t wait to sport it. I can’t thank God enough for my future wife, she is smart, loving, compassionate and above all a woman that is focused on the treasures that matter the most.

Today has been a day of checking things off the list! We selected Rafa’s ring (tungsten carbide, if you were wondering) and placed the order. Then, we finished invitation, envelope and RSVP card design and prepped them for printing.

THEN, we went shopping and checked a big one off the list – we got his suit! We found a great design that will look wonderful for the wedding day and beyond. We picked out Ricardo’s outfit too. Rafa will take it to him next weekend so he can try it on and we can see if it is all sized correctly. We even found ties! We picked out one for Rafa, Ricardo and my dad (try to forget by Christmas, dad).

With a big chunk of wedding stuff out of the way, we went to Petco. Since everyone in the fish tank has been doing so well since the move, Rafa decided it was time to bring home a few new friends.

New snails and crabs

We are in the middle of intense debate – titanium or…something else? Rafa got his ring finger sized the other day. We started looking online for rings and we found some interesting ones. By we, I mean he – he had some fun sneeking in some really strange ones (a Nike swoosh wedding ring??) to see if I was paying attention.

We think we have a winner, but I can’t bring myself to order it without a bit more advice and perhaps a trip to the jewelry store to hold some titanium in my hand. I posted a question on Facebook and got several pro-titanium comments. People who have them are generally pleased with how light the are and have not had a problem with scratching. We might have a winner…

I don’t know if this blog would be any good without Sarah’s effort. With work, school and everything else, I rarely get a change to update it. The blog is quite important to me because I know my family as well as my new family loves to read the updates of our new adventure. Sarah, thank you for putting your time and effort on keeping our peeps updated.

Another weekend bites the dust and Rafa and I close the book on another great Friday through Sunday stretch of time together. During each of the three days of the weekend, we spent time at three different churches! All different subjects, but all very good.
Rafa really touched my heart this weekend when we had prayer time Sunday morning. I was making some breakfast (muffins) at my parents house and he had me pause. One of the things he prayed for was a prayer of thanks for being part of the Reicks family. That really meant a lot to me because that is the same thing I think a lot. He thanked our Lord for my family and for the fact he was part of it now. I don’t want to take away from his family at all. They are wonderful and I am very lucky to be a part of it. It was just so sweet to hear him pray that this morning.
We got the photos all taken and I’m excited to see the results. I know the Reicks family will grow and change and receive additions over the next couple of years. The picture we took today will be outdated before we know it. But it’s still nice to have this snapshot of this moment our our family. I can’t wait to compare it to the one we take a few years from now.

I just looked at the wedding day countdown…we’re under 90 days! It’s hard to believe we will be married in less than three months. I want it to hurry up and get here, but I’m sure I can fill my time getting some wedding stuff ready 🙂

We haven’t spent much time on wedding stuff lately. We’ve been busy with marriage stuff. We’ve been working on our FTBT homework and meeting with our mentor couple. Last night, we had dinner at their house…before any of us knew it, it was almost 10:30 and time to get home. We are so fortunate to have mentors that are such dear friends.

I’ve also been trying to make sure I’m feeling at my best for the wedding, so I’ve been getting back into the workout routines. My friend Adrienne is always there for encouragment or guilt, depending. I’ve got to make sure my triceps are ready for that dress!