Old News... :)

I haven't had much time to blog lately. The time has finally come to announce to my blogger friends that I am engaged (in case you hadn't managed to hear from a more personal source yet. :)

On 6 March 2010 my long-time best friend and short-time "boyfriend" Steven Williams asked me to marry him, and I agreed, of course. :)  Our wedding will be 11 June 2010 in Spangle, Washington. So, I probably won't be doing too much on here between now and then--I'm much too busy with all the planning, in addition to job searching and working at the UCA cafeteria.

For those of you who just heard this news, I will tell a short synopsis of the story.

The weekend of the 6th was a UCA music tour, so my parents were both gone, and Steven couldn't come home for the weekend due to music engagements, so I decided to take a trip down to  Walla Walla for the weekend.
After the concert on Sabbath afternoon, Steven took me for a drive in his little Beetle. We drove rather aimlessly around Walla Walla, then decided to find a place to stargaze. This took us a very long time, since there are many houses in the Walla Walla Valley, but finally we found a place that was sufficiently dark and not too dirty to sit in. We stayed there and talked for almost an hour, then got cold and decided to head back.

Steven helped me into the car, and I got settled in my seat. I was turned away, buckling my seatbelt, when Steven knelt down by the car and when I had turned back, said, "Alice Elizabeth Kravig, will you marry me?"  And, of course, I agreed. I didn't stay in the car for very long, either! :)

God is so good to us. We have been pursuing our relationship for almost four years, and there have been many obstacles we have encountered. Yet He has given us the strength to withstand the frustrations and come out stronger than we were before. By God's grace we have come through the seasons of friendship and courtship unscathed and more in love than ever. We have learned what it is to love and to hold on even when it is tough.

Thank you to each of you who have helped us through the past few years. I have talked with many of you, cried on your shoulders, poured out my heart, and I am so thankful to each of you, my friends. Please pray for us as we finish out the last couple of months before our wedding.

Missing Southern

Yesterday afternoon I spent an hour or so reading all the blogs of my dear Southern friends. I savored all your wisdom and drank in the spiritual water shared, drank deeply until my heart ached. As it does now.
Don't laugh at me for filling my blogs with more apologies. I am a dyed-in-the-wool apologiser and it's not likely to change anytime soon. Words do not come as easily to me as they do to some of you, but I want to try to let each of you, my dear friends, know how I feel right now.

I am sorry that, when I had the opportunity to spend time playing games with friends of a Sabbath evening, I chose to stay in  my room and waste time on my computer instead. Thank you, Joel, Ivan, and Kristin, for inviting me to share life with you. I regret that I did not join in.

I am sorry that I counted my sleep more dear than fellowship with hymnsingers. Every hymn-sing I attended was pure joy, and I attended too few.

I am sorry for all the times I ate my meals alone in my room instead of joining in with the friendly tables or taking time to share a table with a lonely stranger. I'm sure that my digestion suffered as a result.

I am sorry for all the times I sat on my bed and watched videos on YouTube instead of talking with my precious roommate. Christy, thank you for bearing with me all semester. When God arranged for us to be roommates He gave me an incredible gift; I regret that I did not appreciate it as I should have. Thank you for your friendship and love. I miss you.

For my self-imposed solitary confinement I apologise to each of you, my dear friends. Rich blessings of fellowship were daily offered me, and I chose instead to fill my time with empty pleasures. Thank you for not giving up on me, but continuing to issue invitations I was likely to refuse.
Now I am done at Southern, and not planning on returning to the East anytime soon, and my heart aches with regret for all the missed opportunities. A wealth of friends were offered me, and I chose not to fully enjoy them. God is restoring my heart, and as He does His work I see more clearly what I have missed.

I must sound an awfully gloomy person. Really I am not! As I take more time to know my God and He restores the joy to my heart, regrets over lost time creep to the surface. By the grace of God, from this point on I will endeavor to live life to the fullest and embrace all the joys and sorrows alike as a blessing of life from my Creator. I thank Him for the richness I can glean from reading my friends' words, and I thank each of my friends for continuing to share life with me, even from thousands of miles away. I love you all.