“Ask and it will be given to you.”
Matthew 7:7

As far back as I can remember praying about my wedding day, I remember praying two specific things, over and over.

I wasn’t planning my color scheme or imagining what my dress would look like. I didn’t dream of wedding music or flower bouquets. I was never really concerned with those things but I obsessively (and persistently) prayed for two things:

1. God, please let everything about my love story point to you. I don’t want anyone to look at my relationship with my future husband and think, “Oh they are so great, they are a good fit, what a logical match.” I want them to see us and think, “Wow, look what God did.”

and

2. God, I want you to plan my wedding, down to every single detail.

I prayed this over and over from the time that I was in high school. And now that I am 3 days away from the fulfillment of so many of God’s promises in my life, my chest is tight and my heart is heavy at just how abundantly God has answered those two prayers.

Every detail of my wedding has been provided for. I can sincerely look at the way that all of the planning is unfolding with complete awe because I know that I didn’t do that. God did that.

If providing everything from the location to the decorations wasn’t enough, God has shown up in some miraculous ways lately.

…He’s restored a broken relationship that is extremely dear to me.

…He’s surrounded me with family, aunts and uncles and cousins, that are stepping up to help make everything possible and loving me beyond anything I could expect right now. Not because I have earned it or deserve it from them but because they are family and they love me.

…He’s provided perfect weather. Matt and I see God the most in Creation so we never questioned having both the ceremony and reception outside when we planned this months ago. And while so many people worried about a “rain plan,” I rested in the knowledge that my Father, who rules the weather and was planning my wedding day, was in control. Have you seen Saturday’s forecast? 
0% chance of rain.

…My aunt Faith posted an article on my Facebook yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. Read this.

The biggest full moon of the year is due to arrive this weekend.

The moon will officially become full Saturday at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month’s full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year’s biggest.

The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon. And not only does the moon’s perigee coincide with the full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year.

This month’s full moon is due to be about 16 percent brighter than average.

I asked for God to plan my wedding and He is giving me the largest and brightest full moon of the year on top of all that He’s already done. God doesn’t just answer our tiny prayers. He gives us so much more than that.

Saturday, I expect that he won’t be just present. He will be showing off.

…And while many people told me that my expectations were too high as I spent years of singleness in my twenties, I held on to the promise that God has something “greater than I could ever ask for or imagine,” and this Saturday I am marrying a man that is living proof of that.

If you think any of the above things are coincidence, then you are greatly underestimating what God can and wants to do for you. He’s powerfully present and he cares about more details in your life than you do. Ask for something, believe and have faith – even when it’s hard, hold on – and then watch how He will show up.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”
-Hebrews 10:35

How Great is Our God.

Remember this girl?

Sure, you do. I’ve written about her a bazillion times.

This is Sarah Kirkland. Sarah is not only one of my best friends, a bridesmaid in my wedding in two weeks and my partner in mischief with whom I’ve shared more embarrassing, ridiculous and hilarious memories with than almost anyone else -  she also happens to be an amazing singer/songwriter.

Sarah moved to Nashville in 2006 to pursue her dream (and amazing talent!) in country music. She has written over 150 songs and played out in Nashville hundreds of times over the last three years. She has worked creatively and tirelessly even when it didn’t seem like momentum was picking up – keeping her confidence and staying focused on where she was headed (all while working a full-time job to pay the bills.) It’s now 2012, six years later and last night I had the honor of witnessing her first music video debut.

I expected it to be great because Sarah has star quality all over her, but I had no idea how incredible this song, and video, would turn out.

I sat in front of the screen with some of my other best friends, Jenny and Ashley, clapping and singing with the song with chills all over my body as I witnessed our best friend on the screen achieve a huge new level of accomplishment in her music and her life.

This is what happens when you combine insane talent with hard work, focus and persistence. This, my friends, is what success looks like.

Congratulations Sarah! I am so proud of you!

Download Sarah’s new single in iTunes and share it with your friends!

And now, I present to you the world debut of Sarah Kirkland’s first music video, Bachelorette!

This is special.

…not because I know how to use it. (I don’t.)

…not because I bake often and need a mixer. (I don’t – but I will now!)

…not because it’s aqua and that’s one of my favorite colors. (Always has been.)

…or because it looks too perfect in our retro kitchen. (It’s true.)

This is special because Matt’s perfectly put together, precious grandmother gave it to me!

Maybe it’s unspoken peer pressure of women that have come before me but I feel like having a KitchenAid mixer is basically a rite of passage to becoming a wife in the South, right?  It doesn’t matter if I need one – I HAVE to have one. And the fact that it came from his sweet-as-apple-pie grandmother, who is still married to his solid-as-an-oak grandfather, who are the parents of his beautifully kind and loving mother who is still married to his wonderful example of a man father, makes it that much more special.

This isn’t just any KitchenAid mixer. This is a KitchenAid mixer that comes from great genes, solid family traditions, generations of successful marriages, loving relationships, great cooks, men I respect and women I want to be like.

This isn’t just any mixer.

This gift just inducted me into a beautiful lineage of Mesdames.

Everything good! Everything good is what is going on!

Here’s a brief catch up from my last 2 months! They have been full of fun and going non-stop!

FIRST: For Ashley’s 30th Birthday, we snatched her up and took her to Gatlinburg for a relaxing and weird girls weekend at a cabin. Festivities included homemade mango mojitoes and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. …Lot’s of Ripley’s.

(Please excuse the creepy hand coming up between Ashley and I. One of the girls on the trip made us mad so we knocked her down just before this was taken.)

THEN: Matt and I got our engagement pictures taken with the extremely talented Jessica Williamson. If you could have seen how incredibly awkward we were during this mini-shoot, you would understand how completely impressive it is that she could produce this:

A FEW DAYS LATER: Matt’s mom’s friends threw me a Southern Tea Shower in Florence, AL which was one of the sweetest southern days of my life. Over 40 women showed up to celebrate someone they didn’t know (me) to support their friend (Pam) and in the process we all felt incredibly loved. Pam is also the most popular person I know. The tea was hosted by not one or two, but 16 women.

For hostess gifts, I put together a little box of goodies from Nashville including Loveless Cafe biscuit mix and jam, a Goo Goo bar, a Moon Pie and a Nashville Art postcard with a personalized note.  Craft project success I think!

THE NEXT WEEK: I had my first news interview in March. After having a rough patch in my talk the day before, being on the news the next day in Cincy made me feel too legit to quit.

THE NEXT WEEKEND: Several of my best friends threw Matt and I a St. Patrick’s Day Shower celebrating us which was so fun and humbling and surreal. We also played the “Newlyweds Game” which ironically enough, Matt and I won. (Good Sign!)

LAST WEEKEND:  We left at 4:30 a.m. for Pensacola for my Bachelorette Party Beach Trip! Having all of your best friends give up their weekend to come together and celebrate you is overwhelming in the best possible way. Saying “Thank you” could never be enough. It was the best!

Starting 5 – at it again. As usual.

We all also may or may not have dressed up as 9 different versions of Britney Spears one night. (No, those pictures will not make it to the Internet.)

SOMETIME DURING ALL THIS: Matt and I found a house in Sylvan Park. It’s totally in our budget (a steal for what it is!), located within .5 miles of Bobby’s Dairy Dip, Crosspoint Church, the Farmer’s Market, McCabe Park Greenway, and just over a half a mile to Star Bagel, Local Taco, McCabe Pub and Neighbors. Everyone in this neighborhood is so trendy and fun and young with dogs and bikes and beers.

Matt and I are cooler just by being there. (Right? Right.)

It also has an amazing back yard which Jackson is pretty happy about.

MOST RECENTLY: Matt and I mailed our rehearsal dinner and wedding invitations!

There’s no turning back now!!!

Those are the highlights!

Now can someone explain to me why I can’t focus on anything at work right now? Is it the perfect weather outside my windows? The wedding countdown? The new house?

Maybe it’s all of it but I am praying I can accomplish something productive because all I really want to do is PLAY!

Last week I tweeted:

Since fear was the first thing I battled to get this new project off of the ground, I thought it would be an appropriate first post. That’s right – I’ve started a new blog.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this blog. I write about crazy moments in my life, craft projects, Jesus and all of the things that I don’t know but should. But as I have been growing as a speaker, I decided to be a bit more intentional about who I am becoming and where I am going. I don’t have a book and I don’t have a product but I want people to have a way to connect with me after I walk off of the stage.

So. I started a new blog dedicated completely to leadership and life. I will share what I am learning and challenge readers to grow with me. I will still be here writing as well but I wanted to invite you to join me on a different journey in a different way.

Shall we?

(Yes, I purchased the domain www.christybwright.com because it will last long after May 5 and that just makes sense. Until then, I’d just like to confuse everyone as much as possible with my name.)

Remember when I made Matt the Boy Bouquet that blew up on Pinterest?

Oh yea.
That. Was. Awesome.

Well continuing with the DIY craft theme today, my lovely friend Natalie has asked me to guest post on her blog. She has started a new blog dedicated completely to awesome DIY craft projects. Head over to her site to check out my post, support her and find great other ideas of new projects.

She posts awesome ideas like how to make cheap but super cute gift wrap:

And how to make your own lace headbands:

Trust me, her craft skills make mine look like a Kindergartener. You won’t be disappointed.

Check her out HERE.

If you’ve ever maintained a blog then you probably have experienced that some posts just write themselves.

Like the one where I was pregnant in the mall and Sarah wanted to hang out. Seriously, I couldn’t make that up. It took little to no commentary from me and BOOM- blog post.

I bring you another one of those today.

Remember how I went to DC with The Starting 5 (and learned a bit of history) and wanted to copy Susan’s life?

Matt (Wright) and I weren’t dating at that time but the moment was clearly prophetic because as of Cinco De Mayo, 2012, Susan and I will both be married to Matt’s.

Oh but that’s not the really good part. The best part is that TS5 + Boys (Husbands, fiance’s and boyfriends) hung out around New Years and the Matt’s came wearing matching outfits. It was so cute that we made them take a picture and then quickly decided that they could be brothers.

Step-brothers, that is.

Yesterday was my 2nd official week of training for the Country Music Full Marathon. Matt and I have decided to run it together this year since it’s the week before our wedding. It’s a great excuse to stay in shape for the big day and while most people cringe at the overwhelming thought of having to run, running for us is a stress-reliever. Getting closer to the wedding, as any stressful moments try to creep in, it will be nice to go out for a long run to burn some restless energy.

Plus, training for the Country Music Marathon exactly 2 years ago is how we met so it’s particularly significant that we will be crossing the finish line together at the same race exactly one week before our wedding. I’m going to run in white and we may paint a tuxedo shirt print onto a dry-fit shirt for Matt to wear – any opportunity for a costume, you know.

Anyway, so yesterday was my second run. I’d been running through the holidays but I didn’t start building my mileage until the new year. As I stated before, I don’t typically “do things right” when it comes to running. My strategy is always very reasonable with splits and paces all mapped out until I get to the starting line and then adrenaline takes over, I start out way too fast and just try to hang on until the end. This usually works, even if I feel near death by the time I actually reach the finish line.

However, the last couple of weeks of training have been different. Instead of obsessively checking my Garmin and pushing myself, I’ve not paid attention to it at all. I’ve just adjusted my pace by how I felt.

Last week, I ran with a few people that I met that day also training for the full marathon and we talked the entire time. Conversational pace for long runs? Check, Check.

When I finished last week, I felt great. I checked my watch and I had averaged 8:55/mile for 11 miles. For me, that’s really great for Week 1 of training. Actually, that’s surprisingly fast for me. I figured it was a fluke, one-time thing because I always run long runs at 9:30-9:45/mile especially during the beginning of training. I’m not a sub-9:00 mile runner for long runs – I just know this about myself.

So this week, when Matt and I were driving to meet the East Nasties at Shelby for our run at 8:00 a.m. and in 25-degree weather bundled up in 3 layers, head to toe, I said to him,

I’m running SLOW this week. No more of this sub-9:00 pace crap. It’s cold, these are long runs and I’ve got to be able to last. I am doing 9:30′s today for sure.

We got there 30 minutes early to meet our Full Marathon group to get some extra mileage in before the rest of the Half Marathoners got there. We ran 3 miles at 9:29/mile. Perfect.

Then everyone else got there and we all started again. I ended up by myself for the rest of the run somehow and I still didn’t pay attention to my watch at all. At Mile 3, I stopped to take off a layer since the sun was starting to warm things up. I checked my time and I had averaged 9:24 for the second set of 3 miles. Staying on track – this was good.

I took off my middle layer and tied it around my waist and kept going. I didn’t feel particularly fast or slow – I just felt normal. I incorporated Fartlek intervals every quarter-mile for the last 2 miles per Mark’s instruction. I finished at 12.25 miles feeling good. Tired and sore, but good.

After I caught my breath and walked around a bit, I decided to check my watch for the last 6 miles to see how I did. I checked my pace for the first time and saw that for the second half of my run, I averaged 8:15/mile.

WHAT?
HOW?

Mark (East Nasty’s Coach) and many other professional runners talk about the importance of starting out slow to give your body time to warm up, especially in extremely cold temperatures. Mark said last week that if you want to average 8:30/mile you need to start at 9:30/mile for the first few miles. I didn’t want to average 8:30 though so that didn’t apply to me.

And, I never really believed that strategy anyway. I couldn’t conceive that starting slow could pay off enough to offset your time in the end. You’d have to be flying by the end to compensate for your slower first miles. If I wanted to average 9:30′s, I planned to run 9:30 every mile.

However, after yesterday, I am a believer. I finished with an average of 8:37/mile for 12.25 miles. Keep in mind that 8:37/mile is my PR RACE PACE for the Memphis Half Marathon a year ago, 4 months into training and in perfect 50-degree weather with Matt pacing and pushing me.

Yesterday’s run was with layers and layers of clothes, in below freezing temperatures, on my second week of training and by myself.

I guess those professional runners and coaches know what they are talking about. Starting slow pays off in the end and I surprised even myself. And apparently I am a sub-9:00/mile runner.

1. I LOVE Tim Tebow.
   I do. I don’t care if his unapologetic profession of faith on and off the football field makes people uncomfortable – that just makes me like him even more. Seriously, how can someone read this article and not love him?
   
2. I HATE this guy.
   Pastor Pete says we have to have grace for the grace-killers or else we are just like them and while I totally agree, I am not there yet. I read that article and am too fired up to have any grace for him right now. I will find some in time for Church on Sunday so that I can sit there with a clean conscience.
   
3. I LOVE the Black Keys. 
   I just discovered them and I have no idea how they have albums dating back an entire decade because if I didn’t know about them until last week, then surely no one else did either. Anyway, I have been listening to them on Spotify non-stop since then. Their music makes me feel slinky. And I like it.
   
4. I HATE raisins.
   And somehow lately they have been all around me lately. Why I hate them needs no explanation. They are the worst ever.
5. I LOVE hot yoga.
   I am a runner that, aside from running well when trained, does nothing right. I don’t warm up. I don’t start slow. I don’t cool down. I don’t stretch. My shoes are 3 years old. How I’ve avoided injury is a mystery and a miracle straight from Jesus (who I believe must’ve been a runner, too.) Anyway, hot yoga is this amazing cleansing, steamy, sweaty hour where I do nothing but focus on breathing and balancing, strengthening and stretching – all while burning about 600 calories. Not bad for yoga.
   
   

Needing a little Christmas cheer?

To get you into the spirit, I decided to repost my favorite Christmas blog from last year. It’s a classic.

(You can also go HERE and enjoy a fantastic Christmas post by Ashley from 2 years ago about our annual Christmas lights tour. This year will be year #4 and it’s happening tomorrow night. Hopefully the pictures will turn out just as excellent as displayed in Ashley’s post.)

Merry Christmas, friends!

————————————————————–

Just when I had you thinking that I am smart and successful, I had this conversation on Instant Message with Ashley yesterday.

AS: …That’s like imagining winning the lottery – like a dream but impossible.

CB: Oh, I know. It’s like unicorns and reindeer – a nice thought, but not real.

AS: Reindeer actually exist! Ahahahahaha!!!!! They just don’t fly! You are hysterical.

CB: No, they don’t. ASH – you are ridiculous. This isn’t even funny. (Getting scared now…)

AS: DUDE! Come On! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer

CB: (I click on the link. Horrified.) I am feeling real weird right now. I can’t breathe.

My entire life has been a lie. Am I the only one that believed reindeer weren’t real? Must consult others…

—————————————–

I instant message Matt to see if maybe I am not the only one that thought reindeer weren’t real.

CB: Do you believe in rein...Nope. Not worded right. Try again.

CB: Do you know that reindeer are real?

MW: Yes, why?

———————————————-

Must try someone else. Will ask Christy Graham.

I go to her desk, sit by her and whisper….

CB: Do you know that reindeer are real?

CG: (bursts into laughter) YES! They just don’t fly!

CB: (yelling now) WELL SOMEONE SHOULD SPECIFY THAT WHEN THEY TELL YOU THAT SANTA ISN’T REAL! Santa isn’t, reindeer ARE! There IS a North Pole, but there is no workshop there!

——————————————–

This is a very confusing time for me right now. The truth and lies are very blurry.

Please excuse me.