she said yes!!

Hello my friends,

I just wanted to let you know about some recent developments in my life.  I actually don't have a girlfriend anymore.  It's kind of been in the works for awhile now but it is now official and I just wanted to let all of you know.  On a positive note though another recent development that happened at roughly the same is that I do now have a fiancee'...

I'M ENGAGED!  On Thursday October 8, 2009 at about 6:15pm I was down on bended knee on a rock pier at the beach asking the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.  And she said yes!!  Corey and I are officially going to get married!! 

I'm sure most people will want to know the story of the proposal so allow me to share:

It was Thursday.  Just another normal workday for Corey...or so she thought.  She went to her early morning pilates class as normal and when she returned to her room to get ready for the day, there was a strange note on her bedside table with her name on it.  As she read it she was informed that she indeed had the day off (cleared by the base directors wife!) and that she was cordially invited to her boyfriends house at 8am..and to come hungry.  Upon her arrival at my house (me being the boyfriend after all) she walked up the stairs (that had candles on them of course) and was greeted with a lovely little breakfast.  Candles, flowers, music playing and nice plates including a red one that said "You are special today"...and then she was served up "heart shaped" waffles with her favorite fruits, whip cream, and even authentic Canadian maple syrup.  Ok the syrup was from Australia but it definitely had a Canadian Maple leaf on the bottle.  Hey I tried. 

After breakfast we watched one of her favorite chick flicks and then she was given another letter.  This one said to prepare to hit the town!  We went dress shopping. And 3 hours and 3 malls later....we found one!  A nice white sundress that is quite flowy and almost reaches her feet and is very pretty.  After that we then went down to the beach and had some fish and chips while we fed a few crazy seagulls that were far more interested in our fries than in the tangible feeling of burning love that was in the air..

Then another letter.  It was pampering time.  Corey was driven by her good looking boyfriend (once again..that's me) to a nice day spa on the edge of the ocean and was treated to an hour long massage by a petite woman with fingers of iron.  I then picked her up and drove her back to her house...

Upon entering her house she was given another note.  This one informed her that her job was to get ready and look good.  She was to be ready by 5:45pm and was under strict orders to wait for a knock on the door before she went out front.  The knock finally came and one my friends who was dressed up nice escorted Corey (who looked absolutely incredible at this point) into a white stretch limousine.  Inside the limo was my laptop that had a slideshow (set to music of course) of my life since I was a baby and then the transition of MY memories to OUR memories as our paths have intertwined over the last year or so.  The limo then dropped her off at a remote beach....

...where she received another note.  She was greeted by another one of my friends and given a candle in a glass vase as well as my ipod set to a certain song.  Her instructions were to get to the sand, turn left, and find me....because I was waiting for her. 

After a long walk down the beach she eventually found me.  I was up on an old rock pier surrounded by candles and standing next to a chair and a guitar on a stand.  I helped her up onto the pier and then sat on the chair and sang and played her a song I had written for her.  Then it was down on one knee where I said a few things (and may or may not have gotten a bit choked up...don't' judge me), pulled out a ring and asked her if she would marry me...

And she said yes!! 

So we are both quite excited and are really looking forward to what the future is bringing.  It is gonna be quite the little adventure coming up in the next few months.  Not only is there the obvious transition into married life...but there is also a transition in the area of location and ministry that I will be sharing soon as well.  So stay tuned!  Things are getting shook up in my life in many different areas! 

Thanks again for all of your continued support and prayers.  Things are going so well and God is so good!  I'm getting married!!! 

Love you guys and you will hear more soon!!

Aaron

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And the silence ends!

Yep...This is the July DTS staff!!

The long period of silence is over! I was trying to wait until I sent out my official newsletter..but after over a month of technical difficulties I am just gonna go ahead and write to you all!

Things are flying here! The July DTS 2009 has been going for 3 weeks now and is in full swing! I am once again staffing the school just like last year. We have 22 students (compared to 12 last year!!) from all over including Australia, U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, New Zealand, and Fiji! I have moved houses so I live with the 8 boys and they are an amazing group of guys who just want to stand up and be men of God. They are all walking through different stuff and are wrestling and struggling to fully grasp what this means (not unlike their staff!) but it is so evident that they just want to walk as men of strength and men of integrity. I'm excited to see where God is going to take this school because they have an amazing capacity to make a serious impact for the kingdom. Full speed ahead!

I am doing well and continue to be challenged in many areas of my life and my walk with Christ. I am learning that this thing called life is an amazing journey if we are just willing to put our hand up and say "yep God, I'm willing!" God and I have been working through a lot of "life direction" stuff lately and He continues to surprise me by the path He is leading me along. Through it all, God continues to show himself faithful and reveal that He really is a good God. He is for us and not against us. What does it look like to have the God of the universe on “our side” in life. He is not a God who causes pain but a God who desires to see us fully grasp who we are as HIS children and who desires to see us walk fully into the inheritance He has for us and His sons and daughters. That is easy to say...it's another thing to believe that with all your heart and have your life reflect that. This is the lesson I am learning and continue to get revelation on. It's causing quite a shift in a lot of areas in my life...


And Corey's home!! She went home at the beginning of May to visit family and do a LOT of support raising. She had no supporters at all and was basically starting from scratch to see money come in. She had no idea when she would be able to come back (didn't even have money for a plane ticket) but through a few series of events it has all worked out! The only thing was she didn't tell me she was coming home...


Two of my friends wanted to take me out early for my birthday dinner and as the three of us were sitting at the restaurant they handed me a letter from Corey. It happened to be our 7 month anniversary and they said she wanted them to give it to me on that day. They wanted me to read it right then and as I got to the end of the letter, the last line was “why are you still reading this? Turn around!” And after slight confusion I peeked a look behind me and there she was! I had no idea at all that she was even capable of coming back..much less that she had traveled half-way around the world! So yeah...that was quite the good surprise. To put it mildly.


And thank to everyone who wrote me a card for my bday (you know who you are!)...and especially by church family! My parents sent me a package in the mail and it was FULL of cards from seemingly just about every person at the church! Thank you so much! It was great going through and reading them all and it really meant a lot that you all took the time to do that. Thank you!


Alright well I'm sure there are more stories to come now that DTS is rockin' along....I won't be silent anymore!! Thanks for everything and talk to you all soon!!

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