365 Days! Enjoy The Ride!

Today is Anton and Kayla's preversary! (We talked about Rob and Ayla's preversary in the very first post in this blog.) In exactly one year, in 365 days, one orbit of the earth around the sun, Anton and Kayla will be united in marriage right here in Central Alabama before our Father and their family and friends. It will be a special, precious memory on this palindrome date next year (2016's Leap Year will push the 11th to a Saturday next year). And even sweeter, the wedding will happen almost 77 years to the day after Anton's namesake, Great Grandpa Anton and his bride Great Grandma Veronica Zimanek got married on June 10, 1939. How beautiful is that?! We are so excited about this upcoming marriage. How excited is Anton? He commented that when he hears the processional music it will take every bit of strength he has not to run halfway down the aisle to meet Kayla and bring her to the altar. That's a man who is ready to be united with his fiance.

We look forward to having Kayla be the next Mrs. Zimanek. She has been a part of our family for years already. Both couples getting married will be engaged for 15 to 16 months by the time their weddings roll around, so everything should be good and ready for the big day. I know Kayla has much organized already. And with Kayla in Troy and Anton here in Prattville, I know both are anxious to be reunited for good on that wedding date.


Rob and Ayla are coming up to their one year engagement anniversary (engagiversary?) on June 24 and can provide Tone and Kayla with any advice you may need in planning and waiting for the wedding date. We told them the time would go swiftly by and here we are just 127 days from their big day!

But our advice would be this: enjoy the ride. You will only be engaged one time in this lifetime, so make sweet memories throughout this last unmarried year. Enjoy the process of selecting and planning everything. Take your time to make wise and profound decisions. This is your day to truly delight in everything that represents you both, so make it count. It will be here before you know it!

Congratulations Anton and Kayla on your preverary. "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24. We love you both and are so happy for you.

Discussion: Do you think the next year will go quickly? What do you think you will be thinking about on this date next year?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we know that every day of our lifetime is a gift and precious moment to serve you. We pray we make the most of every single day. We pray for blessings on both Kayla and Anton throughout this next year and on Rob and Ayla in the few months left before their wedding! In Jesus name, Amen.

Planning Another Wedding!

 What a blessed day yesterday was! Not only do I have a beautiful daughter preparing to get married in nine months, but now I have a handsome son engaged as well! Yesterday, Anton asked his sweet girlfriend of nearly five years to marry him ... and Kayla Marie Lee said, "Yes!" They got engaged in Atlanta in Centennial Olympic Park around 11:30 a.m. EST. Your Daddy and I, along with Kayla's parents, Tommy and Irene Lee, surprised Kayla in Atlanta. We celebrated at Dantanna's for lunch then explored the College Football Hall of Fame. It was a wonderful day. While we headed back home after that, Anton and Kayla then went to the Atlanta Hawks basketball game where Anton had their new betrothal mentioned on the jumbotron at the arena. Such a blessed celebration! We are so excited that both of our children have found precious souls to spend the rest of their lives with. Glory to God!

I asked Ayla if she would be alright if we began to address this blog to Anton and Kayla as well as you both. It will still culminate in Rob and Ayla's Oct. 16 wedding, but we figured, since they were already reading these devotions and were likewise preparing for marriage, that we could include them in this journey. So we've added their engagement photo beneath yours. No date has been selected by them for a wedding as yet. Lots of plans are ahead!

Daddy and I are so excited to be observing our prayers answered for our children. Since we prayed for your future spouses since you were toddlers, we know both Rob and Kayla were hand selected by our Father, molded and shaped by the families, environments and experiences in their lives to bring them to this place, where they will be joined by Ayla and Anton for the rest of their spiritual lives. Praise to the Lord God Almighty!

Tommy and Irene had a beautiful sign created for Anton and Kayla's engagement that included the following verse on it from 1 Cor. 13:7: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." This young couple has truly grown up together (and will continue to) since meeting in Anton's junior year of high school. In awe of her in a bright red prom dress, a first date to Bruster's for ice cream, long distance love while she was in college and again when he was at the Alabama Rural Ministry, in school together at Troy ... so many learning experiences and ups and downs already, so this Bible verse is perfect for them. They have much to hope for ahead in their relationship. The verse immediately following begins with three words, "Love never ends." That is our hope for our children and their future spouses. Because that is as God intended. As Tommy said today to us prior to Anton's proposal, "We believe this is something that happens just once and lasts forever." So do we. Praying you four believe it, too. God bless both couples! We are so excited in celebrating you both!

Discussion: What do you think it means for love to bear, believe, hope and endure all things? Do you believe this love is forever?

Prayer: Father, thank you for setting the example for us in perfect love through your Son Jesus Christ, the groom of the church. May we love as He does ... unconditionally, sacrificially and compassionately ... forever. In His name we pray, Amen.