Secret Church

To start off this Easter season, John and I went to our churches simulcast of David Platt's Secret Church: Heaven, Hell, and the End of the World.
The only word to describe this event was WOW!  7 hours of digging into God's word and attempting to  understand all His glory with these three topics.  We literally covered 200 pages worth of notes in less than 7 hours!  My heart is so full of the word right now.  I am still trying to "file" everything that Platt went over.  I cannot wait to share all that the Lord exposed to me tonight, but let me tell you I've got to get it all organized first.  So many thoughts are going my head.  One cannot truly fathom the love of Christ.  I wanted to go ahead and write in case anyone read it and wanted to look into the Secret Church.  As Americans, we take advantages of all the liberties we have.  How awesome to know we have the right to worship our Lord God freely.  We do not have to hide in the basement of someones house to worship with the fear of being caught.  I am so guilty of taking this lightly.  I can worship whenever and wherever I want, but I fall short of doing so!!!  Yet, there are so many people in our world who want to worship and every time they do, they are literally putting their lives on the line.  We need to get away from our comforts and proclaim Him.  Crowder's new song Here's My Heart has been weighing on me.  My downfall is I like to be in control.  I like to plan, and if anyone knows mine and John's situation, it's not in my plan.  But that is the thing, it is not my plan.  It is His plan.  And why would we want it any other way?  The Creator, Yahweh, is writing my story.  And I don't know about you, but I know for sure He can do a much better job than I would ever do.  I have to let go of what I want and look to the Lord for what HE wants. So this is my challenge.  To cry out to Him:

Heres my heart Lord

Speak what is true

I am found, I am Yours...

Heres my life Lord

Speak what is true

I leave you with Platt's closing statement tonight from C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle

"The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.  And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

http://www.radical.net/all/events/2013/03-29/secret-church-13---heaven-hell-and-the-end-of-the-world

Our Story Part 3: Oddly Unique I Do's

This is my favorite part of our story to be writing!  It is all about us getting hitched!  John and I have been married going on two years, and I still get all giddy when I think about our wedding.  For us, it was absolutely perfect and one of the best days of our life!  And I cannot wait to write it down for the first time!! So, here it goes!!

John and I decided to have a destination wedding.  Our families had already planned a trip to the beach the summer of 2011, so why not just add to it with a wedding!  Our "dating" anniversary was July 10 and our beach trip was planned to end on July 9, so that was the date!!  The planning began!  We would get married on the beach, have our closets family and friends there, and leave for  honeymoon to Jamaica!  It took us only 10 months to plan the wedding.  It all happend so fast, and before we knew it we were packed and headed to the beach!  It was such a wonderful week to relax before our big day.  Our entire family was there that week enjoying the ocean breeze and the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore.  Finally, Saturday came!  When I talk about our wedding, I remember every detail.  But my favorite part of the whole time was how "oddly unique" our wedding day was!  Everything we seemed to do or plan ended up being an odd number with a biblical meaning.  How you may ask? Keep reading...

1 - First born children, one God with one promise- ever lasting life through Him
3 - one of three children, The Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
5 - Family of five, the number associated with Grace
7 - the month of July, God's perfect number, divine perfection and completeness
9 - the day of our wedding, The Fruits of the Spirit: Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-Control
11 - the year , 11 a sign of the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, the 11th hour
13 - the day we got engaged, the number of roses in my bouqet, Love and Unity

How awesome!  God's hand was all through it!!

A few favorite pictures to tell our wedding story!

The Bridal Suit! The wreath was made by some precious ladies from church who threw me a shower

My bouquet: 13 white roses (3 from my mother's bouqet to represent the Trinity)

Lace from my mother's wedding dress, and a hanky from my Papaw who passed

Something Old: lace from my great-grandmother

Something New: Wedding Rings

Something Borrowed: Bible (carried by 4 generations)

Something Blue: silk from my great-grandmother

The lace hanky was made by  my Memaw for my special day.  This was her dream vacation: having the entire family at the beach. so glad she was able to fulfill her dream before passing

My photographer, Angela Blake, snagged this.  Our rings on 1 Cor. 13:4-8

Brushes for guests to wipe off the sand

The reception room had an ugly board.  My brother painted pictures to represent the big moments in our life: high school when we started dating, college when we got engaged, and the beach when we got marriage!

My wonderful mom made both of our cakes.  The wedding topper was her and my dad's!

John's Cake, every pilot needs their plane

Our family

our 20+ wedding party!

Handsome!!

Love him more than words can describe!!

 

 

I could write a book on just our wedding day alone!  It could not have gone better!  Looking back two years later, there is nothing that I would change!  It was the perfect day!!  The Lord was there and has been every step of the way.  We are still learning about His glory and cannot wait to see what He has planned for our lives!!

 

 

"I have found the one whom my soul loves!"

Song of Solomon 3:4

 

Our Story Part 2: The Engagement

When one thinks of Friday the 13th, they think of all the "bad" that our society has associated with this date.  However, to me, this date will always be special...
It had been four years that John and I had been dating and four years of college at Delta State.  If any of you were or are in a sorority, then you will truly understand the magnitude of a candlelight!  I always asked John if I was going to get a candlelight.  But I knew he had to be ready, so I quit asking.  I knew I had wanted to marry him for a long time, and I knew he felt the same way.  He just needed to be ready to take that next step.  I told myself if I did not get a candlelight, it was ok.  No matter when or how he proposed it was going to special!
So the beginning...It was August and my sorority was preparing for recruitment (7 days of no sleeping and constant deliriousness).  We were at the dorms getting ready for our nightly recruitment party when I got a call from John.  He had called to tell me that he had signed up for a 1 month deployment to Germany that next year.  ( it ended it being cancelled, but it starts the story)  Now, dating someone in the military, I knew it was always a possibility but had not had to deal with it just yet.  It was about to and I was not ready for him to be gone.  It hit me hard, but I knew it was his job and I just needed to start praying for his safety.  After  I got off the phone, a sweet friend of mine started joking around saying, "Well, maybe he will just have to propose. " This got us laughing and me in a better mood!  Little did we know, she would be right.
Recruitment ended and we began to get ready for our Senior year to start that Monday.  It was Friday the 13 and about 10am the chapter received a text from our president saying there was going to be a candlelight that afternoon at 4 in the chapter room.  

(Side Note:  What is a candlelight you may ask?  Well, it's the greatest thing ever!  Whoever is engaged secretly tells the president or leaves a note for the sorority to meet in the chapter room on a given date and time.  No one knows who it is, which is the best part!  We all get in a circle, sing a special song, and pass around a candle.  Well, on the third time around the circle, whenever the candle gets to the sorority sister who is engaged, she blows out the candle to reveal her engagement!!)

Back to my story.  So I call John and say, "Hey, guess what?  There is a candlelight this afternoon and I bet everyone is about to start calling and texting asking if it is me."  (There had been multiple up to this point and all thought it was me).  So, for the rest of the day I ignored calls and texts because I was tired of saying IT'S NOT ME!!!!

4 o'clock rolls around and everyone is convinced if it's not me, then it must be Rachael.  We all get into the chapter room and form our circle.  It's Carrie, our president, to my left who starts the ceremony, and Rachael to my right making me the last person to get the candle after each pass.  It starts.  The candle passes around once....twice....and a third time.  It goes all the way around the circle to Rachael who passes it on to me.  I look at her in confusion expecting her to have blown it out.  I pass it back thinking maybe Tyler is going to jump out and surprise her.  She gives me this grin and passes it back.  As I take the candle, John had snuck up behind me and blew it out over my shoulder.  I was in shock, ya'll!  He gets down on one knew, pops out a beautiful ring, and asks me to be his wife!  I think I squealed in every way you can squeal!  I was so thrilled and excited, I just remember giving him a huge hug.  (He asked me later if  even said yes, which I did!!!)  I was engaged!  John had planned out every part of it so that I could have my candlelight!  He went to Jareds!  This next step in our lives was going to be so exciting, and we couldn't wait to start planning.  The date was set, July 10, 2011....

After we got engaged!!

Friday the 13th, August 2010

Our Story Part 1

Let's just say that John and I semi grew up together.  We realized each other existed during middle school at Hernando.  Our parents knew of each other from their high school days, our mothers at one point worked together, and our sisters played volleyball together.  We even found out that our grandparents knew of each other.  I guess you could say our lives were intertwined before we even knew it.  The first time John and I talked was at a volleyball game, we sat in the bleachers chatting and thus began our short conversations.  Once we were both in high school, I'll admit I always had a small crush on him.  I thought he was a very cute guy...and might I add had a gorgeous singing voice.  Our paths really crossed when we had 3rd period Spanish together my junior, his senior year.  He sat by me, and I let him look on my paper:)  We really got to know each other during this year of Spanish, and my feelings for him began to thicken.  I was smitten over John McCormick, however I was scared of admitting because of him possibly not feeling the same way.  Well, the school year ended, he graduated and I thought that was that.  It was just fun flirting between two people.  The summer began, and on July 4, I receive a phone call from none other than John McCormick.  He had just gotten back from his senior trip to Hawaii and wanted to come over and hang out.  I was so thrilled, but extremely nervous at the same time.  He came over, we hung out and had a good time.  As he was leaving, he said he wanted to see me again before he left for basic training.  So on July 10 (which we consider our anniversary) he came over again.  I knew then that I had fallen already for him, and I could tell he liked me...maybe just a little at this point.  That night before he left, he promised to write and call me as soon as he was able too.  I talked to him the next day while he was waiting for the bus in Texas, and that was the last I heard from him for what seemed forever.  
About three weeks passed and I had yet to receive any letter.  My hopes were down because other people had been getting letters from him.  It was about 4 weeks after he left, when he called.  If my luck could not be any worse, my brother had my phone causing me to miss his call.  He left a voicemail saying he would call back tomorrow.  I had a funeral to go to that day and knew I was not going to be able to answer his call.  So, I left a special voicemail on my phone.  "Hey ya'll, this is Amber.  Sorry I missed your call but leave your info and I'll call ya back.  PS...if this is a special someone from Texas, I am at  funeral and will not be able to talk until 12.  If you can call back then:)"  Sure enough, he called back.  We walked for a long time and he asked if I had been getting his letters.  I responded no.  His first response was asking if my address was correct, for I was one of the first people he had written.  Well after our conversation, I asked my parents if they had received any mail for me.  The more my dad thought about it, he realized we had not received ANY mail for going on about a week.  Come to find out, someone had filled out a form at the post office to hold their mail and it was put towards our address.  When my dad returned from the post office, there was a ton of mail including a letter addressed to me from John:) From that phone call and that letter on, we began writing back and forth and talking on the phone as much as he was able too.  Little did we know that this would begin a relationship that would evolve into marriage!!  The first 5 months we were together were strictly letters and phone calls.  It would not be until Thanksgiving that we saw each other and Christmas til he was actually home!!  Next was college, then came the BEST proposal a girl could every ask for....

(awful quality) But this is the FIRST picture we ever took!!

July 10, 2006

Here it goes...

Hello all!  My name is Amber McCormick!  I am a first time blogger and super excited to see how "blogging" goes.  A little about me.  I have been married going on 2 years  to my high school sweetheart, John McCormick.  He is a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force National Guard and a flight instructor at Delta State.  This summer, he received a flight spot for the TN Air National Guard to fly C-17.  We are currently going to through the process in order to start this exciting part in our lives.  I am a 5th grade teacher and love my job.  Being a teacher is a calling and has it's ups and downs.  However, I know that God has me where I am for a purpose.  My main goal is to show my students the love of their Savior in any way I can!  My husband and I have had a non typical marriage set up.  6 months after we were married, he received a flight instructor job in Miami, Fl.  From January to May, he was there while I was still working in Hernando.  The positive thing about this job, was that for my summer vacation I got to live in southern FL!  It was very interesting to see the difference of cultures, and being close to the beach was very nice!  When he brought me home in July, he was able to stay a few months due to military orders.  At the end of the orders, he was able to get a job at Delta State, so no more FL.   And let me tell you, Cleveland MS is far better than Miami FL.  I have learned so much from God through this entire process and know He has such a great plan ahead!  I have really had to learn that it is NOT my plan, but His!  

John and I at SeaWorld in Orland, FL for our 1 Year Anniversary

I cannot wait to share our story throughout my blogs.  Being with someone for 7 years, you learn a lot and have a lot to share.  Our story has at no point and time been the typical "love story" but it has been ours!