Daniel,

Happy 26th Birthday!

The past week has been quite swirly - an ice storm having knocked out most of the power around here for days. So, you and I have been camped out at my parent's since Wednesday night.

And it feels like we have been on an Adventure since then. Every day has brought about the unexpected. Thursday was insane - no power at either of our homes, no cell service, no cable internet - nothing. You spent the day in the break room at The Bank and it was quite fun to walk through and see you sitting there.

We both took Friday off and spent the entire day working on wedding plans. It was a real journey to drive to Greenville (all the traffic lights were out, trees were down, and detours were common), but we did it. And then we laughed and wiggled so hard when we saw the wedding invitations. They are beautiful!

Saturday was spent in Hendersonville, in the midst of a bridal portrait shoot. Against tradition, you've seen me in my wedding gown a few times now and it has become very special to us. I'm quite tired of hearing "oh, you can't do that" and "you are going to have horrid luck." We knew that you would be the only one to take me to Hendersonville and what Else are you going to do for those 8 hours? Plus, the wedding gown is becoming more and more special. You are remembering the details of it and getting to see me flounce about in it a lot more than just an hour or so on one evening.

I think my favorite moment was when Judy turned up the music yesterday afternoon while she and Jim were working on the next pose. I was relaxed on the white couch and you were sitting beside me. Mark Cohn was singing True Companion and the words were pounding into my soul while you sat there and stared into my eyes. You took your hand and brushed my veil away and just kissed me so sweetly.

So don't you dare and try to walk away
I've got my heart set on our wedding day
I've got this vision of a girl in white
Made my decision that it's you allright

It was a tender moment. But then so was most of the shoot. When we went outside to take pictures against the ice storm - it was amazing. You kept making sure I wasn't too cold and winking at me between the poses.

The drive home from Hendersonville was really touching. You listened to me cry my heart out and then you held my hand while I slept. I think we are really learning the meaning of give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humane, enough of failure to keep them humble, and enough of success to make them sure they walk with You.

And now, Day Five of this Adventure is a most special day. You will turn 26 sometime around noon (I'll probably pinch you during church around that time) and we will get to celebrate your birthday all day long. It's going to be a busy day (my Granny has a lovely 80th birthday party today) - but I'll make sure it's special for you.

I'm going to crawl out of bed now and go knock on the guest room door and sing you happy birthday.

I love you so much, Daniel. Only 34 days until I become your wife.

Only 34 days until we begin learning that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two uniting and joining hands to serve the Lord.

Here's to more wonderful birthdays! And more days of learning how to look at each other through kind and patient eyes.

Your Whirly Girl

P. S. I love this picture of you.

Congratulations, Mom!!

She received a Master's in Education from Southern Wesleyan University on December 10, 2005. I am so proud of her.

I just attended the midnight advance screening of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It was lovely - even more than what I had thought possible.

On the ride home, Daniel and I were discussing whether one should look at the Chronicles of Narnia as solely a great piece of fiction or whether to admit to the symbolism and imagery that mirrors strong truths of our Christian faith.

I'm not sure that we reached a decision or even a strong opinion because we were half-asleep and much more concerned with not running off the road. But I do know that Edmund's selfish hunger for Turkish Delight (to the point that he betrayed those he loved best) was an accurate picture of our depraved souls.

While rounding the curvy roads in the thick fog tonight, and pondering everything I saw tonight - I flipped the radio to a station that I rarely listen to. My aunt Judy was singing and I couldn't keep the tears back as she sang.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His Child and forever I am.

Watching Aslan give himself to save poor Edmund was powerful. Of course, Edmund had no idea of the cost of his actions and to be quite honest - his ungodly hunger for Turkish Delights probably didn't go away with Aslan's redemption.

But remembering redemption is a powerful thing.

In a rare moment of discussing baby names for our future children, I asked Daniel what he thought of Madeleine.

No, that was the name of the demon in This Present Darkness.

It came and went rather quickly, but Thanksgiving was held at my mom and dad's house this year and it turned out to be a lovely bit of laid-back fun and games. My grandparent’s were up from Florida (and they brought my cousin Courtney who I haven’t seen in a long time) and so we enjoyed things like FOOD, board games (Apple’s to Apple’s, Balderdash and Outburst) and talks on the front porch. How easy it is to forget that sweet fellowship that family can have. Daniel and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and decided that after seeing Mom’s house all lit up for Christmas that we needed to get our act together. After a few disappointing trips around town, we finally found exactly what we were looking for and put up a lovely tree and added a few holiday accents here and there. It feels like holiday gift-giving has already begun for us because we are receiving wedding/shower gifts already and each time I go the apartment I am washing new water goblets, unpacking a shower curtain or putting away new kitchen goodies.

But as quickly as we unpack things at the apartment, we are packing up things at my place. We have actually designated my loveseat (or the “two-person couch” as my soon-to-be father-in-law calls it – so as to not imply the presence of love) as the place to put things that are going over to the apartment. It is currently holding a stack of board games, two picture frames, old videos and a vase of flowers. We are still trying to determine when to move all the kitchen related paraphernalia. That’s a big step because then it means that all home-cooked meals are at his place only. It really makes sense to do that because then we don’t have to buy groceries for two places.

In the midst of it all, I’m also pondering what it will mean to have a marriage grounded on things other than entangled legs and flirtatious glances. We met an older lady at Target the other night (when we were buying decorations) and we told her that we were getting married in January. She said, do you want to know the secret to marriage? Make sure you are best friends! We nodded and agreed – because we are best friends and that is something that we try not to take for granted. But her answer made us think a bit more. I personally think that we can be the best of friends and still find ourselves flailing within weeks of being Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bergey. Having the foundation solely in the Lord is our only answer. After all, we are still two sinners trying to become one.

But these hectic days haven’t caused me to completely miss the little things. I’m enjoying Smores Hot Chocolate quite a bit lately and looking forward to Narnia.

And I'm also trying not to get too frustrated with the scam-jerks that call me while I’m in the middle of Really Hard Work to say:

So, this is Bobby. How you doin’? Can I get that part number of your copier?
Hi, Bobby. Yes, I’m doing well.
Yeah, so, what is that part number?
Bobby?
Yes?
Who are you with again?
Um…
*click*

[There is a scam going around where someone calls to verify what model you have of a certain piece of office equipment and then sends you parts and charges you - without you ever having heard of the company or even declaring a need]