My Home is You.

type-lover:

eat! cakes made with love - gorgeous lettering and illustration work - Federica Bonfanti

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Let Your jealous flame come and write Your name upon my heart, till all that remains is the light of Your countenance. I will be satisfied when I awaken as the lover of You.

━ Misty Edwards

thepowerofprayer:

I made this blog because a photo of my husband and I has gone viral on the internet. I wanted to share the story behind the photo for the hundreds of thousands of people who found inspiration through this sweet moment we had.
The Story Behind the Photo
Moments before I was to walk down the aisle my soon to be mother in law came in the dressing room where my bridesmaids and I were all gushing with giggles and fluttering about finishing last minute details.
“Sweetheart, your groom has called for you!”.
In a nervous tizzy I said, “What?! I’m not ready! I have to get my shoes and…” She had already taken my hand and led me to a corner, where my groom was waiting. I barely sat down; I was filled with so much anticipation! So much excitement! So many nerves!
“Is he going to like my dress? Does my hair look pretty? Can he see me?!”
Right around the corner sat my soon to be husband, I so was nervous he might see me yet secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him. In my excited state I was the first to speak,
“Hi sweetie! We’re getting married today!”
“I know baby and I want to pray with you before we do.”
There we sat around the corner hand in hand, and together we bowed our heads. People were rushing about; the wedding coordinator directing people here and there, the photographers snapping photos and the bridal party enjoying each others company. Yet in that moment, in the quietness of our hearts and minds, my husband and I were alone in the presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
My husband prayed that God would bless our marriage, that through thick or thin together we would never lose hope in one another. That instead of focusing on each others imperfections we would always rely on Christ’s perfection. That we would wake up every day and chose to love one another not through our own strength but by the power of Christ’s perfect love.
With our hands clenched tightly to one another together we said “Amen”, both with shaky voice and just like that I was whisked away to blot the tears off my face and put on my veil.
After my bridesmaids, mother, mother-in-law and every other girl in the room had finished zipping, curling, tucking and blushing me up I looked in the mirror. There I stood wearing my pure white wedding dress, ready to walk down the aisle to my Prince Charming.
See, he is not only my Prince Charming because of his incredibly handsome looks, or wonderful humor, or the fact that we have so much in common. He is my Prince Charming because he helped me protect the most precious gift that I owned, my purity.
Soon after we had started dating I nervously told my Prince that I was a virgin and planned to be until the night of my wedding; to which he replied he would have it no other way.
Throughout our dating relationship and engagement we constantly fought, what at times felt like a losing battle. We fought temptation with prayer, scripture and accountability. I had friends checking up on me if they knew we were together late at night and he regularly met with other Godly men to pray for strength. At times, especially as the wedding grew closer, we thought we were attempting to do the impossible.
“Why are we doing this?” I would ask in my weakness, and he would remind me, that it’s because God had told us too.
“I can’t do it, I can’t… this is too hard!” he would confess to me and I would pray for his strength.
When I walked down the aisle in my white dress, I looked straight into the eyes of the man that had laid himself down to protect and honor the wife that God had given him.
When his eyes first caught mine he looked into the face of the woman that had waited for him, the woman that would support him and love him for the rest of His life, through good times and bad.
I share all of this because in that prayer we prayed, which was captured here on camera we asked the Lord to use our wedding to bring Him all of the glory that He rightfully deserved. We had not gotten where we were by our own strength, but by His hand of protection on our relationship.
God has used this photo to inspire hundreds of thousands of people already and for that we are humbled and honored! I wanted to take it a step further and give God praise and thanks for how we arrived at that quiet corner, holding hands and ready to begin our lives together.
(photo by the incredible Kim Burke, www.kdburkephotography.com)

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We have been given all access to the Father.

This is a faith story of an unexpected yet timely helping hand that reached out to me. God is faithful.

After two months of consideration/debate with God and seven months of processing with church and the missions organization, I am all ready to say goodbye to my father and mother, like what Misty always loves to sing. I am really thankful that my church has kindly agreed to fully sponsor my expenses for my one-year stint in Timor-Leste and two-thirds for two months odd of training with Iris Harvest School in Micronesia. However, my pockets are not the most cooperative. I’m still short of about three to four thousand dollars.

Now, I have a pending commission from a freelance job. The keyword is ‘pending’. It is not a secured deal yet, but I certainly need the cashflow to start paying for all the necessary arrangements. As I draw closer to the start of Harvest School, I feel the gradual increase of pressure to raise funds. I really do not like that feeling.

A million trains of thoughts arrived and departed my mind. Finally, I decided I should try asking for an advance payment. If the deal falls through, it would become a loan instead. Honestly, I asked with only perhaps 40% confidence. Mr Wong, who is an artist himself, only knew me for less than a year and I am going away for a year. Why should he trust me and say yes to my request? Well, that was when God of the impossible came into the picture. By His grace, Mr Wong agreed!

The juicy part of this story begins only here.

Mr Wong handed me three thousand dollars in cold hard cash. I, on the other hand, suddenly hesitated. Yes, another million trains of thoughts bombarded my mind. One, I do not want to be in debt. Two, I feel bad to have to impose on him. He has no obligation to agree to my request, but he did. Sometimes I wish thoughts could be converted into money or energy, like currencies.

In that few minutes of hesitation, God said, “When you apply for a loan from a bank, the bank must first give approval. The form of these three thousand dollars might appear to be a debt, but the heart of it is access to the resources you need.”

Seeing that I was hesitating, Mr Wong added, “You know, you’re like my daughter. She always asks me for money to travel, to buy things; so it’s okay!”

That was it. Embarrassing it was, I started tearing while still staring at the money in hesitation. Though Mr Wong is not a believer, he chose to help me even after knowing the intent of the extended time away. I cried because God provided and taught me about the unprecedented access that His sons and daughters have through a physical manifestation, which I would live on to tell about over and over again.

From Mr Wong to the ends of the earth, the goodness and fullness of God need to be proclaimed. Time is hastening.

If you wish to partner me, you could:
1. Pray with me for a creative solution to raise the remaining funds. I aim to leave debt free though I am not obligated to pay Mr Wong back immediately, and I believe God will finish what He has started!
2. Support me financially. Drop me a private message at plwong.peilin@gmail.com.