Our Proposal Story

Nathaniel and I had been dating a while, and it had been going really well.

I mean REALLY, REALLY well.

We could hardly believe it–but prayers that we both had been praying for years, journal entries with specific requests penned on both sides-we were seeing answered day after day. We had been told “when you know, you just know” before in life, and until meeting each other-we never know what that meant. Now-we totally get it <3.

He lived in New Mexico, but was in Destin, FL for a few weeks for a work certification, and so I planned a trip to visit him down there. I was *pretty sure* that IF he were to propose before Christmas time, he would probably do it around the end of October. We would be celebrating the 500 year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation together–and what a magical time that would be! 😉

However on September 14th, as I drove to the airport, I found myself thinking about the possibility of him proposing to me. I got butterflies at the thought of it, but didn’t want to be distracted by the thoughts when a nice vacation with the love of my life was all I was guaranteed. So I did what any girl in my shoes would do–I snooped.

I called my sister and asked her if she had heard anything about Nathaniel connecting with Dad. She assured me that she JUST talked to dad earlier this week, and he hadn’t mentioned anything about a conversation with my boyfriend. She also let me know that Nathaniel never mentioned anything to her. I called my dad too, and he had no idea that I was even headed to Florida to be with my beloved.  After turning off bluetooth, and turning into economy parking at the Philadelphia Airport, my heart was settled with the reality that Nathaniel definitely wasn’t proposing during this time together. All I had before me the next few days was sunshine and sand-with the man that I love. I knew I would be marrying him sometime in the not so distant future, and I knew he wasn’t going to propose during this vacation.

I arrived in Florida and our time together was wonderful. He picked me up in his flight suit 😍😍😍 and took me shopping for beach essentials. We went out to dinner at one of his favorite spots where I had the best pork chops OF MY LIFE, I gave him a gift I had been working on for months, we met up with some of his friends for drinks, and my heart was so happy and content to be his girlfriend. The next day, we ran (okay, he ran and I mostly ran and walked a little) a 3 mile trail, had breakfast out, hit the clear waters and white sand of the local beach, and then he told me that we were taking a little trip to a local town called Seaside.

Seaside was an absolutely adorable little tourist town where The Truman Show had been filmed. We walked all around the charming community and chatted about life and love. We talked about family and community, our hopes and dreams for the future, and our mutual desire for marriage and each other. We laughed at the names of the homes down the residential  streets and enjoyed being hand-in-hand on the warm September afternoon. While wandering, Nathaniel pulled me aside to a sort of private cul de sac of trees and shrubbery– he stopped walking.

Wait. What?!

He stopped, laughed at the confusion on my face, and took a step back into a kneel.

“Betty Catherine-Michelle Pompell, will you marry me?”

His voice was as steady as the warm look in his eyes.

I could barely believe it. I said “absolutely!” and wrapped my arms around him as he stood up from his position of holding out a breathtakingly gorgeous engagement ring. My heart raced as I squeezed him and over and over again, with varying inflections, I just said “Oh my word. Oh my word. OH. My. WORD. OH MY WORD!” He shushed me, laughed at me, kissed me, got the ring on my finger (which brought a whole slew of more “oh my words”) and escorted me back to the main street of the town.

My feet didn’t touch the ground, as I goofily smiled at passerby’s and continued with my steadfast breathless chorus of “oh my word”. He told me that we had a few minutes to make some phone calls, and that our dinner reservations were at 6:30. Calls to my dad and sister proved the sneakiness of both their responses and their knowledge of the life-changing event.

The remainder of our time in Florida was filled with many more sweet memories, and the first few lessons and joys of planning a wedding and a life together. I am so thankful for the gift of being with Nathaniel. Dating him was an ABSOLUTE joy, being his fiance is an ABSOLUTE delight, and I daily look forward to being his bride and his wife ❤ Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Just Finished Exodus

As I explain in a previous post about Genesis– as I read through the Bible I am going to stop and reflect at the end of each book, and write about what that book tells me about God. A couple of days ago I (finally!) finished Exodus and here are my thoughts:

In Genesis the main character, God made a promise that he would make a “great nation” out of this small group of Hebrew nobodies. Unfortunately, this next story opens up with those people (the Israelites) being in slavery for 400 years to the greatest super power of the world at that time-Egypt. 

Yikes!

They need a HERO! They need a fearless and strong rescuer to swoop in and save the oppressed people. GOD is the HERO of this story! There is also a trusty sidekick-Moses! He was definitely a very unlikely sidekick, but ended up becoming a good friend of our Hero:) 

At the perfect time, the Superhero and His sidekick, with wit and agility, even when it seems absolutely IMPOSSIBLE-set the people free! And it’s amazing! And you, as the reader, are SO PUMPED for what just happened. But just like in many other superhero movies (spider-man/batman) the people rescued don’t always trust or even like the hero-but are instead hostile/opposed to Him! 

During the second half of Exodus, it’s kind of crazy, God “reveals” more that he is not merely a superhero and a rescuer…he is actually so much more than that…he is a HOLY GOD.And that holiness is MINDBOGGLING. Holy means “set apart” and He is sooooo incredibly different and perfect and awesome. He is JUST and punishes sin, but He also is LOVING and forgiving and delights in restoration. God makes it clear in this book that he REMEMBERS and FULFILLS all of His promises. And get this, despite his HOLINESS and their MISTRUST AND STUPIDITY, he want to reside with them. 

(insert jaw drop)

He is the incredible creator of the universe! He is the rescuer, sustainer, provider, epitome of perfection, goodness, grace, justice, mercy, and knowledge! And he wants to LIVE with the Israelites? The people who so quickly turned their backs on him? The ones who doubted his faithfulness? Who doubted his power? Who denied his uniqueness? Who ignored his rules? Who forgot his grace? THAT’s who he chooses to reside with? 

Yep.

A sinful, evil people will live with a perfect, holy God. And the book ends with this cliff hanger of a question: How on earth is THAT going to work out?

Just Finished Genesis

I’m reading through the Bible (not in a year, that stresses me out!) and I just finished the book of Genesis. Before moving on to Exodus, I wanted to take a little bit of time and reflect on what I had just read. Sometimes I forget that the Bible is a book, one big story, and not just a collage of randomness. So I took a little time one evening and imagined someone asking me, over a cup of delicious coffee, about the book I was reading. I just finished the first “chapter” and they ask-What is it about? Who is/are the main characters? What do you think is going to happen next?

I journaled a (messy) response to that question.

Well, the main character is God. He made everything, and has a special place in his heart for humanity (and if we are honest-the humanity we see in this first chapter is pretty unpleasant at times). I’ve learned that he is benevolent and caring and incredibly brilliant. He provides and protects, and somehow even uses evil things that happen miraculously for good. He is merciful and righteous and promises HUGE gifts to some ordinary people. Buuuuut…he is also very serious about right behavior. It’s confusing…sometimes I expect him to respond to evil in a drastic way and he doesn’t. They lie or kill and he doesn’t punish them.  Yet other times I expect he’ll let that evil slide (it was just one bite!), and he does not. I haven’t quite got him figured out yet-but hey, it’s only the first chapter, and I’m guessing he is going to be complicated.

When they blatantly disrespect God, and ungratefully ignore his rules by listening to and obeying the Serpent, he responds with punishments for each party involved. Part of the serpents punishment is that one day, one of the woman’s descendants is going to fatally wound him by “striking his head”. So I think that might be a huge plot line in this book-figuring out which descendant is going to defeat the serpent. How is He going to do that? What will it look like? At this point-it could be anything! 

Also, God is all-powerful and in control of absolutely everything that happens. But it often times doesn’t feel like it. But then you keep seeing how he is always up to something!

So the other big thing so far is that God makes a deal with this (seemingly nobody) guy named Abraham. Oh that’s another thing-I know God is the main character, but normally you have a few other main characters as well! I often think while reading that some of these different people that are introduced into the story could be a major player-but then they die. And it’s no big deal! Ha! Even Adam-the very first character introduced after God…it’s just like “then he died” and moves on! It’s very different than the other stories I’ve read. Don’t know quite what that means. Anyway, sorry about the tangent. God promises Abraham 4 things:

1. A land to live in
2. A whole lot of descendants
3. Success/blessings
4. That the whole world would be blessed because of someone in his family.

He repeats these promises to him over and over again, and also to his descendants. It’s Abraham, Isaac, and then Jacob (aka: Israel). They, as a whole, end up being known as the “sons of Israel”. At the end of the first chapter (Genesis) it seems to me that all the promises have been fulfilled. Abraham had land, descendants, blessing, and I think the whole world was blessed by his descendant, Joseph-who, after a pretty crummy life, ended up saving all the nations of the world from a famine due to a dream interpretation given to him by God. But it didn’t say that that was the fulfillment of the promise. I feel like it was such a big deal-like they should have/would have said something about it…so maybe that’ wasn’t the fulfillment? Maybe there’s something more? I’m not sure-after all, I’m only at the beginning of the story. We’ll see what the next part of the story holds!  

Feeling Lost?

 

Imagine you are hiking through the woods trying to get to the nearest town. But you are lost and confused and you feel like you are walking in circles. It’s been weeks, and you are just as deep in the woods today as you were when you thought of your first brilliant game plan to get out of there asap!

Fortunately for you, you meet a guide in the woods. He explains that if you take this trail, it’ll lead you to a crossroads in a clearing where there will be a sign explaining which direction to go next to get to town. He hands you a backpack full of things you need to survive and thrive during this journey. A compass, a canteen with fresh water, a flashlight, bug spray, matches, and even a walkie talkie! He assures you that he knows these woods well, and he’ll always have his walkie talkie on him if you ever have any questions. You are overjoyed at his help!  You are feeling awesome about this journey and confident that you will get to the next clearing soon. Off you go.

The first few days you do pretty well. The trail is as clear as the sky and you barely break a sweat. You gleefully use your compass, and even walkie talkie your guide to see if the berries you’ve stumbled across are safe to eat (you’ve seen Hunger Games-you aren’t taking any chances). A short time passes and you stop using the contents in your backpack-you think you know the drill pretty well by now! But shortly after, the way starts to get more difficult. You are constantly swarmed by six legged pests, trapped in prickly thickets, covered in mud and blood, and oh so weary. Day after day you continue on, wondering if you are lost, confused why the way is so treacherous, and losing hope that you’ll ever get to that clearing. The nearest town feels farther away now than it ever has.

And then, one moment while lapping up muddy stream water for a drink, scratching a bug bite the size of a melon on your leg, and trying to find the best rock flint to start a fire with later tonight, you remember the backpack you’ve been given. You feel like an idiot. You have all these resources to help the journey, and you have been ignoring them! The trail would still have been difficult, but if you would have used what was given to you, much pain, discomfort, and discouragement could have been avoided.

I feel like I am on a pretty difficult journey right now. I look forward with hopeful expectation to one day getting out of the woods, but for now I am just looking for the next clearing-a crossroads that will show me the next step. I have a Guide who is brilliant, and loving, and perfect, and always accessible. He has given me tools while journeying to best survive-His Word-a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, the precious gift of communication with God through prayer, the joy and comfort of worshipping  the giver of the stream of living water that will never run dry, godly counsel– who through knowing and loving the Guide well for years can impart wisdom and comfort that will help protect me from all kinds of harm, and so much more.

Yet I far too often journey with a backpack full of items not being used. I keep the fresh canteen in my bag and drink the dirty water the world offers.

As believers we must use the tools the Lord has given us. They are for our own good, and yet we ignore them? The ramifications of doing so are personal and foolish yes, but also what does it say to our fellow travelers who don’t have a “backpack”? It says that they are pointless and they are worthless, and no wonder they don’t ask where it came from-they don’t see us value what’s inside!

So friend, passionately use the tools God has given you to get through this life. It may still be very difficult, but He has graciously given us exactly what we need to navigate every step, every day. And maybe, as you obediently depend on the graces that God has given you, He will bring other travelers in your life who need the see the blessings that knowing the Guide brings-what a joy that is!

Don’t Always Believe Your Big Sister

So I asked my sister, (Glenda) if she read my blog and she gently reminded me that she is very busy raising 3 children and doesn’t always find time…

..then she added at the end…”plus they are always so serious. “

Now I enjoy a good serious blog just as much as the next person-but I realized that she was right in the sense that I don’t often incorporate my humor too much into Bit o’ Betty (BOB for short)…(no that is weird)  which is a big part of who I am! So here is my attempt at not always being so serious.

So this is for you Glenda 🙂

I’ve entitled this short story: Don’t Always Believe Your Big Sister 😉

When I first moved in with the family who ended up adopting my brother and I, Glenda was almost 16 years old. She went from being an only child, to being the on-call babysitter, entertainer, chauffer, and blame-receiver to a wild 5 and 7 year old.  We turned her world upside down, and wreaked havoc on her once peaceful living situation. Despite us ruining her things, and seemingly stealing her parents, she tried hard to love us (though often unlovable!) and was a quite champ! She would bring us to her room, escape out her window, dress up like a clown, climb back into her room from her balcony no longer as Glenda, but as “George the Clown” and entertain us for hours!

Though don’t put this super sister on a pedestal quite yet. She had a dark side. A very dark side. And that dark side was knowing-that-I-was-and-still-am-super-gullible-and-would-convice-me-of-all-sorts-of-things.

The most memorable of things being this: The first summer I moved in, Glenda convinced me that children were not born with a butt crack. That’s right. They were butt crack-less, smooth bottomed, and had to be shipped to China where they have a special butt cracking machine. They would slide the babies on, and then like a giant paper cutter, *shhhfiinnggg*, (that is the best sound effect I can think of), and then the babies were shipped back home to their families.

Well, trusting my new big sister got me in trouble that next fall in Mrs. Nani’s second grade class. We were having a sort of cultural emphasis week, where we were to bring in foods and artifacts and facts from different places around the world. A time came when my dear, sweet, teacher asked the class if anyone had been outside of the country. This was my chance to inform my fellow peers of the wisdom my older, smarter, big sister had bestowed upon me.  Hand raised as high as I could, and wiggling it to show my excitement, I was finally called on, “We’ve all been to China!” I proudly proclaimed!

Mrs. Nani didn’t miss a beat, “You visited China? How lovely! Did you see the Great Wall?”

“No, no, no. We have ALL been to China!” I waited, a second, excited to share the news, “When we were born, we were all shipped there to get a butt cracks!”

Mrs. Nani’s eyes enlarged, and the 2^nd grade giggles around me urged me to explain further. “When you are born you don’t have a butt crack so you are shipped to China because they have a very special butt cracking machine where the baby…”

“ENOUGH MISS HAMPTON!” (name prior to adoption)

I pursed my lips, and furrowed my brow as I watched her walk to the front of the class to write another note for me to take home to my parents.

Needless to say, I got in trouble-I’m pretty sure it was a spanking. Supposedly “I knew better”. Doubtful. But do you know who did know better?

My big sister.

And you know who didn’t get a spanking?

My big sister. (okay so she was 16 at the time, I still thought it was deserved!)

You know who you can’t always trust with facts concerning medical procedures with newborns?

My big sister.

Love you always and forever Glenda!! Hope this isn’t too serious for you 😉

(Aunt B and the 3)