We're getting married!!

I was going to wait a few days to type this blog but SO many people have asked me about all the little details and how it happened. I can't type this out on my phone and text it to everyone so blogging it seems most fitting. I will just start off by saying this was by far the best Christmas I have ever experienced, not because of the presents but because of the love that was evident throughout mine and Joe's entire family. It was absolutely wonderful. And, well.... the gifts were wonderful, too. Thank you to everyone who has texted, called, messaged us, come to see us, and everything else! You will never know how much we truly appreciate the love and support from our friends and family. 

Sooo.. lets get to the good stuff! 

Every year on Christmas eve Joe and I let each other open one gift from each other so last night (Christmas eve) we exchanged gifts and he gave me the most beautiful, custom made pearl bracelet. It is absolutely beautiful. He told me he had three presents for me and this was the first thing he gave me. I am in love with it! I was really confused at how he was going to give me a better present than the bracelet, but I didn't say a word. Anyways, he left my house and went home and I went to bed. 

Well, this morning (Christmas morning) my brother was up and at 'em at 7 o'clock and by 8 o'clock all of our presents were opened. There was a present to me from Joe under our tree that was supposed to be my third gift but Mom accidentally gave it to me and I opened it while Joe wasn't there. *BIG mistake* But, I loved the gift! It was a pair of hot pink and white golf shoes to match the hot pink golf clubs that I got from "Santa". They are perfect! But when I opened them and said, "Are these golf shoes?", mom freaked out and re-wrapped them and made everyone promise that Joe wouldn't find out. Funny, because somehow Joe found out!

Every year on Christmas morning I always open presents with my family and eat breakfast with them and then go to Joe's and *try* to eat again and open presents with them. Well this morning Joe got up to go hunting so he had been texting me and right after we finished breakfast he texted me and said....

I asked him if he was lying because earlier in the week he told me he shot a buck when he really didn't. And he asked me to come help because I am the one who found the blood trail for the deer we shot on Monday night. I am now known as the professional "deer tracker". He texted me this around 9:30 and I wasn't able to get to his house until around 10:30. In that hour he probably called me 20 times wanting to know where I was and when I was going to be there. So when all the presents were finally opened I was rushing out the door to go find a "huge buck"! 

Mom took a picture of me leaving because apparently everyone knew what was going on but me!

So I got to Joe's house and we take off to the woods looking for this "huge buck". All I remember was that it was FREEZING! 

We get down in the woods and start looking for this blood trail and Joe continuously keeps saying how mad he is because he can't find the trail and he was so upset because he just knew he missed the deer. He only told me that he was going to throw up a million times. I thought it was because he was so upset over the deer, but he was really just nervous! So we walked around the woods for a good 20 minutes looking for this "deer" and finally Joe says, "well I guess I missed it and I don't want to be a scrooge this Christmas so lets go eat & open gifts!" I totally agreed with him because I was so cold and I just wanted to get out of the woods! 

Well we got back to where the car was parked in the field which just so happened to be right next to his trail camera that was strapped to a tree. When we walked by the trail camera he said, "Hey, smile, you're on camera!" He messed around with the trail camera for a minute and then he came up to me. At this point he had told me he loved me probably 30 times in a 5 minute span. He kept telling me how excited he was to be married in a few years and kept talking about all of our "dreams". I honestly was just confused. His mom was cooking breakfast, I knew she wanted us to hurry and I couldn't understand why he was talking about all of our dreams in the middle of the woods on Christmas morning. Welll... now I know! 

He got me right in front of the trail camera and he hugged me for the longest time. The next thing he said was, "Do you want your next present?" Of course I said yes and I asked him to go get it out of the car. He told me it wasn't in the car and I asked where the big buck was and he told me..... there was no buck!! At this point I started laughing. I just hiked through the freezing cold woods looking for a blood trail that didn't exist? On Christmas morning?! WHAT?! 

But then he pulled me closer and started telling me how much he loves me and how he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with anyone else. 

**If you look closely, he is holding the ring box behind his back in this picture**

To be honest, I don't remember exactly what he said. Multiple times today we both tried to remember what he said but we just couldn't. When he started with the "I love you so much" speech I knew something was about to happen. Before he got down on his knee he said, "I'm really doing this!" He was so excited! 

He then got down on one knee and all I remember was, "Chaselyn Alyse Duncan, will you marry me?" 

I didn't even look at the ring. I just fell on both of my knees with him! 

We were both crying. Actually I was more like bawling, but whatever. It was the happiest moment of my life. We both sat on the ground and just hugged and laughed and cried and he eventually put the ring on my finger. It was so perfect. I never wanted that moment to end. I could have sat in the freezing cold with him all day. 

But, the moment had to end and we had to go to his house where his mom and sister were waiting. It was absolutely perfect. 

When we got back to his house there was a bunch of screaming, crying, laughing, and smiling. It was wonderful. And about 10 minutes later my WHOLE family walks in. Mom, dad, grandma, brother, sister, cousins.... I was, and still am, on cloud 9. We screamed a little more, a little louder, and we all just celebrated. 

Truly the most awesome thing I've ever experienced and I couldn't have asked for it to be done any more perfectly. 

Sooo... about the ring. 

For a while now Joe and I have talked about getting married but we never really talked much about how we would get engaged or what the ring would be like. Honestly, Joe never asked me what kind of rings I liked, he never let me show him what I liked, and he never liked talking about it. He always told me that he would take care of me and I completely trusted him. He has been working on creating this ring specifically for me since July. It is absolutely p e r f e c t. The pictures don't do it justice at all. I have been flashing it all day! But can you blame me?! 

Needless to say, today has been a total celebration. But so many times Joe and I just stopped to pray and thank God for all his many blessings. We both prayed all morning and we have prayed multiple times since then. I don't even know what to say to God though. "Thank you" has come out of my mouth many, many times. I am so thankful first and foremost for the most perfect gift that was born on Christmas day many, many years ago, for the true reason that we celebrate Christmas. Secondly, I am thankful for the man of God that I have been blessed with. I am beyond excited for our life as husband and wife to begin. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with him. He is something special and I wouldn't take all of the money in the world over him. He teaches me every day how to love stronger, laugh harder, and trust deeper and for that I am so thankful. He pushes me towards Christ and holds me accountable for so many things. God has given me a better gift than I could have ever dreamed of, and for that I will be forever thankful. 

I love you, Joe Parsons and I cannot wait to be your wife!!!

Once again, thank you to all of our friends and family for the sweet words and encouragement. It means the world to us. We are so thankful for such wonderful people in our lives. We cannot wait to celebrate on our special day with the ones who mean the most.

 Joe and I have not had a single second alone since the big moment so a date has not even been talked about. We will let you know as soon as we decide. Until then.... let the wedding planning commence! 

We hope each of you had a very Merry Christmas with your families! 

Today I'm just thankful

It's been a while since I have sat down and written a post. Honestly, I would love to write every day to just spill my thoughts because sometimes that just seems to help me, but in reality I just don't have time for that. A lot has happened since I last wrote- Thanksgiving (which is probably my favorite holiday), exams (which were so very brutal), and my first semester of junior year nursing school has ended (AND I MADE IT THROUGH!) Praise the Lord! Truly, this is a praise. This semester truly showed me that there is a God and he loves me very very much all I have to do is reach out for him. And this semester, more than ever in my entire life, I depended on God like I depend on my earthly Daddy every single day. Every week of the semester I had a huge test, I wrote a 10-20 page paper on each patient I took care of, I spent anywhere from 8-15 hours in the hospital and I spent 18 hours a week in class all while trying to balance my grades and keep a social life. Thank goodness for some of the best friends and family I've ever had to keep me sane. At times I thought I would never make it through, but with determination, faith and tons of love and support I made it! 

So here we are now, on Christmas break and let me tell you- it is AMAZING! I have been able to sleep in a few days, I've spent time with my family and Joe's family, I've gotten all my Christmas shopping done, and now I'm just waiting for Christmas! I am super excited for this week. One, because we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the most perfect Christmas present ever. Two, because I get to spend endless amounts of time with my family and the ones I love. And three, because for the first time in 5 years Joe and I have NO CLUE what we are getting each other. To be honest, we have never been good at surprises. I always get so excited and tell him what he's getting and well, he just doesn't know how to shop for me so I always have to pick my presents out. But this year will be so fun! I hate waiting on surprises but I know it will be worth the wait! I trust that they will be the best presents I've ever gotten because he is doing this completely on his own. 

So, this week when you are celebrating with your families remember why we really celebrate Christmas. The gifts and Santa and the food are all wonderful but remember that precious baby that was born many, many years ago and remember the most perfect sacrifice he made for us so that we can spend eternal life with him. In church today our preacher made the best statement, "The best gift you could receive for Christmas is love from your Heavenly Father". And he is so very correct. I would be fine without a single gift under my tree as long as I know I get to spend eternal life with my Heavenly Father. I encourage you to read the love chapter (1Corinthians 13) and read the birth of Jesus (Luke 2) in the bible and realize that the perfect gift of love has already been given to us. He loves you so so much and his desire is for everyone to know him and commit their lives to him so that we can spend forever with him in Heaven. At times I catch myself pondering what Christmas is like in Heaven and I think about all my loved ones who are in Heaven, especially my Papa and Granny Pansy, and I just think about the perfect time they are having. I am so happy for them and I wouldn't wish them back on this earth for anything! 

So to the ones who are reading, I hope you have the best Christmas you have ever had. I hope it is filled with love and joy and Jesus and the best food you've ever eaten. Always remember the true reason for the season. 

Until I write again,

Merry Christmas!!! 

What are you worrying about?

Well, I haven't written in a while. Probably because I feel like this is the first second I have had to breathe in the past few weeks. Life, or "nursing school", as I know it has taken off and I spend every extra second I have on school. My social life has suffered, but my grades have not. All the glory goes to God. He has truly held my hand and guided me when I thought that no one else was there. My constant prayer through all of this has been, "God, have [YOUR] will in everything that I do. I will praise You for the good and for the bad. But pave my way and show me Your plan." He has done exactly that.

 

With that being said... this does not mean I have not spent many helpless nights worrying what the outcome of the next day would be, because I have... more times than I wish to admit. I worry about my grades, worry about knowing every single medication or blood count that I need to, worry about missing a homework assignment, worry about being where I'm supposed to be, worry about not eating enough or eating too much, worry about not sleeping enough, worry about having money, worry about spending time with Joe, worry about calling my mama and daddy, worry about spending enough time with Jesus... I worry, worry, worry. Many times when I become overwhelmed the first thing I do is open my bible and it seems almost instantly that I have a peace about me, but lately it has been so hard to find time to just open my bible.

Really, hard to find time to spend with Jesus? Yes. It has been. I will read a quick verse on my phone, read a quick devotion and be done. That is not like me. I am used to spending at least 30 minutes to an hour pouring out to my Savior every single day. So within the past few weeks something has hit me...

God is ALWAYS there. He knows my every need, he knows my every thought. He knows the workload I have and he knows how stressed I am. This is one of those *high-five my face* moments in life. He knows these things, He is going to be here for me, all I have to do is pour out to Him! I have been so worried about spending every free second on homework or studying that I have taken that time away from God. He deserves time in my life. It is my job to trust that if I take time out of my busy schedule to pour out to Him, He will hear me and He will diligently bless me.

So I have spent countless days and nights asking Him to forgive me for not giving Him the time he deserves in my life and tonight, (9/25/2013), he totally blessed my socks off!

When God moves, He really moves. And I cannot praise Him enough.

 

Joe and I have been so blessed every Sunday morning and Wednesday night after church. We always come out talking about "how that sermon was for us". And most of them have been right on point. But tonight absolutely blew me away. I was a little down going into church because my normal Wednesday night group wasn't going to be there because of homework. So there I was, in this huge sanctuary, all alone. I was praying for God to make it seem like it was just me and Him in the sanctuary so I could have some special time to just pour out and worship Him like crazy. But He had something better in mind. At one point I turned around and saw the sweetest smile I know. My man had come to church and surprised me... wow, love him so much!! The only thing better than me and God worshipping is me, God, and Joe.

Anyways...

Tonight the sermon was from Psalm 139 and it was titled "LIVE the moment".

Basically, what I took from the sermon was...

God knows me.

God knows [everything].

He searches me every single day.

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me."

His right hand holds me.

He is everywhere.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

He is omnipotent.

I have to shave off things that are distracting me.

My life has to be devoted to Him.

I have to focus on my God-given priorities.

I have to keep the worship lasting throughout the week.

I have to be willing to let go of my pride and fall down before my Father.

He wants to help me, all I have to do is simply ask.

 

 

 

So after hearing this, I asked myself. How serious are my "worries"? With God on my side I have nothing to fear. There are people who are fighting for their lives every single day, there are people who have never even heard of the word of God, there are people who have nothing to eat, there are people who have nowhere to sleep; basically, I AM BLESSED is what I learned tonight.

I am in constant prayer for people who are hurting, constant prayer for people who don't know the Lord, constant prayer for people who do know the Lord. I pray for new people every single day.

I have no reason to worry and I want other people who are hurting to understand this message, too. The God of angel armies is on our side. He has paved every path and created our futures exactly how they were meant to be. God knows every step we will take and every mountain we will climb. All we have to do is surrender to Him.

I am so so thankful that God knew exactly what I needed to hear tonight and my prayer is that if you are reading this then you were blessed just like I was. Give it ALL to God, lay everything down at the foot of the cross and allow Him to have His will in your life.

 

True love will never shine brighter than the love that our Savior has for us.

 

If there is any way that I can pray for anyone, PLEASE let me know! Send me a message, give me a phone call, anything. I want to pray because I want to see God do a major work in your life!

 

 

To end, I want to ask you to watch this video. When you're having a hard time, turn to this video. Tim Timmons, the song-writer, was at church tonight and he shared his story and a few of his songs. He blew me away. It was an amazing time and I cannot wait to hear him again. It is an awesome testimony and a truly beautiful song.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSJZoEoVPy4



Obedience

When God tells us to do something, that is what He wants us to do. When we are living in His word and following Him obediently we will see all of the precious things He has to offer us. He will not reveal His will for our lives when we are stumbling around on our own path and living the way we choose. 

Deuteronomy 8:6 tells us, "observe the commands of The Lord your God, walking in obedience to Him and revering Him." 

Whatever God has told you to do... Go do it!! Not just the part that seems easy or pleasurable for you, ALL OF IT! You will not see the full benefit until you follow all of His commands. Sometimes this will not be what we want. We will go through hardships and battles. But when we follow the word of God and we are obedient to Him, He reminds us that He will be with us every step of the way. We have no reason to fear. He will hold our hands through the good times and He will hold our hands through the bad times. God wants to rock with us in every season of our lives. He's not just a "sometimes" God.. He's an all the time God. 

Follow His instructions and it will be a blessing to your life as well as a blessing to others lives. 

Obey Him fully and your life will be a direct representation of the will He has created for you.

What an awesome promise! 

                  

                 

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow"

These last couple of days have felt like a whirlwind. Joe and I moved back to Lynchburg last week to begin our junior year and I feel like we haven't slowed down since. Today was my first day and I spent the whole day in the hospital doing orientation. On the bright side of that I was doing orientation for my OB (Labor & Delivery) class that I am absolutely going to LOVE! And this brings me to the whole reason I'm writing this post...

 

Over the past month or so I have begun praying for this semester, for God to cover me and help me get through this crazy, busy time in my life. I have heard horror stories about the "junior year" of nursing and to be honest I have been a little nervous. But in the back of my mind there has always been this little bit of peace, and a voice telling me that I have nothing to worry about. So many times I fail God but it is amazing to me that He knows my every thought and even when I doubt Him, He never gives up on me. He has reminded me in so many ways that all I have to do is trust and He will guide me through.

 

Last night as I was doing my devotion, I really didn't have anything specific to read so I let the Lord guide me and He gave me exactly what I needed to hear. Isn't it cool how He works? In my time spent with Him, He reminded me that no matter where my life takes me I have to live for Him and only Him. I cannot strive to make myself who I want to be for other people, I have to strive to be the person that God created [me] to be. It was just an eye opener for me to see that who I am is exactly who I'm supposed to be. Where I am in life is exactly where I am supposed to be. And there is nothing I can do about that. For so many years I have prayed about being a nurse and worried about not getting into the program, but time and faithfulness is all it took. God taught me that every blessing in my life will come in due time. I worried day after day about not being smart enough and having good enough grades. I worried about not being good enough in general and how I could change myself to be good enough. And last night I was reminded that it doesn't matter if I'm good enough for anyone else, they don't see what God sees. All I have to do is put forth my best effort and trust in Him and my efforts will be rewarded. This is the same with any situation. It is hope for people who are going through a "storm" in their life. ALWAYS remember that it doesn't matter how other people see you, God is the ONLY one that matters. And when you devote your life 100% to Him, He will bless you in ways you never imagined.

 

"It takes strength and patience to stand firm until God moves in our lives."

 

Another story I read last night about dealing with the doubts was the story of the Disciples and how Jesus calmed the storm. The Disciples doubted and feared for their lives, but Jesus had already made His promises and they had nothing to be in fear of. God has already spoken promises into our lives... we have not one single thing to fear or doubt. So why do we still worry every single day? Jesus is with us and He will see us through to the other side. He will help you reach the destination in your life. You may face hardships and challenges, but never give up hope. Go through it and fight the battle. But know that Jesus is with you and He will see you through until the end.

 

"We are never the same when Jesus takes us through different seasons of our lives."

 

What an awesome promise!!

 

All this to say.. I have been praying so hard for this semester and for God's plan in my life to be revealed. I have been dealing with doubts and fears of the unknown future and what I am going to do with my life. So last night I prayed so hard for God to just comfort me and allow me to receive his blessings in due time. Well this morning He showed me who is boss. He reassured me that nursing is definitely my calling and I am, in fact, exactly where I need to be in life. Also, within the time span of about 3 hours.. He had answered almost every prayer I prayed last night. Ummm... WOW!! I was so blown away and humbled.

 

I am going to share my number one praise....

Some people may know, some may not.. But for some time I have really been contemplating on going to Medical School after I graduate from my undergrad in nursing. I have been supported in this decision by many people but it just never sounded right. If I want to be a doctor why am I going to nursing school? Crazy, right? Anyways... this morning I got an email that may have seemed so minor to others but to me it was a complete and total testimony to answered prayers. The email I received stated that Liberty is considering offering the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program. For me this means that I would possibly be able to apply after undergrad and begin my career path to becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife. This was so much for me to take in. I was so overwhelmed with happiness.

God is SO good.

 

I know this is a long post, but it is a testimony that I hope will encourage many people to NEVER give up on your dreams. God knows what you have in mind and He has a very detailed and perfect plan for your life. Don't try to live for anyone but Him. You will face storms and discouraging times in your life, but never give up on the one who created you. He will only close doors to open up better ones. If you think it's "your" life plan and he closes that door, don't be discouraged! Look forward to the bigger blessings that He is going to bring into your life. Stand firm through the tough times and allow God to work in your life. Never doubt him because He has given you a definite purpose for your life.

 

You will receive God's best when He becomes the best in your life.

 

 

 

Sorry this was so long. I just had to share. Be a blessing to someone this week!! You never know what someone may be going through, a smile could change their entire day!

 

[Psalm 37:4-5]



Family Fun Weekend

Well, sadly, it has come and gone but it was definitely one of the most favored weekends of the summer. Mom has some cousins that live in Georgia and some that live here and town and we all try to get together at least one weekend out of the summer. In recent years we have stayed in a cabin at the top of the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN but this year we decided to have everyone stay at our house! 

Here are some of my cousins last year...

We had so much fun this year!!

Thursday we enjoyed a day by the pool while the guys played golf. That night we had a low country boil and it was delicious! Every year it is tradition after dinner for everyone to sit around and tell stories so that is what we did all night. 

Friday we went to Joe's cousins campground on the New River in Sparta, NC (here is the link if you're interested http://www.canoeingthenew.com/). We floated the river and had so much fun. We had floated about half a mile when we got hit by a thunderstorm so we had to get out of the water. Little did we know we were venturing into a cow pasture and making our way to an old, abandoned house on the side of the river. We thought we were safe to get back in the water when a lightening bolt hit within a hundred yards from us. Talk about loud and scary. We've never seen mom move that fast and she may have even wet her pants... Haha!

We were able to finish floating with a gorgeous day! We enjoyed a nice picnic on the side of the river, too! 

Friday night we found out that one of mom's cousins is deathly afraid of Gummy Bears.. weird, right? He's a grown man and afraid of candy. We can only laugh..... and play pranks on him. He was at work Saturday night so some of the cousins showed up and decorated the inside and outside of his truck in everything gummy. So. Much. Fun. So we set up camp and waited for him to get off work Saturday night. He was livid. And of course we were in tears laughing at him. 

 Here's the gummy bear crew!

We enjoyed a lot of laughs and made a lot of memories this past weekend. We are all a little fearful for what could happen next year. The revenge may not be so sweet. But we will enjoy it and laugh the whole time! 

I'm so so thankful that we are close to our extended family. 

Until next year... 

Here's the one who is scared of gummies...

Aaand this is everyone a few years ago...

Hey Y'all!

I am a Carolina girl, born and raised. I grew up in the Foothills of North Carolina and I am truly a southern belle at heart. I love my Savior, anything that has to do with the medical field, photography, the color pink, pearls, diamonds, southern food, sweet tea, decorating, sewing, fishing, hiking, floating the river, fashion, thick southern accents, and driving down backroads listening to country music. I am currently a nursing student at Liberty University. Go Flames! My best friend is also the love of my life and I was fortunate enough to begin dating him 5 years ago. The rest is history. I couldn't imagine life without him! He is a Business Finance major at LU as well. We are totally enjoying life together and allowing the Lord to have His will in our lives. Together, we love to serve in the church, travel with our families, go on all day adventures in the middle of no where, and watch the sunset from anywhere we can get a good view. We are both family nuts! Everything we do is either with my family or his. It's who we are and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope to reach out to others through this blog. I will share about our adventures, devotions, a lot of things that happen in nursing, and fun facts about myself. Above all I pray that I am able to glorify God through my life as I am practicing daily to be the hands and feet of Christ.

xoxo,

 

Chaselyn