Engaged! (Take Two)

Dearest family and friends,
I wanted to write today to share the exciting news that I'm engaged (again)! It took a year to work through some questions about culture, language, and our individual dreams for the future, but today I can say with confidence that I believe that Max Vilca is the one for me! Let me clarify by sharing that I don't think that there is just one person who can make any of us happy, but that Max and I have both made the choice to do this "life thing" together come what may. With our love for each other, our families beside us, and our faith to help carry us along, we are eager press on, hand in hand, to what the future can hold.

It seems that with Max and I everything comes in twos - two countries, two cultures, two engagements, and we are also planning two weddings! Our first celebration will be held on September 18th, 2010 in Trujillo, Peru and we are looking at June 18th, 2011, somewhere in New Hampshire, as being our second special day....so you can tentively save the date, though a lot depends on small details...*cough*...like visas. :)

Continuing with the them of two's, I'll share the quote on our Peruvian wedding inviations, which reads reads:

"Two hearts, one love.
Two promises, one covenant.
Two lives made one in Christ."



~~~~~Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret~~~~~

Just like the quote above, I feel that it was many little threads that wove my heart with Max's and his to mine. Long before I ever visited Peru, I can see that my travels and studies had been preparing me for the international marriage I would one day choose for myself. Max also had joined with many American service teams who came to his country and found himself forming special friendships with these people. Back then, if someone told either of us that we would actually marry someone from another country, and if they had explained all the work it would involve, we would probably have told them that they were crazy. Today, though, my heart has become woven into the fabric of a society, a family, and most of all my truest love and friend. Even though there are many uncertainties and challenges ahead, I am happy about embracing the tapestry of my life and the many threads that have woven me together with Max today.