"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn". ~Romans 12:15

this summarizes what's been going on with me the past few days, sort of. i've rejoiced many times with fellow brothers and sisters in their celebrations, and mourned with those who mourned too. but the past few days has been different, and it has given me a glimpse of what Jesus said in Mark 10:8a-9, "So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." in addition to "mourning with those who are mourning" (or in this case stressed with those that are stressed).

let me clarify a little bit. nat is taking his big scary qualifying exam next monday (2/21), and he's been feeling stressed because of it (and also his homework, conference paper he needs to write, and a exam this week). and the past couple of days, it really hit that i am feeling stressed to, and kinda experiencing that with him right now. i don't think i've really empathized in the same manner as it says in Romans 12:15 than now, and i think in some ways it's a preview of being one in marriage in all aspects including emotional and spiritual. it has made it hard for me to sleep the past couple of nights. but Praise the Lord that i was able to actually sleep through most of the night last night as opposed to waking up every couple of hours the two nights ago (it's probably partly due to the fact that i took some allergy medicine right before i went to bed. allergy medicines and ramona don't mix well b/c i get restless/wired and also getting tired, weird i know. )

because of this, the Lord has led me into fasting and prayer for nat (and lory) in their time of need as i empathize with him (and her). and it's been good b/c before i fall asleep (cuz right now i have a hard time falling asleep) it's led me to pray more for others which helps my mind not to feel as stressed, so i fall asleep easier.

on a different, less stressful note, nat and i celebrated our first anniversary (of courting) yesterday. yes, it's on valentine's day, and no, it wasn't planned. since nat has Bible study on monday, we decided to celebrate on saturday. nat took me out to timpone's (which is a nice italian restaurant in town), then we went to mariko's flute recital, and then we went to matt and kim's party. it was a fun day. this past year with nat has been amazing. as i was praying for us before lunch, all these thoughts of what the year has been like popped into my head, the good and the bad, and it's amazing to see how God has led us together. so that was great. i can't believe it's been only a year, it seems much longer than that.

oh, kinda tangent, wedding planning has been going great! i haven't been stressed about it the past few weeks, so praise the Lord again!

anyways, i'm going to finish up lunch now, and then go to class. tired, but i'm going to wait to go to bed tonight! must resist napping!