And He Shall Give You the Desire of Your Heart

Have any of you noticed the verse I have on the picture of my blog? 

Delight thyself also in the LORD, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.   Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4-5)

I told my friend Jenna at the beginning of the new year (2011) that this was going to be my theme verse for the year.  How much that was true, I didn't even know.

In April, I met through a friend and began communicating with an amazing young man named Daniel Schrock.  Daniel is in the Marine Corps and was then stationed in Afghanistan serving our country.  I didn't know a thing about this young man but when one of the first questions he asked me was if I could share my testimony with him, I knew that God had sent me something pretty special. 

Daniel and I began talking on the phone and skype every day unless he was out on a mission.  We asked each other every question that you can think of.  "What do you think a church's standards should be on alcohol?"(honestly, this was the first thing we ever talked about on the phone, yes welcome to the life of Bethany :D)  "How many children do you want someday?"  "What does commitment mean to you?"  "Opinion on debt?"  Etc.  You get the picture. :)  We talked about favorite foods, hobbies, everything. 

On August 25, Daniel came back to his home in Ohio for a 3 week post-deployment leave.  Over the previous 3 weeks he had been traveling from Afghanistan to North Carolina (where he is stationed).  The next morning he came to Michigan to meet me in person.  Within an hour of him arriving, we were on the tractor moving the baler from the hay field and cutting down branches that had fallen in a storm.  I knew, this was a man I could work with for the rest of my life. 

Only a few days into his leave, he was asked to partake in recruiters assistance in his hometown in Ohio.  So once the paperwork was all done, he was given another whole month to be on leave!  You can only imagine how excited we were!!!!!  Over his weeks at home, we realized that even though we'd never met in person, we had already met in heart and were completely comfortable with each other and.....loved each other.

On September 25, 2011 Daniel Schrock asked me to become his wife.  I gladly told him YES!  We are looking forward to starting a life together soon, as in December 23, 2011.  :)  Daniel will be going back to North Carolina in just two weeks and I will be going to visit him over Thanksgiving.  Then he will be coming back for the wedding.  We covet your prayers, being apart will be difficult! 


My greatest desire and goal was first, that I could serve God to my highest potential and second, to be a good and virtuous wife and mother.  I'll be working on the virtuous part but God has given me the opportunity to serve as a wife.  May I be the best that I can be. 


So to summarize this for your brain to wrap it's fingers around (do brains have fingers?), I am engaged to Daniel Levi Schrock and we will be married on December 23, 2011.  May God receive the glory for the work that He has done in us!

In Christ,
~Bethany~

Bethany & Daniel

From the Doors of the Orphanage: About Me

Hey everyone, my sister Rachel has started up a blog. It's somewhat still under construction, but go ahead and check it out! :)


From the Doors of the Orphanage: About Me: Hi everybody my name is Rachel Schreur. I am 15 years old and I live on a farm. I have 5 other siblings, their names are Bethany 18.Abigail1...

~Bethany~

9/11 - A day That Shall Live on in Infamy

It was ten years ago today. I was only seven years old but I still remember exactly where I was when I received the news of the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center and plane that went down in Pennsylvania. I was homeschooled and my three younger sisters and I were sitting at the table learning Spanish. We were learning colors and the color Verde was on the agenda. Suddenly the phone rang and my mom answered the phone. Just by the look on her face I knew something terrible had happened. She sat down and told us exactly what had happened. It was a hard thing to process for my 7 year old brain but I slowly took it all in. Then we turned on the radio and listened to the surprise, panic, and disbelief that was heard all across the nation. Though I understood this was pretty deep stuff we were talking about, I wasn't too worried about it. My small world wasn't affected, and every day life went on. That afternoon I went to a friend's house with a bunch of girls my age and it seemed like we were all on the same page. We prayed for the victim’s families, but we played and had fun the rest of the day.

What really had happened didn't sink in with me until the evening of the September 11. Because my family didn't have television, we went to a friends house to watch footage of the attack. I sat there, awed by what had happened. An anger rose in me. Who could do such a thing? Then I saw raw film of individuals jumping from high stories of the World Trade Center, choosing that route of death rather than being burned alive. My parents told me to look away, but I couldn't. No, not possible. How could I? 

 

It was bedtime that night when my anger turned quickly to fear. I now knew that the victims had not had a choice and they had been killed. It was possible to happen to me too. How could I sleep knowing that at any moment a plane could come crashing into my house? Of course logic was not coming quickly to my young mind, so I was terrified. I fell asleep crying that night, and for several nights after that I had trouble falling asleep.

I now look back at that day which deeply affected my life. It was one of those days that many individuals, because of their fear and pain, want to forget. But how can we forget those who died? How can we forget those who continue to fight for our country? How can we forget the deep sacrifices that have been made for us?

Don't give up America. Don't put the bad times behind you. Don't try to block out what has happened. Stand up for what is right. Support the fight for freedom. Let us come together as a nation and grow stronger. Yes, it has been ten long years, but let us NEVER forget.

~Bethany~

Life's a Dance

Yes folks, guess what I'm doing.  I'm coming out of my hermiting habits and joining the ranks of humanity again. :D  After taking the summer off of blogging (it wasn't really a conscience decision, just kinda happened) I'm ready to get back at it.  I will take time to finish my series on women in the home, but for now I'll quick update you on how my life has been expanding.

You see....I'm now kinda like one of those um...uh.... old people/college students.  Yep, after graduating from homeschool in June, I'm now taking classes full time at a local community college.   I was advised by someone that my freshman year of college along with State Officer obligations, I would be busier than I ever would have thought possible.  I'm quickly finding that to be impossible.  While things may speed up here in a bit, I will tell you, last year was about 150x busier.  I have a Algebra class on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00-12:50, an English class at 6:00-9:15 P.M. on Tuesday, and Communication (2:00-5:00) and Poli-Sci (6:00-9:15) on Thursdays.  Nothing on Fridays.  Just throwin' it out there....I was gone from 7:45-4:00 every school day last year plus had meetings probably 1-2 times a week after school.  Ya, that was busy.  :D  So now I'm adjusting and trying to figure out how I'm going to make it through this year. I think I have some ideas......but they are currently under construction. 

Going backward a little, the 2011 Calhoun County fair brought many highlights and excitements.  You see....this year I decided to run for the fair queen.  Ya, I know, you probably never expected it from me.....lol.  Anyway, I went for it regardless and had a blast doing it. 

I was privileged to be named the 2011 Calhoun County fair queen.  Wow.  I was NOT expecting this.  My first time running with many girls who have run over and over.  It was a shocker for me.  Cool side note, 4 of the 6 teens on court have been homeschooled.  :)

Monday I showed my dairy goats and won my showmanship class (Senior).  Rebekah won intermediate, and Elizabeth won Junior!!!  After goats, I showed my starter calf.  This year is my second year showing calves and I really enjoy it.  I wasn't expecting it in the least, but I won senior showmanship!  That was one of those highlights of the year!  I also won my market class as well.  Pretty cool!

Elizabeth joined me in showing swine this year and we had loads of fun.  2011 was her first year in 4-H so she was pretty excited.  She went in there and did her thing, placing 4th in Jr. Swine Showmanship.  Yep, I was pretty much proud of her all the way through. :D  I also competed in showmanship but placed 8th. :/  Ahh well....

Market classes went well....my individual placed 1st in her class and my pen went 1st as well.  Kinda fun. 

I'm trying to keep this brief enough, but on Saturday we competed in Show of Champions (you compete in this if you win showmanship).  Because I won in starter calves, Abigail (who got 2nd in goat showmanship) got bumped up so Abigail, Rebekah, Elizabeth, and I all competed.  Guess what?!?!  Elizabeth got Reserve Champion Jr. Showman!!!  Well I got Reserve Champion Sr. Champion but not quite as big a deal.  Anyway, fun times!!

Trying to think of anything else really exciting that I want to share.  I'm going to do my best to keep up with this again.  Keep me going folks! 

Oh, and you know what?  I kinda missed everyone here.....:/

~Bethany~