Come and See

We sang this song on Sunday night at The Village Dallas campus and now it's been on my heart constantly.  Just wanted to share the lyrics with you.

Come and adore Him

Come let us worship at His feet

Come bow before Him

Come and see

Come and adore Him

Come let us worship at His feet

Come bow before Him

Come and see

For who He says He is

And men through the ages have seen

The Spirit invites us to

come and see

Jesus the King

Jesus the King

Come and adore Him

Come let us worship at His feet

Come bow before Him

Come and see

For who He says He is
And men through the ages have seen
The Spirit invites us to
come and see

For glory surrounds His throne
and wonders that many have known
Fall on his people that we might see

Jesus the King

Jesus the King

Jesus the King

Jesus the King

Great and Glorious
He is wholly wonderful
He is rich in mercy
He is

Great and Glorious
He is wholly wonderful
He is rich in mercy
He is

Great and Glorious
He is wholly wonderful
He is rich in mercy
He is

Great and Glorious
He is wholly wonderful
He is rich in mercy
He is

Great and Glorious
He is wholly wonderful
He is rich in mercy
He is



-Olivette

Sweet Stevie

It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog. On Monday, June 18, my sweet Father-in-law, Steve McPherson, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Below is his message to all his friends and family on what has happened so far:

Over the last 4-6 months I have noticed some changes in my health, including: lack of balance, dizziness, memory loss and daily headaches.  With the encouragement of my family and a few close friends, I decided to bring these concerns to my doctor.  In short, my doctor found it necessary to order an MRI and CAT scan of my brain (this was done last Friday), which then revealed a tumor on the back part of my brain, in the middle of the cerebellum. 

Initially, my doctor said that the tumor was indeed malignant; however, my neurosurgeon—whom I met with this afternoon—is not 100% positive what type of tumor it is, nor is he certain if it's malignant or benign.  After observing the scans of my brain, he's confident that the side effects I've been experiencing are from the tumor pushing against the medulla, as well as the edema (swelling) around the tumor.  Because of my deteriorating health and concern over the expansion of the tumor, I’m going into surgery this coming Monday, June 25 at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas.  We're praying that the surgeons are able to remove the entire tumor.  There are still many unknowns, and because of the tumor's location, the surgery is very complicated, with a recovery time of up to 6 weeks.  

Your prayers are the most important thing right now.  Pray for the Lord's miraculous healing.  Pray for the neurosurgeons and their hands as they work in this delicate part of my brain.  I'm confident that the Lord has put the right people in place to work on my brain.  I love you, my family loves you, and we hope to have encouraging news in the weeks to follow!

Steve will be having surgery on Monday morning, June 25 at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas and I ask you to all be praying for him, our family, and the surgeons while they operate.

Right now, I have a pretty calm peace about the situation, but I can't even begin to explain the importance and impact Steve has had on me, and more importantly my husband Ben. I have Steve to thank for raising such a kind, gentle, and loving son. He has taught Ben what it means to be a faithful husband and to stand by a true covenant. Steve has been the perfect example of what it means to love your wife the way Christ loves the church and I couldn't have asked for a better earthly example for my husband to base his life and actions on.

I am so thankful to have Steve & Sally as in-laws, and to get the privilege to be a part of the "McPherson Clan." In this time, I ask you to not only pray for Stevie, but to help me shower Sally with love and support through this trial and, as Sally likes to say, storm Heaven with prayers and praises. 

My personal prayer is for God to give me a percentage of the faith that Steve & Sally have and the strength to support my loving husband and brother-in-law as they walk this unsteady ground. May we all lean now, more than ever, on The Lord for peace and guidance through these next few months.

We have created a CaringBridge site for all those that would like to follow Steve's progress.

Love you all!

Taryn

Lovebug Lincoln

For months now Ben and has been searching for that perfect dog to add to our family. He dreamed of having a brindle bulldog to follow him around everywhere he goes. I however, have always been more of a small dog gal. Adorable, always look like puppies and easy to actually handle - what is better than that. But, in a marriage we have to compromise ;) so I started to come around to considering something bigger.

At first, Ben was looking to find a bulldog puppy to purchase and raise it from the beginning. They really are cute as puppies, but not only are they EXTREMELY expensive, I wasn't really up for the puppy phase again. So we kept looking around at shelters and even started to consider different breeds. We looked at boxer mixes, some full grown and some full puppies, but we definitely wanted to rescue one. After many unsuccessful dog inquiries, we found Lincoln, a brindle Old English bulldog.

We found Lincoln at the Collin County Animal Services Shelter, originally listed on their site as a brand new stray. When we saw his picture, we absolutely fell in love.

I immediately emailed the shelter to ask how long a dog remains a stray before becoming adoptable, they said 5 days. So we waiting. Every day we watched that site to make sure that sweet face was still there.

That Saturday, we went ahead and visited the shelter so we could make sure we knew this guy was who we wanted. I needed to make sure his temperament was something I was comfortable with and that he really was the perfect addition to our new family. While there, a sweet girl I went to high school, Taylor Hanes, was volunteering there. We had asked another volunteer if there was a way we could reserve him or put a deposit down so we were gauranteed to get him, but they said no it was looking doubtful either of us would make it to the shelter in time to pick him up before someone else did. Fortunately, since I knew Taylor there, I talked to her after we left and she gave us some great advice as to how we could work it out!

Come that Tuesday at 9AM, Lincoln switched over to the adoptable page and I Immediately emailed the shelter to try and put our money down. If I could guarantee someone would be there to pick him up for us, since Ben and I were both at work, they allowed us to adopt him!!! Dear Taylor volunteered to pick him up for us and babysit him until one of us could get off work to pick him up. What a miracle she was in the whole process. Without her, Lincoln would have been adopted by another family. Right as Taylor walked in to pick him up for us, another lady walked in very upset that she had come out there just to adopt him and was too late. Then and there I knew God was watching over us. He knew that it would be hard to find the perfect dog for both Ben and me and made sure we got Lincoln.

Lincoln is indeed the perfect dog. All my fears of a crazy dog knocking stuff over, jumping all over the furniture and chewing things up are gone. Lincoln does non of these things. All my fears of having a dog I was afraid to get too close to or to cuddle up with are gone. Lincoln is so gentle and wants nothing but to be close to you and love on you.
We are extremely blessed to have found Lincoln. He is house trained, knows commands, listens, doesn't jump on furniture, doesn't attempt to get in to anything and doesn't bark! Within the first 2 days, I was leaving shoes out and him out together while we went to work. He really is so wonderful.

We love this sweet face and he is starting to really warm up to us. We have got him on several different medications trying to clear up a few health problems and it really is making a difference. He seems livelier now and more playful.

We just wanted to share our story on how everything worked out but our big boy and how happy we are to have found the perfect dog for us! :)

Through all this, we really had our eyes opened to how many wonderful outs there need a home and we encourage everyone to consider adopting one of these sweet animals. There are so many EVERYWHERE that are just as sweet, gentle and easy as Lincoln is! Here is the link to the shelter we got Lincoln at: http://collincountytx.animalshelternet.com/adoption_search_a.cfm Go save a puppies life!

Love T+B

The Wedding

Alright, I hear the screaming.... I have been terrible about updating this blog for you all and now we are past the wedding and I wrote absolutely 0 posts about PLANNING the wedding.

In the 7 months that my mother and I spent planning my dream wedding, there were times I felt we bit off more than we could chew, but I was determined to have it exactly like I imagined. There was a lot of back pain and lost sleep over all my DIY projects, but in the end, I got the most beautiful wedding I could have asked for! We had a dream team of vendors from photographers (Sara & Rocky Photography) to videographers (Andrew Miller) to floral (Blue Lotus) to our DJ (Uptown Sound) and more. Honestly, I think if I tried to describe the planning process, I may not even remember as it has all blurred together by now! BUT... instead, I can just share our wedding trailer video with you so you can see all the details yourself! 

Ben + Taryn - The Highlights from andrew miller on Vimeo.

You can also see a slideshow of additional wedding photos here: http://saraandrocky.com/slideshows/mcpherson/

I promise to post my bridal portraits soon and then our honeymoon photos!

I just want to say that I couldn't have asked for a better husband that I could love anymore. He is patient and kind and gentle and God has blessed me extremely.

Thanksgiving

So sorry for being MIA for so long. Planning this wedding has been super crazy and I feel like I have not had a second to stop and update you all on everything. I will post later with a wedding update, but right now I wanted to tell you all about our Thanksgiving.

As many of you know, my family is a big A&M family, and every year my parents get season tickets to all the home football games. In the BIG12, the Aggies and the Longhorns have been long time rivals and they play each other every year on Thanksgiving. This year was at A&M, and I usually go every other year with my parents and spend Thanksgiving in College Station with them. This year, being that I work in the retail industry, I had to be at work the next day at 7AM for Black Friday so unfortunately, I was unable to spend Thanksgiving day with my family this year. Because of this, I had the opportunity to spend all Thanksgiving day with Ben and his family. Although I have never spend a Thanksgiving away from my family, it was a blessing to be able to spend the entire day with the McPherson's without having to split my time. That will be the first, and last time I may ever get the chance to do that and I am very thankful for the opportunity. Once Ben and I get married, we will have to begin a new chapter in how we celebrate the holidays and splitting our time between our 2 families. Both our families have similar traditions and I am excited to see how we begin our own traditions as a married couple and a new family.

Once my family returned home, we had our own Thanksgiving at the Burch house on that Sunday. What started as a small family dinner turned in to a big combined second Thanksgiving meal! As we realized we had more food than we could possibly eat, we ended up having my Grandma over along with the McPherson's, surprisingly, for the first time! We ended up having around 8 side dishes and my Dad made TWO turkeys, baked and fried!! My parents cooked some amazing dishes and it was really nice to get to celebrate our first holiday as a combined family! I am excited for more to come in the future!

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my future in-laws that I have been completely blessed with and couldn't ask for anyone better! And, to now have 2 Christ-centered families coming together and setting great examples for both Ben and me in our upcoming marriage!

It's the beginning of a few things..

While in the middle of planning my own wedding, I wanted to share with you one of my first weddings that I got to coordinate for another beautiful couple!

For almost the past year, I have been praying and researching on becoming a Wedding Planner/Coordinator and just recently have begun to pursue it more. Again, our good friends Sara & Rocky (boy am I thankful for them!) set me up with sweet Emily Lee (Noah at the time) who was a bride of theirs and was looking for a day-of wedding coordinator. They gave her my name, and to get some experience under my belt, I agreed to help her out!

Although we did not meet there, Emily was also a graduate of A&M and after our first meeting, I felt like we had known each other forever. Her & Jin are both just loving and Godly people and as a married couple, they are solid! They met while doing an internship with Campus Crusade for Christ and have continued to travel and share The Word throughout their entire relationship. They are now living in New York working a Christian Family Camp and it's really neat getting to hear how they are starting their life off together. If you want to read more about Emily & Jin and their adventures, check their blog out.

Wedding coordination has been such a blessing the past few months. I have been interning with a WONDERFUL Wedding Planner here in the Dallas metroplex while slowly pursuing the business for myself! After next week, I will officially be a Certified Wedding Planner and I hope that if it is God's plan, I will continue to get a business of my own off the ground.

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you the photos from Emily & Jin's wedding. Again, it was such a pleasure to work with them both and their relationship and marriage have been inspiring to watch and be a part of! I am a better person for getting to meet them both and I wish them world's of happiness!

Emily + Jin's Wedding

The Proposal

I got out-smarted. Big time. And I am so thankful for it.

For anyone who knows me, they know I over analyze, over think and obsess over almost everything. For quite a while now, our engagement has been one of those things. I probably woke up every morning thinking "could today be the day?" "does he really have to work?" "is he just trying to trick me?". I really thought that I would have it all figured out before it happened, not on purpose, but just because I read in to everything....I was wrong.

Background: Ben and I, along with his mom Sally, go antiquing in the area all the time, especially on Sunday afternoons. We have seemed to develop a passion for old, worn, beautiful items that come from somewhere. that have a story. We really have seemed to make it a tradition for us once a month to go to The Old Red Lumberyard Junk Market in McKinney, TX. Each month, a group of vendors come out and sell furniture, antiques, nick knacks and misc items that we just love going to look at over and over again. It has become a very special tradition for us as a couple.  Well, next to this Lumberyard Sale is a little red barn, The House of Hargrove. In this barn is a whole world of refurbished, reupholstered and repainted furniture and cute little shabby chic antiques. Sally and I particularly have really grown to look forward to what new items will be there next month. I anticipate the little red barn.

Well, this past Sunday, July 10, I was under the impression of the following: Ben had to work and Sally and I were on our own for exploring downtown McKinney once again. I woke up that morning for the first time really not preparing for a big day, as you can see from my attire :) I was just going to get up, work KidZone, go to church, and then off to antiquing and a pedicure with Sally while Ben worked. During KidZone I received a text from Sally telling me that Steve (Ben's dad) had to meet with a couple during the 11 o'clock service and may not be done by noon so if we could just take my car to McKinney, that would work out best. Fine with me. So church ends and Sally turns to me, as if she just got a text from her best friend Beth, and asks me if I would be interested in stopping by the House of Hargrove barn. Elaine was going to open the barn that afternoon for Beth to see a mantel inside and we were going to just go to tag along. Again, fine with me. I knew Elaine did this every once in a while and since we were already heading out there, why not stop by the cute little barn.

Sally talked me up the whole way there, not giving any hint to what was come. We arrived at the barn and there were no cars in sight, so I figured we just beat everyone else there. Sally suggests going in already, but I thought it was open. So I got out to go look inside and see if Elaine was there yet. As I stick my little head in the window, there is Ben, standing there in the middle of the barn, waiting for me. Cue shaking, heart beating, freaking out, etc. At this point a few thoughts go through my head.

1. The Ben I see isn't real - am I dreaming?

2. oh cool! Ben didn't have to work and he is meeting us here to go antiquing! YAY!

3. ....... OH GOSH! I am getting ENGAGED!!!

So I turn to Sally and she slowly starts to walk away and tells me to "go ahead, go in.."

*Side note: As mentioned above, I did not dress for the occasion. That morning I put on shorts, an old t-shirt of Ben's and had my hair clipped up.

As soon as I walk in, I see Ben and begin to hear the clicks of cameras and immediately rip that clip out and approach the nervous man standing in front of me. I am now shaking so bad I was needing to hold on to him and was doing my best to concentrate on what was really happening. Bawling my eyes out, he proceeds to propose and I reply with an ecstatic YES!! Holy Moly! I JUST GOT ENGAGED!!  *You can see all the photos and a beautiful video here at Sara & Rocky Photography. He even made the cute wooden signs in the video!

Did I mention the ring?

After the perfect proposal, we met up with our families that were all hiding out next door behind a building! We proceeded to lunch with everyone at Square Burger in Downtown McKinney. We then proceeded to Ben's family's house where it was decorated oh so cutely and we all enjoyed a little dessert, including red velvet cake balls from my favorite, The Velvet Bake Shop!

When Ben met with my parents to get the blessing, they gave him a little booklet - "The Rules for Marrying My Daughter." Many of those pages just said "Love Taryn." Ben took one of those pages, signed it, and put it in a frame as a gift to my parents. It was extremely sweet!

I then went home, changed, and Ben picked me up for my surprise Engagement Dinner with some of our closest friends at BJ's Brewhouse (where we met for the first time). 

It was such a beautiful and perfect day and I couldn't have asked for anything more! We both would love to thank everyone that made it such a memorable day for us and can't wait to begin planning our lives together. The Sweet McP's!

I am going to do my best to continue updating everyone on here with everything from the wedding planning to the beginning of this new chapter for us both!

B + T

Taryn + Ben Proposal from TO TELL A STORY on Vimeo.