Pre-Wedding Moments

Here is a majorly over-due update from our summer! I finally have a Saturday that is free from any other commitments and so here I am...ready to bring you some pictures! Before I can show you any Ireland shots though, I thought I should probably do a bit of an update first. So here we go!.. 

This post covers some of the crazy fun that we had before our wedding took place on August 3rd. 

After David arrived in Minnesota, on July 7th, we immediately jumped into our marriage counseling book that had been assigned to us. We had less than a month to go through it all so it was a tiny bit of an overload. But, as you can see, I didn't seem to mind too much...maybe I am just distracted by my sparkly ring!

Mr. and Mrs. Barkman met with us before our wedding and blessed us with their wisdom and example. It was a complete privilege to have them counsel us and have Mr. Barkman marry us. What precious people they are to us! 

Here we are with our official marriage license! That is a significant piece of paper to possess! 

Our family had a few concerts scheduled and one of the last ones was at the Aardahl Lutheran Church. This is where we had one of our very first concerts as well, so it was extremely significant for us to play there again.

Little Elijah enjoyed the concert too!

Dad, Ben, and David all took off one Saturday and enjoyed a good round of golf. Gotta love those sweet Father-in-law/son-in-law bonding moments!

more to come....

Wedding pictures!

Check out the pictures from my wedding!! Done by the amazing Abigail Vander Hamm

www.abigailbriana.com/davidmelanie

Thanks Abigail!

Update!

Hi All!

I apologize for my lack of posting lately. Sadly, I am unable to post any pictures (although I am dying to!!) until we get a broad band internet connection installed in our new house. For now I will just post you a little journal update. 

We enjoyed our time in Holland very much. It was a very multi-cultural experience as we met people from all over the world. The Operation Mobilization conference we were playing music at was a sending conference for people going out on the mission field for two years or longer. I worked in the "creche" (nursery) for the two weeks and loved listening to all the children speaking their different languages. It's amazing how they can communicate with each other!

Now we are back home in Ireland and getting all settled into our new home. It is so beautiful and I am really looking forward to posting some pictures of it for you soon! 

I love you all! Thanks for praying for us and for your interest in our adventures. It is a blessing to have friends like you in our life. Please write and keep in touch! 

Love,

Melanie and David

I'm Married!!!

Mr. & Mrs. David Darragh

Praise the Lord! For I have found the one my heart has searched for. God is a Giver of incredible gifts and His gifts are worth waiting a lifetime for!

Katey's Birthday Bowling Bash: Thomas edition

Thomas was hilarious to watch at Katey's birthday party. He has an extreme dramatic streak running through him, so things can be very entertaining with him around! These pictures give you a glimpse of his dramatic side...

Yes...that is a STRIKE on his score card! Maybe the dramatics actually pay off! Hmmm?

Katey's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Katey celebrated her 13th birthday on June 11th. She is a beautiful young lady and I am so grateful for such a wonderful niece. She has a gentleness and sweetness in her that is refreshing and lovely. So, to celebrate her birthday we all got together at Matt and Beth's and started out with her traditional Jello pies. They are surprisingly good!

Thomas couldn't wait!...

After the pie, we all headed out to go bowling!

(sorry Mindy, I know you are blinking in this picture but it is the only picture that shows most of our whole group!)

We were all pretty bad at it but we had so much fun! Even Elijah thought so!

It was Elianna's first bowling experience...

(check out those cute little bowling shoes!)

...and she thought it was great fun!

It was a wonderful afternoon. Elijah had so much fun...he wore himself out!

Addressing the invitations

Karen came over and helped me address all of the envelopes for the invitations. She is such a tremendous blessing to me! It was a lot of work but went so much faster with two of us...and it was way more fun!

Wedding flowers!

My mom, Auntie Eve, and I all headed into Bemidji Florist last week and picked out the flowers for my wedding. It was SO HARD to choose! All of the different varieties and gorgeous colors were amazing. Here is a little sampling of some of the ones I settled on finally.

You can see a little swatch of the bridesmaid dress material in the picture below. I am in the midst of sewing today and absolutely love the material. It is going to look so stunning on my beautiful bridesmaids! I can hardly wait. Only 5 weeks and 3 days to go!

Engaged!!

On May 22nd, 2008, I said yes to the man I love when he asked me if I would marry him! That little word has turned my world upside down! I am now a fiancé and the future wife of David! Whoa!

Okay, now for the story…

The Start:
It was a perfect day and we woke up early to head out to Itasca State Park for a good bike ride. But first we had a nice breakfast of Dad's famous oatmeal which was a lovely start to a perfect day. After chatting with Mom and Dad for a bit, they bid us farewell and off we went (they both knew what was going to happen!). The bikes were in the back and David was driving Dad's truck. He was feeling very trucker-ish and completely enjoyed the ride. I was entertained just watching him hang his arm out the window and pretend to be a country hick from the sticks. He really couldn't pull it off though, thank goodness!

The Proposal (my favorite part!):
When we arrived at the Headwaters to the Mississippi River, we got out of the truck and started off down the path to the river. I noticed that David seemed to be in some sort of an awful hurry and thought we should maybe slow down a little and just enjoy the walk but he was on a definite mission and there was no stopping him! When we arrived at the source I said, "There it is!" expecting some sort of exclamation of wonder and amazement at this humble beginning to the mighty river. Instead he took my hand and nearly dragged me across a log lying over the river. His mind was obviously not on the river. On the other side we stopped near the flowing water and David turned and looked at me. THEN he said it...those amazing words that have changed our lives significantly! He asked me if I would be his wife! I was shocked and delighted and amazed and…well, I think I nearly choked him with a hug and then said YES!! What an amazing moment it was, forever frozen in my memory. The sky was brilliant blue, the sun was shining bright, a pair of ducks watched us from their nest nearby, fish were jumping in the lake, and a loon was calling across the water and I became engaged to the man that I love with all my heart! It was a perfect day!

*

Project PGH: Paint Grandma's House

This weekend the extended Berge family had the wonderful privilege of working all together on a special project--painting Grandma's house! It is amazing how a big, time-consuming project like painting a house can turn into a pleasant excuse to just enjoy each other's company. So here we go, step by step, on how to paint a house... :)

Step 1: Scrape all the old, peeling yellow paint off.

Here, Justin is demonstrating that painting doesn't necessarily have to be a safe activity.

Step 2: Cut plastic to cover all the windows.

Step 3: Endure cold blustery wind while taping the plastic to the windows

Step 4: Stop your hard work to smile for the camera!

Step 5: Coffee break! (there is nothing like a yummy "Grandma cookie" to retore your energy!)

Step 6: Back to work painting the trim with a steady, patient hand.

Step 7: Everyone contributing and doing their part!

Step 8: Gather food to feed the troups some supper!

Step 9: EAT!

And that is the end of this happy tale! I have to say, a day at Grandma's house is always a good thing--no matter what the occasion!

The Centrality of the Home

When I listened to this sermon by Voddie Baucham, I found myself shouting "AMEN" at my computer! It is my heart's cry! I feel such a burden for our children and our churches...it makes me weep when I hear the statistics and see the futility of so much "good" effort. Yet I see revival stirring...even in the hearts of our young Bright Lights girls and know that there is hope. It lies directly in my obedience in doing the hard (and often unpopular) things that God commands but oh the rewards when I do!

Praise God for those godly men and women who cherish their children and embrace their God given reponsibility to disciple them. My parents did that for me and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to God for the eternal vision they imparted to me.

I love you Dad and Mom!

Bright Lights!

"And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

- Malachi 4:6

Recently I have been given a beautiful glimpse of the first part of this verse being lived out in real life! I help my sister, Mindy, with a girl's discipleship group called Bright Lights. The last meeting was a Father/Daughter night and it was powerful! Every girl had her dad there and a few invited their grandfathers. To see over 30 sets of fathers and daughters sitting side by side, turning their hearts to each other, was a beautiful sight.

The girls shared a few songs for their fathers that they had learned during choir time...including amazing harmony! Thanks to Beth for teaching us to sing!