Married at Last!

I am on my way back to Peru, but I am not the same, I am a married woman! Christian and I were married on October 16, and we truly had the happiest and most fun day of our lives. It simply could not have been better. A dear friend who is a wedding planner in the Bay Area (let me know if you are in need of one!) did an incredible job of walking me through the process before arriving to the USA and making the wedding come off without a hitch! I had an incredible peace, calm and joy the weekend of the wedding. I literally felt not an ounce of stress from the rehearsal dinner through the end, and those of you who know me know its a miracle! We had a BLAST with our friends and family from far and near, and even got to broadcast the wedding live to Peru so that our Peruvian family could be "part of the wedding."  Both of us were utterly amazed at the Lord's provision for this wedding, the excellence with which so many people came along and served and worked, and the beauty of it all. The overwhelming part is sitting in a room of 200 people that LOVE US, knowing we will never all be together again this side of eternity. "How many people in their lives express the richness of this love?" we often have asked ourselves since... Simply put, it was a GLORIOUS day. The Lord was honored above all else. It was a celebration of what only God can do.  I am attaching the link of the ustream video and would ask that the video along with pictures not be posted or tagged online in anyway until we have completed more visa paperwork for Christian. I also want to take a moment to clarify and explain a little bit of how being married will affect me.... You may ask, "Does Christen still need our support?" and my answer is "YES!"  While Christian has seasonal work as a translator with teams or with document translation, his outside work is not regular and more and more we sense that we, not Christen are called to Young Life's minsitry in Latin America. Christian will be joining me this year more than ever heading up work teams, helping translate some documents for our regional management team, providing support in the absence of Capernaum specific staff, and being a support to me. We both realize that I have a tendency to do the work of 2 people without taking time for my and my family... and starting a marriage we want to change that. This creates a need for even more careful time management, extra help and someone that I can pass some things off to, and someone with a better grasp of the culture to accompany me! Wow, what a gift I have been given in Christian.  Christian will begin to look for more regular work after the spring and summer flurry of teams that I simply cannot do alone and is hoping to begin teaching english and exploring a future career in nursing.... something we never would have guessed!   What is Christen's name now? It will now be Christen Renee Morrow de Ara legally when the process is completed, but you can call us the Aras.  If you are not a donor and are interested in becoming a monthly donor and part of the minsitry to teens with disabilities throughout Latin America, please contact us! chosencrm@gmail.com The minsitry continues to grow and with growth comes increased financial need! So, nothing changes as far as the minsitry continuing, the continuing need for support, prayer, and responsibility. Some of this we will share unofficially, some of it I may need to better delegate.  Our passion to do this well increases as we take this on together and is what we feel keeps us in Peru. We both think we'd love to live in California someday, but sense that the time for that is not now... and may not be for several years.  In the meantime, Christian and I will live in the apartment he has built in San Martin, the neighborhood in north Lima where I lived when I first came to live in Peru! While it is not a nice nieghborhood aesthetically or for its safety, its a place of great community and many long time relationships for both of us and we are looking forward to building a home together there for now. We appreciate your encouragement, prayers, love, support, and many of you... your presence at our wedding and in our lives. The next chapter has begun. Please pray for us as we establish a home, learn how to live and love together, work and play.  Please pray for safety, balance in schedule, joy and the transition as I return to the barrio! THANK YOU for being with us in our journey!! We love you! Christen & Christian Ara I am attaching some links.... Our wedding can still be seen online http://www.ustream.tv/channel/christen-christian-wedding Our wedding website has some fun things as well! http://ws1.ewedding.com/v30/rsvp.php?a=christenmorrow