Things I (Scotty) Have Learned Thus Far.

It is amazing how this short intense journey has already affected me so much. I have learned how selfish I can really be and how it doesn't have to be that way. The other night, after running a bit of fever and not being able to walk without shaking all over, B came over unannounced with Gatorade, chicken soup and crackers. Now something like that might seem very simple and something most people would do, the thought wouldn't occur to me. If your sick, rest up, drink lots of tea and do your best to take care of yourself right?

As I consider this further, it is the process of becoming one entity. It is complex, miraculous and full of risk. Learning slowly to be constantly aware of her, even when we are not together, how it affects my decisions, my time, my life. Paul has some great commentary on how married people spend alot of their time focusing on the well being of their other half. This has been one of the processes of learning for me as we go forth, learning what that means and how I grow into that.

Fortunately for me Bethany is wonderful. She is patient, kind, generous. She isn't angered easily and very rarely jealous. For me this is a miracle in and of itself as I am a very difficult complex person. A walking paradox you might say. My good friend Steve once told me that marriage knocks a lot of the crud off of you as you become more like Yeshua. Then he turned to Bethany and said she had a lot of work to do! :D

This time has been full of intense growth and challenge crammed into a small time frame and I am continually amazed by her grace. I could not have dreamed of a better half who in many ways exhibits attributes I strive for.

Thank you all for your prayers and emails! They mean so much to us and I can't wait to introduce you to my wife eventually!

-Scotty

7 & Counting. AH AH AH!

So a brief run down of the adventures we've had so far that I can remember.

1. Bethany is late getting out of work to go see her family for Thanksgiving. I drive 95mph to the airport to get her there on time.
2. I confuse my knee with a watermelon. Oops.
3. We almost bury the Xterra in mud at someone's house we had never met. It took 6 guys to lift the truck out so we could slip and slide back out onto a paved road.
4. I almost get hypothermia in order to "surprise" Bethany at her apartment only to find out she isn't there and doesn't get home for 20mins. While waiting outside, I hear her being thankful I didn't drive up to see her that night. Oops. :D
5. Moving apartments twice in one week. First one looked great during the day! At night both corners were being "worked" and found a man hiding next to the motorcycle as I was leaving one night. No one was able to help us move. We did half of it ourselves before giving up and hiring a moving company. Only had to break up one fight.
6. How many times have we gotten lost now dear?
7. There are others. I'll update as I remember!

Miss Bethany Toliver

Who Am I?

“Who’s this girl that Scotty is marrying?” That’d be ME! Sooo…here is a little background…

I was born in Baton Rouge, LA. My Dad taught math at LSU and my mom was a nurse before they decided to hit the mission field. Their initial target was Brazil.

Our family arrived in Brazil with my brother, age 4, and me, then 2. My sister arrived a couple of years later around the time that Brazil decided that they didn’t want any more Americans coming and "messing" with their indigenous people and kicked us out of the country. I was 4 at the time and spoke Portuguese fluently.

We finally ended up in Peru, South America, where my folks have been working in literacy and translation with the Andean Quechuas for the last 25+ years. I no longer speak any Portuguese but do speak Spanish.

I currently am working as a Family Nurse Practitioner in a small clinic in Dayton TX, about 50 min from Houston. I love Jesus. I enjoy to climb, run, hike, camp...basically…anything active or outside. I also enjoy languages and participating in a variety of cultural experiences. My ultimate goal is to work overseas with Scotty in whatever capacity God calls us.

What I Like About Scotty…

Hmm…Scotty. The coolest person I've ever met. He loves Jesus. He loves me. He loves people...mainly the people no-one else loves...and then some others. He is musical, funny, climbs, runs, plays ultimate, soccer and wants to live in the mountains. I love him.

How I Met Scotty

I met him on a climbing trip 6 months after he returned from Nepal, 3 months after I moved to Houston. He had the best food ever and I was hungry. When I met him he was trying to figure out how to get back overseas. Then for some reason he decided to stick around...

Engagement Whirlwind

We started dating the end of last year, were engaged before Christmas and didn't tell my folks or his 'till two months later. International relationships between parents and children can be so difficult. We didn't want mom and dad to be the last to find out. We wanted to honor them and receive their blessing. You tell me the best way to do that over 2,000 miles and between people who hate talking on the phone (Scotty and my dad)... So if you are just finding this out, I apologize but would do the same thing if I had it to do over. My family is number one to me after God.

Why Scotty Decided to Marry Me

To make a long story short, Scotty accidently sunk a hatchet into his knee right before Christmas and starting a new job. I drove over to patch him up, stayed up half the night making sure he didn't bleed out, picked him up early the following morning and took him to my clinic where I shot him up with drugs and gave him pain meds. That evening he hobbled with me to the Houston symphony and decided that any girl who could do all that with him was the one he wanted to marry (besides some other stuff) and suggested later the next week that we get married the following October. I agreed.

Marriage Plans

We're actually getting married June 19, 2010. The original date was October but, international relations being as they are, my parents could only come back to the US once this year...and the best time was in June. So, June it is. We will be having a small immediate family only wedding in a chateau in the Smokies. Our families are going to spend several days getting to know each other before we get married. Scotty and I will try to make our way around to different friend groups and family members over the next year. I am so looking forward to meeting you!

A bit about Scotty

"I'M GETTING MARRIED!"
Doesn't it just blow your mind?

After writing as many blogs as I have, you figure this would get a bit easier. Take sixty five. Rolling!

So the critical part about starting an introduction for a multitude of people I have never met before is where to begin. My name is Scott but my friends and family call me Scotty. I have a penchant for getting myself into trouble and yet God seems to want to keep me around a little bit longer! I grew up both overseas and the US and count myself blessed for the time over there. It has significantly shaped how I view the world and the people around me. I have been overseas as a missionary, both with an orgagnization and without. My heart lies with the Nepalese people and to see the Gospel made known throughout the kingdom there. I enjoy rock climbing, playing ultimate frisbee, trekking, camping, guitar, good food, reading, writing, being with some of my closet friends and goading each other into doing things we probably have no buisness trying. Take unicycling. I have horrible balance and a penchant for breaking my nose. My friend Andy bought a unicycle and to this day I am still trying to hop on that thing and make it more than 4 feet.

My journey of faith is defintely a core part of who I am. Throughout junior high and high school I was the super christian. I was a leader in my youth group, especially when no one asked me to be ;), a Jesus freak wearing t-shirt kid at school and a smart aleck, self righteous snot most of the time. Now I try not to be so self righteous. I to this day can't understand how my folks managed to not put me up for adoption. After high school I immediately joined a missions orginization with the knowledge that countries would change because of my individual effort. Converts would begin to pile up and people from all over would come to me for insight on my innovative gospel model!

Shockingly enough, this is not exactly how it panned out. Through a series struggles with my faith and poor choices I ended up walking away from God and making a total mess out of my life. In one of the more amazing miracles in my life, God rescued me and began to reform me. Somewhere during the course of this I ended back up in my favorite place in the world, the Himalayas! When I returned back for a quick recharge in the states, I found myself stuck. After many frustrating weeks, that turned into a few months I began to be at peace recognizing that the Father was in control.

So needing to get out of Houston I headed over to Enchanted Rock to be alone. My alone trip turned into an adventure with around 15 other people, some of whom I had never met before. There was also this girl, my height. Beautiful. Funny. A CLIMBER?? Most definitely taken I thought to myself. Lo' and behold over the next month we began to hang out more, a few crazy trips to the airport and a couple of meals, before I could really comprehend it all, we were talking almost every day. Even on the phone. I can't stand talking on phones.

And then it happened. I managed to sink a hatchet into my knee. She came right over when she got the message. This is the funny part of the story because the guy is supposed to rescue the girl right? She's not suppose to rush over in the middle of the night to keep him from dying right? And then drive an hour home around 1am only to drive back around 5am to make the hour and half drive to work to make sure he got some shots and then drive back and go to a symphony?

Vicadin and the symphony. I highly recommend it.

Somewhere along the lines we just knew. Other than the entire ordeal giving clarity to where my heart already was, I can't say exactly how we knew. We just did. So hope you enjoy this crazy, up and down, spin around, short journey with us to our wedding!