Merry November!

"He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;

He snapped their chains.

Let them praise the Lord for His great love

and for the wonderful things He has done for them."

~Psalm 107:14-15

❤

No clue what these things that fall off the trees in this season are called, but it brings me stupid amounts of joy every year to crush them and see all the fluffy goodness inside! lol

This also brings me joy!  "A majestic uni-corgi." lol #yasqueen
Side note: We saw a Corgi in a Christmas sweater at Evergreen last night, and I promptly ran over to befriend him!

Speaking of Evergreen, here we are hanging out with Edie and Joni before heading back to Adam's house last night!

(These pictures came into Blogger in reverse order, so I'm just going with it rather than selecting them all again.)

Adam (as Coach Bear Bryant) with the Long family and their impressive pirate ship!  (Ike, Edie, Joni, and Josh)

Adsey + Charli and fam. lol
...Nope, I will never call us that again.

Wonderful Wilson fam (Chet and Karli are truffalo trees, Parker is The Lorax, Paige is a bar-ba-loot, and Tate is the Once-ler).  Tate's friend, Leo, is an angry stormtrooper! lol

Us with the Foster fam!

Bluey's Mum and Dad + Bingo + Miles as King David! lol  I love it!!

Earlier that afternoon, we had a fun lunch at Hideaway with Adam's family + his brother Mark, cousin Greg, and niece Kaeci!  That was followed by a trip to Scheels and Starbucks, then back to Adam's for a bit before Adam and I went to Evergreen's rainy Trunk-or-Treat event!

It made me happy to see Adam awaiting my arrival with a big umbrella ready to guard me on the walk to the door - one of many consistent and genuine acts of kindness and service - he's the best!

Greg and Mark walking back across the bridge after the game Friday night.  I love this bridge, and it was fun getting to experience my first "Ram Walk" on Friday!

Mark and Greg joined Adam and his coaching staff on the sidelines throughout the game - I'm getting a little more comfortable asking for photos, and I'm happy we got this one!

Post-game prayer and shoutouts... I love it all!  The Rams lost to the Talahina Tigers this time (their 5th loss at home in the past 12 years - WOW), but that puts them in a better bracket moving forward, and we very much hope they make it to the championship game on 12-11 in Edmond, OK!! ❤

The cheerleaders did a halftime routine to Thriller that made me happy! lol
Also, one of the cheer dads is super passionate and fun - after they get the crowd going then things calm back down, he'll randomly yell out "Yay, cheeeer!!" and his daughter and her friends will turn around and smile and wave - it's the best! =)

Pre-game warm-ups!  It was fun seeing John David out there in his mascot uniform!

Earlier that day, Adam drove the bus for the Regent sophomores field trip to Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, OK.  He's told me a lot about it, and I'd love to see the monastery and nunnery (we talked about how there should be a protestant equivalent for those things).  Anyway, their main sanctuary is under construction right now, but I'm hoping to come with him to see it once it's been rebuilt!

Adam invited me upstairs for this, and I loved seeing it!  They have a pre-game pep talk and prayer time where the boys pray over each other - everyone prayed for the player/coach to the right of them, and what I could hear was FANTASTIC and heartwarming and brought me a lot of hope and joy!!

Coach Bishop (Regent) and Coach Kelly Gravitt (Talahina) - it makes me happy that they're good friends who can celebrate each others successes!

Friday was Senior Night - pictured is John David with Adam and Barbara + Cade Johnson and his family (Amy is the mom) + Cai Brookover and his family (Amy is his mom's name too) + Rory Casey with Heath and Shea (old friends from FBC) + Jude Emerson with his family (Amy is his mom's name also - there are five Amys total!) + Eli Peters with his parents (his mom's name is Karah).

I'll try not to take any more mid-prayer pics, but I do love the Mom's pre-game prayer circle, and I appreciated the specific prayers for the Bishop fam this week!

Yay, Regent! ❤

The Ram walk is a fun tradition where the cheerleaders and fans (and in this case, the entire Talahina football team) line the sides and cheer as the Regent coaches and players walk over from the school across the bridge to their football field!  (Adam led the way, grabbing my hand for a bit as we crossed paths, which brought me so. much. joy!)  Joni and her mom and I cheered them all on, then I crossed back over to join Adam's family.  I decided to get a picture with them, then a kind referee offered to take it for us!  So here's me, Mark, Barbara, Greg, and Kaeci!  (And behind us is the construction work for Adam's future office.)

 Mark and Greg live in Houston, TX, and Kaeci goes to college in OKC.  It was a really fun weekend getting to know them and hanging out with the Bishop fam, who I'm growing to love more day by day! ❤

My apologies for these pics being absurdly out of order, but feel free to scroll back up in reverse now. lol  I drove back home late last night then slept in/ laid around until noon today... it was really nice and needed! #noragrets  I took an afternoon walk, then talked to Adam, then finished up my homework for week 2 of Biblical Foundations - it's good to be getting back into the swing of academic writing, and we have a worldview interview assignment coming up that I'm honestly looking forward to.  In the non-academic realm, tomorrow night, I have a podcast interview with my friends Amy and Megan from the Alaska cruise - fun! 

October is historically not my favorite month with its emphasis on Halloween and fear-based decor and entertainment... but this October was among the best months of my life thus far!  It may go without saying, but I'm deeply grateful for all God has done, all He is doing, and all He will continue to do ahead!!  We are now officially 5/6ths of the way through 2026, and by God's grace, I'm determined to finish strong.

For everyone in Christ, the best is yet to come.

Happy November, friends!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Thankful Thursday #248

"Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with JOY;

no shadow of shame will darken their faces."

~Psalm 34:5

Today, I am thankful for...

1.  God's faithfulness and the way He consistently shows up during and after the stormy seasons of our lives... also thankful for Adam thinking of me and sending this double rainbow pic from Tulsa yesterday morning! ❤

2.  Miss K making the Rise 13-1s team with several of her good friends!  Excited for the VB season and tournaments ahead!

3.  Amazing fall weather + Station walk-and-talk time with Kristin Michelle + her encouragement and joy about Adam Christopher! =)

4.  Lynette and Harry - (my former and Adam's current Sunday School teachers at Evergreen).  They've been incredibly kind and supportive and are genuinely thrilled about this match - Lynette messaged me early on with a lot of encouragement and they were both so happy to see us there together on Sunday! =)  This = me and Lynette catching up while Harry and Adam were setting up the chairs for the next class!

5.  This verse, which always encourages me!!  We never have to compare ourselves or become like anyone else.  We just need to walk in confidence that the same God is with us today, just as He was with those who went before us!

6.  The wonderful Wilson fam for letting me stay at their place from Wednesday to Sunday whilst they were at Disney World!  It gave Adam and I more face-to-face time together and allowed me to get to know his Mom and the boys and a few of their friends, and it was great to be at a familiar place that was only two miles down the road from the Bishop family!

7.   Adam Christopher - for his Godly leadership, calming patience, strong communication, and genuine love of Jesus - the more I learn, the more I love and trust him!  I am so. deeply. grateful for God's timing here, for the way He loves and leads and prepares us, and for the times He surprises us and changes up our plans! #remix #hereforit

That's all for now; thanks for being here!

❤ ❤ ❤

Coach Bishop

Hey, friends and fam!  I have some exciting news to share (that several of you already know at this point).  Please allow me to officially introduce my boyfriend, Coach Adam Christopher Bishop!! ❤

God is doing something NEW,
and we're both excited about where He's leading us!

Adam loves Jesus wholeheartedly, and he leads with protective strength and gentleness.  We have shared values and complementary strengths and personalities, and I'm thanking God very regularly for bringing this man into my life.  He is fun, kind, forward-thinking, and a very solid and intentional communicator (in writing, via phone, and in person).  I so admire his heart for Jesus and the way he consistently loves, serves, and leads others.  This is new territory for each of us in very different ways.  Adam is a widower, an incredible dad to three great boys (12, 15, and 17), and the Head Football Coach and Associate Athletic Director for Regent Preparatory School in Tulsa.  (For context, he was faithfully married for almost 20 years to a wonderful woman named Kelly Lauren Bishop.  She passed away in June after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, having blessed her men to move forward with courage and encouraged her boys to watch their dad and follow his Christlike example.  Their family is clearly beloved and very well supported in this season by the Regent School and Evergreen Church communities.  They all know the Lord and are anchored by the hope of heaven as they grieve and gradually process this heartbreaking loss).

God has prepared this path, and Adam and I have individually sought wise counsel as things progress here.  We've had many intentional conversations about God's appointed timing and it being okay for him to be excited about this and grieving for Kelly at the same time.

In a story that does not mirror my online dating history, Adam was on eHarmony less than 24 hours when he found my profile - (very out of his comfort zone to try online dating, but he was looking for a Christian woman who specifically mentioned Jesus in the intro/headline, and he found me - yay, God!)  We messaged for a couple days there, then he asked if he could call me.  I have been semi-awkward and nervous every step of the way here, but it's also been really fun and exciting, and Adam is good at making me feel more comfortable.  We connected well and had multiple hours-long phone calls, then I would recap the highlights of those conversations with Mom and Chet. lol  I put Chet in charge of reining me in if I got ahead of myself, but he was also fully on board with Adam before we'd even met in person.  I'm still laughing about this one! lol

Our first official date was at the OSU v. UCF football game - I had talked to him enough to trust that we could handle that much time together without it getting awkward, and I was not wrong.  We met around 10:15, then we held hands and prayed together in my car before heading over to the stadium - praying for wisdom and discernment, for God to clarify it quickly if this was not the right fit, and for Jesus to be the foundation of whatever we build together if it is. ❤  Here's what I wore that day, thanks to some input/advice from Mom, Rach, and Chet:

We mostly hung out inside, and I was cracking up at Adam's ability to listen attentively to me while also knowing what was happening on the field in some detail.  He likes that I am not competitive and mostly oblivious when it comes to sports, and I LOVE that he is a football coach who leads the boys with so much heart and Christ-centered purpose.  It's all giving me Ted Lasso and Friday Night Lights vibes, and again, I'm totally here for it!  

Here's our first photo together. ❤

We ran into my cousin Emily and her family, so she was technically the first person in the fam to meet Adam.  I grabbed a couple pics with Miss Kartsen Blair, then we went on to find a table and keep talking!

We ran outside for my favorite Friends in Low Places moment, then Adam bought us concert tickets for Garth's show in Tulsa next weekend - FUN!!!  We sat in the Braum's parking lot for 2+ hours talking after the game, and Adam prayed for us before he left.  We both agreed that God was in this, and we decided we wanted to move forward and meet each others' people.  (Adam's oldest son was in a wreck the night before, so he was running on very little sleep, so we parted ways around 5:30, making it a 7-hour first date in Stillwater, bookended with prayer!) ❤  Then I promptly drove to Tulsa to recap all of that with the wonderful Wilson fam over Andy's custard! =) 

After I talked with everyone individually about him (everyone in our lives seems excited and very on board), Adam came to OKC to meet the fam!  He got to my house around 1 o'clock, and he and I got to have lunch and go shopping together.  We came back to my house for the afternoon, where we covered some important topics and had our first kiss (aka my first kiss ever, and I love that it was with him)!

We grabbed Hideaway Pizza and brought it back to Mom and Dad's.  He talked football with Jace, volleyball with Kyndal, and technology with Triston.  I love that he's multifaceted and can connect with everyone on some level.  As an athlete who played baseball in college and has spent years coaching football, I assumed he would mesh well with the fam - I was more nervous than he was about that meeting, but it all went smoothly.  Jace and Kyndal were totally themselves around him, which brought me joy!  We sat outside for a bit and watched them play basketball, then we headed back to my place where I quickly packed a suitcase for the Tulsa trip...

(The Wilsons are in Disney World, so I'm staying at their place for a few days - Adam and his family live two miles down the road from them in Bixby.  Thankful for God's timing and answers to prayer in that, as well.)

Definitely looking forward to reading this when I get back home tomorrow!

True story:

Thursday night, I got to watch him coach for the first time (Game #7 in an undefeated season for Regent thus far).  SO. FANTASTIC.  As I'd already assumed it would, this week has confirmed some things.  He was worried I might hate the football life, but I assured him I'm 100% on board!

It was an away game in Mounds.  I got there an hour and a half early and got to meet two of his boys (the youngest, Owen, and the oldest, John David).  I'd already talked with his mom and his middle son, Judson, on the phone!

I had texted earlier that day with Joni, and I was so glad to meet her in person that night (she was Kelly's best friend and is very supportive of their family and sincerely excited about this for Adam).  She's a legit football fan and brings cowbells to ring for the team, and she gave me this one for that game! lol

I wore the Regent quarter-zip sweater Adam had given me the day before, and I sat by Barbara, Adam's mom, and had a great talk with her!  A cold front came through that night, and I was very impressed with how kind and caring everyone around me was - giving me a rain jacket (Adam) and a blanket (Joni) and gloves (Joni's mom) and hot chocolate and an umbrella to block the wind (Barbara).  So nice!!

I had fun watching the game and cheering with the fans, but even more fun seeing in-person some of the traditions I'd heard about.  Adam built this football program 16 years ago, and it is atypical in the best ways.  He cares more about their hearts than wins and losses, and they do so many cool things that make me excited about his leadership style.  (Commitment cards where the players set weekly goals, a mom's prayer circle before every game, friends and family surrounding the boys after the game as Adam encourages and motivates them, then the boys on the team give each other shoutouts/words of affirmation, then Adam prays over all of them, then the Mom's coordinate to bring and serve dinner for them.  Every.  game.)  Yes, please to being a part of that culture and dating the man who built it!!!  I told him his words are likely more influential for those boys long-term than what they hear from their teachers, and the ripple effect of his leadership is deep and wide!  He is humble, prayerful, and purposeful in all of that, and it. is. attractive.

He'd warned me early on that we needed to be prepared because him bringing a woman to the game would start some conversations around the school and the team.  I was aware of that, but pretty locked in on him, and his people made me feel very protected.  When he hugged me on that field, it felt like a T-Swift and Travis moment (or something more epic than that). lol  

This = me with Joni and Barbara, helping the moms group serve BBQ chicken sliders, mac n cheese, pumpkin bread, etc. post game!  After all of that, I came to their house for a couple hours.  He did a quick radio interview with the Sports Animal show, then we sat on the porch swing out back, and it was fantastic and redemptive!

Still feels a bit surreal to me, but I'm deeply grateful for it!!

Look at me having a boyfriend who can put air in my tires! lol

Walking the pedestrian bridge in Bixby and discussing future plans and dreams!

He is such a good dad, and I'm genuinely excited to continue getting to know the boys!

Last night, his oldest son joined us for an Italian dinner, and it was good to talk to him about senior year stuff!  This is at his house after dinner... he was starting to change in to comfy clothes, but I caught him to get a photo before that.  He doesn't really do social media or take many pictures, and I told him we do *not* have that in common. lol  He'll get used to me; it's been fun learning about each other!

Last night was also fantastic.  After our dinner at Ti Amo, the boys joined us outside and we made s'mores over the fire pit and talked about some of the Regent events and traditions.  Y'all know I love a s'mores and fire pit moment!!  I was in open-toed shoes, but Adam's shoes and hoodie fit me well, which made me pretty happy too!  We've covered so much ground already in our conversations... we love Jesus and we love each other, and we are going to work through the Preparing for Marriage book together, potentially followed by The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller. ❤

Perhaps the most surreal part of all of this for me is the mutuality - we BOTH feel like we've won a great prize here, which makes it feel like such a wonderful gift from God!  His genuine interest in me is a very new feeling, and my mind is still spinning a bit as I adjust and relax into that.  I am far more familiar with unrequited love and deferred hope than I am with hearing (among other things): "If it's okay with you, I want to be very intentional about pursuing and desiring and protecting you - I read the blog for hours last night; I'm gonna be your biggest fan - I'm going to help you get that book written - I can't believe you're still single; there are a lot of stupid men out there - I'm amazed by what the Lord is doing here - I feel like I've found gold, or something more valuable than gold!  - I've got this; let me lead - I'm here; I'm not going anywhere - saying that you're pursuing holiness was the most attractive thing you could have said to me - you're really beautiful; please don't be hard on yourself - please call me anytime you need anything; you don't have to do everything by yourself anymore - I'm thinking long-term, and I want us to have many years together."  Please protect this man at all costs. lol

Let's do this, Coach Bishop!

❤❤❤❤

This was today's email from Christine - another well-timed gem.

Okay then, I'm off to hang out with Adam then join his family and friends for a cookout tonight!  Very much looking forward to a gathering with my friend group soon when the Wilsons return from Florida!  Thanks for sharing in our joy here.  And Spirit-led prayers would be appreciated as we move forward! ❤

I've gotta say I'm loving this 4th quarter comeback in my "year of dating" goal!! lol  God rewards those who sincerely seek Him, and He loves to write redemptive stories, and this is genuinely more than I dreamed!!  I will go ahead and close with this verse, as I think it nicely sums up our feelings here.  I'm so grateful that Jesus answers prayers and paves the way and makes our paths straight.  We are two imperfect people with unique life stories, and we still have a lot to learn about each other, but we are prayerfully walking into this new chapter together.  God has been good and kind to us, and we are genuinely excited and hopeful about where this is headed!

❤ ❤ ❤