HELLO PRECIOUS FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND CHURCH MEMBERS!!!

God has finally made our dreams come true by not only "blessing our broken road" but also by writing our love story that many of you know started back in October 2005 at Tallassee High School and has survived years of college at Southern Union State and Troy University along with separation, renewal, and continued focus on what God wants for our future plans and endeavors together!

After seriously dating for almost 3 years and attending proms and graduations at Tallassee High School we both took an extended break because we were unsure about the plans God has for our future. Yet even during that period of separation God had incredible plans for us and grew us both separately during "mountains and valleys" of life by teaching us valuable life-lesson and growing our strengths, weaknesses, mistakes, failures, and habits for his glory.
After a short phone call home where my dad was able to reconnect both Matt and I we began speaking again, spending time with our families, and praying about what God might have in store for us in the near future. After starting to again seriously pursue first a friendly and then a romantic relationship we began striving to make Jesus Christ the complete center of focus of our hearts and minds. At times we failed and were thankful for Godly friends, our churches, and families who offered sincere encouragement, prayers, and wise advice for "weathering the storms of life" and learning how to communicate, love, and respect each other.

After 9 short months of pursuing a serious relationship along with asking for blessings from our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and close friends-Matthew proposed on a beautiful golf course in Pace, Florida on Monday, May 21st, 2012 around 6pm in the rain while watching a beautiful sunset! His wonderful parents blessed us with a beautiful heirloom family engagement ring and we set our wedding date for Saturday, June 8, 2013!

Now here we are-after making a million wedding plans-and having extensively prayed about a unique yet affordable honeymoon..we definitely want to honor God with our marriage and financial decisions involving affording a wedding, honeymoon, and future home. Instead of incurring excessive debt we want to instead be given the chance to bless others around us with our time, gifts, and financial resources in whatever way possible. However, we do have a very large yet incredible dream of our own that we are asking you to consider helping us accomplish for God's glory!

Ever since we were children we have heard incredible Bible stories of God's grace and favor on his chosen people-the nation of Israel. Steeped in ancient history, traditions, and future prophesies this almost "fairy tale place" has become very real to both of us through the exploration of Biblical scripture and internet resources such as this! When we began planning a honeymoon we prayed about where God would have us go-AND WHAT BETTER PLACE TO BEGIN THE START OF OUR BEAUTIFUL, GOD-CENTERED MARRIAGE THEN ISRAEL-THE VERY HOLY LAND AND PEOPLE GOD HAS CHOSEN AS HIS OWN AND BLESSED-AND WHERE JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN, CONDUCTED HIS MINISTRY, DIED FOR OUR SINS, AND WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD? WE DESIRE TO BEGIN OUR BEAUTIFUL LIVES TOGETHER BY WALKING IN HIS VERY LITERAL FOOTSTEPS AND VIEW PLACES WHERE HE WILL ONE DAY RETURN AND PROPHESY WILL BE FULFILLED!!! WILL YOU HELP US MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE?

We are currently saving towards this dream experience and ask that you might consider making a generous donation towards our honeymoon package that would allow us to experience around 8-10 days in Israel in the following places/doing the following incredible and life-changing activities:
1) Touring Locations-Jerusalem, Nazareth, City of Tiberias, Red Sea, Temple Mount, and surrounding areas
2) Touring historic/monumental sites-Wailing Wall, Jaffa Gate, Old City Walls, Garden of Gathsemene, Church of the Nativity, Sea of Galilee, Tower of David Museum, Dome of the Rock, Via Delarosa, Temple Mount, Ancient Castles, Israeli Musuem-containing Shrine of the Book and Dead Sea Scrolls
3) Relaxing/Experiencing-Authentic Jewish customs/dishes, Ein Gedi Oasis, Romantic Mediterrean Beaches/sunsets, Golan Heights Waterfalls, Hiking, Sailboating, Walking Footsteps of Christ, Ancient history, Jewish plays and concerts, unique dead sea spas/mudbaths, scuba-diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea, exploring ancient tunnels and Roman ruins, riding camels in a desert, spending the night in a Bedowin tent, swimming with dolphins, hearing a Rabbi Speak in a synagogue, horseback riding in Galilee and soaking in hot springs in Tiberias, and most importantly experiencing both ancient and current culture that might soon be un-explorable if tensions continue rising in the middle east and war eventually breaks out!!!

We do not have all the details of our trip planned out yet-but after extensive research we are concluding that this 8-10 day trip with affordable round-trip airfare, nice hotel accommodations, touring, and sightseeing could cost between $4,000-$4,500 altogether. We are trying to save around $2,000 and ask that everyone together might be able to generously match this amount so we can experience a uniquely incredible honeymoon that will center our marriage and focus on Jesus Christ. Please see our honeymoon registry below with more trip details and gifts that can be purchased and please remember that ANY amounts or gifts you may be able to contribute would be EXTREMELY appreciated!

THANK-YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS AND BLESSINGS TO YOU IN CHRIST FOR HELPING TO MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!!
SINCERELY,
MATTHEW GRANT HUMPHRIES & HANNAH ELIZABETH STOCKMAN
JEREMIAH 29:11 & PSALM 37:4-7

We're going to Jerusalem, Israel!