Weddings & The Church

As I have been planning for my wedding day (which is a little less than 7 months away!) since February, God has been showing me the correlations between me being Chris's bride, and the Church being the bride of Christ. The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I think about our wedding day is that moment when I walk in, and my eyes meet my groom's. I cannot wait for that moment. As that day gets closer and closer, the anticipation and excitement grows when I think about seeing Chris's face, and that wonderful thought, "This man is going to be my husband!" becomes a reality. Oh, how we should LONG for the day of Christ's return like that! We know that His return is closer than ever. We should long to see His face. But there are some days that I don't think about Christ's return at all. There are some days where I don't live as if His return is drawing closer. Just as I prepare so intentionally for my wedding, the Church should prepare herself for the Heavenly wedding day that is coming. I have picked out a dress, searched for the right photographer, and agonized over which flowers I should have at the wedding. There is so much to do in planning a wedding that requires a great deal of preparation in order to make sure your wedding day is "perfect." No one really tells you how much work it is, by the way. But that's a different story. Christ's death and resurrection has prepared us to be like an "adorned bride" waiting for His return. As we learn to live as a body of believers, we should preparing for that wonderful day when Christ returns for His bride. So let's not neglect that Christ IS returning, and that we are His bride. Let's live like it.

"'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure' - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" Revelation 19:6-9a

Random thoughts for a random day.

This weekend was a much needed refresher, and so good to see the fiance for a few days. I went home to be an "adult" in the house with my younger brother while my parents got away for the weekend. It was so good to talk to Michael and see how he is doing, because while I'm at college that doesn't happen very often. It was also good to get one more thing done for the wedding planning, as Chris created a wedding registry at Sears for tools and outdoors-y things that he wants. The weekend ended with a really great conversation with the fiance about what God has been doing in our lives lately. I really needed that...and I am so grateful for a fiance who is already a spiritual leader in our relationship.

Change of subject: Sometimes I wonder if dreams can be a tool that Satan uses to mess us up. I keep having dreams that just produce fear in me, and when I wake up I cannot forget the dream. I know that fear is not from the Lord, as "God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control..." (2 Timothy 1:7)

Wedding Plans

I am in the midst of planning mine and Chris' wedding, and may I just say that I understand now why there is a show called Bridezillas. As a Type A personality person who needs lists and deadlines, it has always been VERY difficult for me to complete a project on a team. I usually like to do it by myself, because I know that I can do it well (or so I think) and at least it will be on time. I believe that this personality has certain benefits which God intended when he created me. I am a prompt person, and that is not a bad thing in itself. I tend to work hard at whatever I am doing, because this is what Scripture instructs us to do, and I hope that my work reflects that. However, I can also step on toes and hurt others' feelings if I am not careful with trying to make everything run smoothly.

Chris is a wonderful fiance and God has already used him in so many ways to teach me and correct me. He is the complete opposite to me (and my perfectionist tendencies) as far as planning is concerned. He is so much more laid back. Sometimes this honestly creates conflict, but I can see that God is using my sweet fiance in my life to remind me that I cannot be selfish in my desire to stick to a plan and get things done on time. I cannot be perfect, no matter how hard I try. I will always fall short of perfection, whether it be in wedding planning or some other area of life. I am learning to look to Christ for strength in this area, for He is LORD of all. Even "our" plans.

A life well lived...

I can honestly say that there are very few people who have influenced my life in a way that I believe completely altered the course of my life. I can count on two hands the number of people that I hold in such high regard, maybe even one. Mr. Charles Moore is one of those few. It was kind of strange writing his whole name just now, because to me and my brother, he was just "Momo". He and his wife lived across the street from us in our first home, and they were one of the few people that my parents trusted outside of our family to keep me right after I was born. I remember many times that I ran across the street when I was only 3 or 4 (by myself) and I made my mom panic until she figured out that I was at Momo and Baba's house. I have no idea why I named them that, but it stuck. He truly was like a grandfather to me. He never treated me any different than a granddaughter. He picked me up many times after school and took me home, and even after we moved to a different house after my brother's first birthday, he still came and picked us up a couple of times a week and we would watch movies and eat corndogs and Cheez-its at his house. Although there are so many great memories, the way that he really influenced me is spiritually. Momo LOVED to sing, and he was constantly singing or humming a hymn. To this day, one of my favorite hymns is "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder" because of him. He taught me songs that stuck in my head and really made me think about who Jesus is, as well as brought me to church.

I haven't seen Mr. Moore in a while. He has been progressively getting worse over the years. He had a stroke, and after that it was all kind of downhill. The last time that I saw him (I think) is when I graduated. He couldn't come to my graduation, so he wanted me to dress up in my cap and gown and come see him in the nursing home. So I did. He always let me know that he was proud of me...

Mr. Moore died yesterday, and I believe that he is face to face with his Savior tonight. He lived his life well, and I know he got a "well done my good and faithful servant" last night.

Christmas Break so far...

I am having mixed feelings about this Christmas break. This break is certainly brings some much needed rest from school and work, as I was beginning to get very stressed by the last week I was in Mobile. I have been enjoying time with my family, as well as some time to read things that I really want to read, instead of things that are required to pass a class. I've already read one book and I'm reading Pilgrim's Progress now. And because I have so much free time, I don't have any excuses not to read my Bible, and I've been enjoying the time that I have while the parents and brother are at work and school to read Scripture. AND...I'm making a scarf! I love to crochet because my grandma taught me, and it's something that I can do with my hands and I'm actually okay at this. I think I'm going to make a few other things once I'm done with the scarf.

On the other hand, things just don't seem to be working out in my favor...

The first thing that really went wrong is that I stumped the optometrist at my check-up yesterday. I told him the problems I've been having with my eyes and he tested my eyes 3 times and eventually said that he didn't understand why he can't get my vision to 20/20. Basically, my prescription won't ever fix my eyes completely. I might have to go to a specialist.

The second thing that went wrong is that I over drafted my bank account. While this is always demoralizing, I feel especially bad this time because I was trying to be responsible and start paying for some things on my own and not ask my parents for money. For the most part, I haven't asked them for money this year, and I guess I just wanted to prove that I didn't need to. I really feel like a failure, and I feel incompetent.

I know that all of these things that are going wrong are probably just things that could be used to distract me and discourage me. I'm clinging to James 1:2-3: "Count it all joy my brethren when you endure various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1 is one of the few passages of Scripture that I have memorized, and this week...I sure am glad. I'm fighting feeling discouraged, but knowing that these experience can strengthen my faith in knowing that God provides makes me feel so much more at ease.

Phun Photos

My good friend Angelique and 2 other good friends and I went to take pictures last Sunday...Angelique is an art major and she is absolutely INCREDIBLE. She is so creative and she has the talent to take her creativity and make it a reality. We had a few scary moments in an old abandoned house (my fault, I shouldn't have been in that situation. Now I know)...but overall it was really the highlight of my weekend. I've included a few pictures that Angelique took, just so you can see how incredible she is!

For Women Only

For Women Only - I bought this book today, which Chris and I plan to discuss for the next couple of weeks until we have completed the book. Well, Chris got For Men Only. The premise of these books is that men and women are VERY different (shocker, I know) and that sometimes we need a little help understanding our spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, or insert appropriate relationship title here. I have only read the first chapter so far, but I can tell that it's going to be a great book. I really like the idea of picking a book out to read and discussing it with someone. I'd like to keep this practice going, because it has the potential to help me grow in Christ. As Christians, so many times we fail at being avid readers of good writing. And by reading with someone else, I am held accountable for what I am reading. This particular book is going to be great, though. I know that I can be a much more understanding and encouraging woman to Chris, my dad, my brother, etc. if I know what goes on that I just don't understand sometimes. Let the reading begin!!