This Season of Engagement

In this new season of being engaged, I have realized that it is so easy to be self-focused. How important it is for me to meet with my Savior daily to keep me from the traps of self-centered thinking! It is so natural to think that the wedding day is "all about me" and "my day," and that everything needs to look perfect. After all, that is what the world keeps telling me, along with the the plethora of bridal magazines that somehow end up in my mailbox. It is all too easy to slip into this kind of attitude when I'm juggling vendors or stuffing invitations in my living room because as a sinner, this kind of thinking actually originates from my sin and feeds it with pleasure.

Without the daily reading of His Word I can easily slip into the slavery of self and grow anxious at what needs to be done, what isn't looking right, or even throw an envious thought while coming across pictures from another bride's wedding day. But oh, how His Word reminds me of what weddings and marriage were created to point to! The sweet, intimate and beautiful picture of Christ and the Church: our Bridegroom, Jesus, saves us, the bride, from our sinful tendencies toward ourselves and brings great glory to God, our loving and gracious Father.

Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for our sins and for calling us Your bride. May our wedding day be a display of the wedding that is to take place when you come again and bring us Home. Sdg.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. - Acts 20:24

The Ultimate Meaning of True Womanhood

Was blessed by this today :) The main point I treasure:

I commend to you this truth: The ultimate purpose of God in history is the display of the glory of his Son in dying for his bride. God has created man as male and female because there are aspects of Christ’s glory which would not be known if they were not reflected in the complementary differences of manhood and womanhood. Therefore, true womanhood is a distinctive calling of God to display the glory of his Son in ways that would not be displayed if there were no womanhood. Married womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ that single womanhood does not have. Single womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ which married womanhood does not have. So whether you marry or remain single, do not settle for a wimpy theology. It is beneath you. God is too great. Christ is too glorious. True womanhood is too strategic. Don’t waste it. Your womanhood—your true womanhood—was made for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Grace and Mercy

I'm learning so much about God's grace in my life and the need I have to give it to others, particularly to Erick. His grace and mercy is abundant and mine is but a trickle! The more I abide in the deep waters of my Savior, the more I know I will be able to love and cherish Erick.

Old lessons and new ones

I was really blessed by this article today. Some old lessons that need revisiting and some new lessons that need applying :) So thankful that the difficulties and struggles we have had in our relationship are not unique to us! More on this later :)

Here is the article: Husbands: Some Assembly Required

When doubts assail, the Lord prevails

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:9-10

God-centered

Amanda + Jacob | Feature from Paperback Films on Vimeo.

So blessed by Amanda and Jacob's God-centered wedding and marriage. Their vows move me so much. I am sober-minded and joyful in a quiet and still way. The magnitude and power of such a beautiful event makes me hold my breath. Lord, would you have this for Erick and I? Lord, cultivate in me a heart that longs to see you glorified most of all. It is so beautiful to have you at the center.

A beautiful day

The Lord is so good to us! On this day I was blessed at the realization that God is bringing two families slowly together in the most beautiful way. I saw it in the way our grandmothers held hands and shared stories of God's work in their lives, exuding joy that can only come from Jesus. It is by His grace that Erick and I stand with two Proverbs 31 women we greatly admire and that we call grandmother.