To be truthful, I am 84 days away from a wedding that I am planning where I will marry the man I love and I am excited. Like stoked to become his wife.
But… I realized something today.
I was not created to be Chris’s fiancé. I was not made to wear a (gorgeous if I may say) ring on my finger, to plan a wedding or even to prepare myself to become a wife in all aspects. I just wasn’t. I was fabricated and designed with one thing in store: to bring God glory.
Every fiber of my being has been woven together for one unique purpose and that is to give honor and glory and high renown to my Creator. My bones were formed to shout the goodness of my God. To tell of his mystery and wonder and love and grace; not to wear a ring and call David’s bridal every week or spend hours Vista Print making and remaking invitations. That just is much too small of a calling for a woman who was designated as the woman to tell others of the Son that was sent to earth as a baby in order to live missionally, die on the cross and rise again so that others just like me would have their sins (the stuff that does not bring glory to God in anyway) forgiven and covered that my life might actually do what is was intended for.
Now with that on the table, can I glorify God by being a fiancé and planning a wedding! You bet your sweet self I can. I believe I glorified the Lord when I deleted the Pinterest wedding board at the beginning of this whole thing so that I would have to ask the Holy Spirit to show me what our wedding ought to look like and be (With that, I did get Pinterest back but only to get ideas of how to make what I envisioned in my head a reality, not as a guideline to recreate what was already photoshopped).
When I left behind my memory of "Say Yes To The Dress" episodes and insanely elaborate dresses so that as I wedding dress shopped I put myself in the dress that accurately represented how pure and innocent I am in my Father’s eyes, regardless what I have done in the past to tarnish the body that Christ redeemed. I bought the dress that was modest yet sweet and pure yet so simple that it has to be adorned by Christ and worn with confidence in order to stand as beautiful, but in reality is that not what a dress should do?
God won the glory as I began to tell my family and friends of Chris and our story together and requested them to join us as a florist, cake makers, singers, and photographers so that a body of people saw the vision I had for this day of rejoicing and said “Hey. We agree with you and want to be a part of this unforgettable day!” I believe God won the glory in that far more than what he would have if I would have tried to shop Etsy or the internet companies.
Ladies, let’s be honest. God desires to win the glory in every moment of our lives. He is jealous for his glory and desires it above all else, simply because HE DESERVES IT.
Thankfully, the people we are inviting to our wedding are human which means they are not searching for the most beautiful decorations, venue or music. They are likely spending their days either glorifying the world or their Lord and how dare I give them more of the world at my wedding?
People do not actually want to stare at the beading on a dress, flawless bridal pictures or spend their whole nights dancing on dirty floors, they inherently desire to be loved and belong, therefore I only see it fit that as a current fiancé it is my pleasure to plan a wedding fit for the King’s presence. One where he has been a part of most all decisions and apologized to where He was left out. One where my heart was transformed from fairy tale pictures to real life moments and wonders. One where I am constantly reminded that fiancé of Chris and soon-to-be-wife and sister and friend and bride are all second pronouns to daughter of the King, servant of Christ and deliverer of Good News even throughout the wedding planning process.