1 Week Away!

 

Hard to believe that you all are only one week away from saying, "I do." This is so exciting and daunting and wild and crazy. Take deep breaths, be as present as you can, and be on the lookout for God in your midst.  Below is a lovely reflection from the wonderful Kate Bowler to encourage you to build a relationship that keeps turning towards one another and that brings more love into the world. And know that I am cheering for you this week and that I'll be with you in spirit with all the celebrations coming up! 

For married love … 

One of the funniest things about meeting people who have been married for a long time is how quickly they will tell you about it. 

Me: Oh, nice to meet you! What’s your name?
Them: I HAVE BEEN WITH LINDA FOR FORTY-FIVE YEARS!
Me: What did you say you do for work? 
Them: FORTY-FIVE YEARS!

Marriage is one of the most difficult and most rewarding commitments that we make. We make promises to someone long before we know if we have the ability or willingness to follow through. We get up in front of witnesses and declare that love conquers all even when, at some point, we may feel entirely conquered by other circumstances instead. It’s as if we peer into the future and, instead of seeing nothing much at all, decide that we see ourselves there, older, changed, and loved. That takes such courage, such hope.

However we have experienced marriage—as a refuge (or not), a partnership (or not)—I wonder if we could bless it. Unconditional love is rare. When we see it in ourselves or anyone else, let’s draw close to it like we are warming ourselves by a fire. We are learning something about God’s long covenants of love.  

Lord, thank you for the love that endures.
Love that rings on 
long after the note is struck. 
Love that holds together two 
who solemnly swear 
to be faithful to one another 
without even a reasonable foreshadowing 
of what the world will bring 
to their doorstep. 

Begun in hope,
witnessed and celebrated in community,
and blessed by God.
We promise and you promise.
That’s why it’s sacred. 
We hold on to what holds us. 

Of all endeavors it is the 
most awe-inspiring
and the hardest to fulfill.
For it’s only after the wedding 
that the marriage can begin.
After the promises are made 
and the vows sealed
then—poof—a wife or a husband appears. 
(Who is that?!) 
And the best and worst in each.

Blessed are we who become 
witnesses to the truth
that every person is a foreign country,
even to themselves.
Marriage must therefore be an unveiling
at the borderline where desires meet,
in confluence or in conflict,
and sharp corners chafe 
and are rubbed smooth,
proof that the whole is greater 
than the sum of the parts. 

Blessed are we in celebration 
of married love,
where in one word or a glance,
an old joke can be fully reconstituted,
no footnotes required.
You know it’s a miracle when we set aside our predictable self-sabotage
for a love that brings us back to each other.

- Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens!