...and it's so true! Even in the bridal world. Sound weird? I know. Let me take this post to explain a little bit:
Obviously, my current job is at David's Bridal so I'm surrounded by wedding planning and bridal shopping ALL DAY. Now don't get me wrong, it's very exciting and I absolutely love what I do, but recently I've caught myself getting a little annoyed with it (maybe because sales have been tough lately...ha) or just because of the fact that I'm constantly surrounded by it. I mean constantly! One hour I will get in a new bride and have to work with her and then the next hour, another bride comes in and I go through the exact same process. Asking about the fiance, what style dress she's interested in, what the budget is, what colors she likes, how many party members she has, where the wedding is at, on & on & on. Although again, I absolutely love to hear this stuff from my brides and it's a different experience and story each time, I think I've become so aquainted with the whole wedding process now and concept of a wedding as a whole. Almost like I'm so familiar with it, it doesn't excite me anymore. It's quite embarrassing to admit actually, but being surrounded by it all the time (and yes, even at home...for example, I'll think to my self: "Oh! I wonder if (insert bride name here) came back to the store today to order her dress!) has made me so immune to the whole "wedding process." So much to the point that I've forgotten what it's all truly about. Too much of this good thing has become a bad thing. Again, let me explain:
Last night I had the wonderful privilege to get to hang out with a good friend who's my age and is getting married this summer. God has blessed me with her friendship in my life these past 5 years and it's been just been truly amazing to encourage each other in Christ as we grow older. Anyways, I spent a couple hours talking with her about her wedding and wonderful, Godly fiance. There was much excitement in our conversation as she was telling me all of the things which they had planned, how they are working toward building their marriage on Biblical foundations, and of course, trying to imagine all the other blessing God has in store for their life together! (I think there is something so different about talking with someone you know personally who's getting married rather than someone you've just met and are trying to encourage them to "buy their dress". At the same time, it's so refreshing when both you and the bride have the same Spiritual foundations and can reflect back and see how God has orchestrated the process and use it for His glory) :)
Anyways, at one point in our conversation I definitely had a big epiphany, if you want to call it that. She was talking to me about how she envisioned the wedding day: beautiful in her dress, good weather, her entire family and loved ones there....and at one point she said "I just want to make sure that everything ...." as to where I finished "...is perfect." She smiled and said, "well yes, but I want to make sure everything brings glory to God." Wow. Stop right there!! Can i say I felt slightly dumb!? Cause I did! Here I am, with this worldview that a wedding must be absolutely perfect from the outside and there she was much more concerned about giving back to God from the blessing and giving Him the glory!
That was a wake up call to myself, realizing that I've downplayed the whole wedding thing and haven't been remembering it for what it's really all about. Now don't get me wrong, I knew what it's all about, it's just that, well, with always being surrounded by it in a worldly way, I kind of forgot... My conversation with my friend last night was a great reminder for me to actually reflect on the true concept of marriage and not just the love filled, romantic stories I hear daily. Also, a reminder for the wedding to not only be glorifying to God on the "big day" but for the entire marriage, obviously! ;)
Now, I don't want to say I know a whole lot about marriage, because I don't. I'm not married, obviously, (despite how many times people at work ask me if I am), and I might not ever be. But from what I do know, marriage is sacred, holy, a reflection of how God calls ourselves to Him. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:31-33: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you must also love his wife as he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband." Marriage is a gift from God. It's not nearly as simple as people at work make it; it's a reflection of Christ and the church itself. A profound mystery! At the same time, it's also something that so many people take lightly; something they take for granted. Something that people tend to do over and over just because they rushed into it the first time or get bored too quickly. We twist, destroy, and degrade the beautiful blessing God's given us in our lives and make it amount to nothing more than just a day to dress up all pretty and have everything be perfect. We forget our wedding day is not just for us, but first and foremost for our Creator.
With all this remembered and reiterated in my life thanks to my conversation, I can sure say that today, I went into work with a totally different mind set. I wasn't working just for the sale or just to help someone find their perfect dress and wish them the most romantic and perfect day of their life. Now, of course nothings wrong with that but at the same time, I was doing much more. I was working to bring glory to God through helping someone along with their wedding process. Hoping that my actions and attitude about it all would help make people realize that there is a much deeper meaning to marriage than what they may have ever expected. Having this in mind, it totally broke my heart today when I saw a lesbian couple out shopping and trying on a dress. What a distorted view of marriage they had! If only one day they will come to the Biblical knowledge of what it's all about and see the way God truly intended it to be!
So let me just wrap this up by saying that each and every day now, I'm going to be going into work with a new perspective. Well, not necessarily new, because it's not a new concept to me, but just with a clearer vision of what God intended through this beautiful gift of marriage. My vision has been repaired as I remember the beauty of what marriage truly is all about. I thank God for this reminder through my conversation last night.
And although they may never see this blog post, this is a total shout out to Alina and Roman who are incredibly blessed by God and whom I love soo much!! May God bless them forever and always as they are living their life in testimony of Him and are a true reflection of they way God intended marriage to be. A true reflection of how Christ loves the church! He is working in their lifes so together in an incredible way already! Praise Him! <3
"(Love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." ~1 Corinthians 13:7-8
