To any and every person on this planet with any ounce of patience, two weeks is really a short length of time. Along the road between now and the engagement, my patience took a vacation without me. I am like a little kid anticipating Christmas and birthday all at once! Two weeks just seems like forever away! I told Justin I can't let myself get fully excited yet because I would be so worn out by the time the wedding came! Like a marathon, i'm pacing myself!
With this subtle growth in excitement, also grows the anticipation of wanting the wedding to be here, for the day to be over and done with. Now I know you may be thinking, "This is the happiest day of your life, why would you want it to be over, don't you want it to last as long as it can?!" I ask myself this all the time. Why am I so anxious for it all to be over and done with?! No more wedding details to decipher, no more checks to write, no more count downs? Shouldn't I be taking it all in? After all, this is a once in a lifetime event.
Lets take a small detour real quick. So this past Monday, Justin and I met with Pastor Steve, our officiate for the wedding ceremony. We were both pretty excited to be having this meeting. The final details of the ceremony were being put in place officially! Talk about a reality check! The meeting itself went so well, better than ever expected. After all of the details were ironed out and set, Pastor Steve looked at Justin and I and gave us one bit of last minute advice. He said "Don't anticipate the end." Simple right?
God is funny how he relays what we need to hear isn't he? It wasn't until that moment I realized I was doing exactly what he was advising us not to do. Pastor Steve then went into more detail, giving meaning to his words. In the beginning of the meeting, he asked me to tell him about how Justin proposed. Of course, I gave the long, drawn out, super detailed version of the story. Why not?! I remember every single bit of it! The pastor then used this as an example to support his advice. When I was getting engaged, I wasn't worried about the end, I wasn't worried about the after party or the attention I was going to get on social media. 9 months later (aside from having it on video) I can perfectly recount my emotions, my reactions and thoughts. Why? because I was so fully in the moment. I wasn't anticipating the next. I was able to process and encrypt the moment.
A wedding day is a once in a lifetime moment. An incredible joyous institution The Lord has blessed his people with. Planning a wedding is stressful nonetheless. After 9 months of it, the light is getting brighter and brighter at the end of the tunnel. I was ready for the day to be here so I could be free from it all! I mean it's always greener on the other side right?
The pastor told us that when we look for an end, our minds are so focused on what is next, we forget to enjoy what is right in front of us. The next thing we know, the wedding is going to be over and we will be left standing, wondering where the day went. When we put the stress aside and not look towards what is next we are able to focus and enjoy the blessings of the now. We aren't even promised tomorrow (Matthew 6:34) why anticipate it?
As spring comes to an end and summer to a start, wedding season is in full swing. I think this may be the best advice I have gotten this whole year regarding the wedding itself. Enjoy every moment leading up to the wedding and during the wedding day. Take in every thought, emotion and feeling. Pictures are beautiful reminders but nothing is quite as good as remembering how those specific moments felt, whatever they may be. We may get stressed and try to imagine the greener pastures on the other side but its just a thought. We have to take a deep breath, relax and take in the moments we have right in front of us. In the wise words of Relient K's Matt Thiessen "Nothing will ever be as good as here and now"
God Bless
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