Two weeks ago today, I was standing on the other side of a door wearing a white dress, holding a bouquet, and wanting so badly to peek through the blinds to see my fiance standing at the other end of the aisle.
Oh the adrenaline. Thankfully, I successfully walked down the aisle, under the gaze of 200 or so guests, without incident to meet the man who would soon become my husband.
What a picture of beauty and perfection. Even with all of the little things that went wrong, no one could look at our wedding, at our union, and say that it was not a pleasing and good thing. God's will is always pleasing, good, and perfect (Rom. 12:2). On that day, I could feel God's mercy radiating down on me like never before, making me the happiest bride there ever was. :)
Fast forward two weeks.
People ask me how it feels to be married now... I tell them it is wonderful, and it is! Ryan and I sharpen one another, as Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." In my last post, "Perfect Love", I talked about how unperfect we both are, and how the Lord uses that to continually make us more like Him.
This is a process that will endure until the day that we die. As Philippians 1:6 reads, "...[be] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completiong until the day of Christ Jesus."
The trap is forgetting that this is an ongoing process. Unfortunately I didn't wake up the day after getting married to realize, "Oh my goodness, now I am the perfect wife!" Instead, what I have found is that I am completely and utterly HUMAN! And thus incapable of such perfection.
Well rats.
Wrong. I need to remember that it is a process that requires first transformation by the Lord and second continual renewing by the Holy Spirit. Messing up doesn't mean I have failed, it is merely a reminder that He who began a good work in me is still working on me! Thank God there is hope for me when I turn making spaghetti dinner into a three hour process!!
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Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
Patterns of this world = relying on myself to meet my needs. My needs are basically summed up by Genesis 3:16, "'...Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'" I want Ryan to be happy. I want him to come home from work every day to a clean apartment, a delicious dinner, and a flawless wife, but I'm not perfect. (This is a shocker, I know.) I have to realize that Ryan's love for me, because it is grounded in Christ, will never fail, just as God's love and mercy never fail.
Saint Augustine beautifully explained it in these words, "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it find its rest in thee." I can't be the perfect wife. I can't always be good or pleasing to Ryan. But both of us are constantly in the process of being renewed by the Holy Spirit, and because of that, we can find rest for our restless hearts. ♥
This is a process that will endure until the day that we die. As Philippians 1:6 reads, "...[be] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completiong until the day of Christ Jesus."
The trap is forgetting that this is an ongoing process. Unfortunately I didn't wake up the day after getting married to realize, "Oh my goodness, now I am the perfect wife!" Instead, what I have found is that I am completely and utterly HUMAN! And thus incapable of such perfection.
Well rats.
Wrong. I need to remember that it is a process that requires first transformation by the Lord and second continual renewing by the Holy Spirit. Messing up doesn't mean I have failed, it is merely a reminder that He who began a good work in me is still working on me! Thank God there is hope for me when I turn making spaghetti dinner into a three hour process!!
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
Patterns of this world = relying on myself to meet my needs. My needs are basically summed up by Genesis 3:16, "'...Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'" I want Ryan to be happy. I want him to come home from work every day to a clean apartment, a delicious dinner, and a flawless wife, but I'm not perfect. (This is a shocker, I know.) I have to realize that Ryan's love for me, because it is grounded in Christ, will never fail, just as God's love and mercy never fail.
Saint Augustine beautifully explained it in these words, "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it find its rest in thee." I can't be the perfect wife. I can't always be good or pleasing to Ryan. But both of us are constantly in the process of being renewed by the Holy Spirit, and because of that, we can find rest for our restless hearts. ♥
