A Reading for A Friend's Wedding.

I recognize this is somewhat of a repetitive thought, but since it took a slightly different form, I thought I would post it anyway. Clearly, God is still speaking to my heart so much about marriage and community and how the two go hand in hand.
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Here it is, you’ve made it. It’s your big day.

Today is not the finish line in your relationship, but the start of a new exciting chapter. Today is the beginning of the rest of your lives together.

“Happily ever after” looks different in reality than it does in fairy tales. Yes, it is fun and absolutely filled with love, but real happiness requires work and sacrifice. It takes dying to yourself daily and choosing to put the other person first. It’s about learning how to love in all circumstances.

Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Committed says, “There is hardly a more gracious gift that we can offer somebody than to accept them fully, to love them almost despite themselves." You will not complete each other, but in your marriage, you will push each other to become better versions of yourselves. You will learn your strengths and your flaws and year by year, you will learn the art of becoming each other’s complement.

All of us are here today to witness this commitment you are making to each other before God and by our presence, we too make the commitment to see you through. Marriage is about more than the two of you as a couple, it is also about your community. It is about your family and friends and the people you choose to live your lives beside.

When you’ve got a good thing, you’ve got to hold onto it and fight for it daily. You will go through hard times. You will wake up some days and doubt. But I challenge you, during those times, to look back to this day and remember the promises you have made, and all the reasons you made them in the first place.

I pray God’s blessing upon you both, that through the years you may keep your marriage covenant, and so grow in love and the knowledge of the One whose love never fails, that your home may be a haven of blessing and peace.

Wedding Inspiration

My current desktop background created from various blog photos to "inspire" me towards completing tasks for our upcoming wedding on 1.21.2011!

(click to enlarge)

Do you have any fantastic winter wedding or purple themed ideas to share?

transitions galore.

A lot has changed since I last blogged. I got engaged April 10th (I suppose I’ll save that story for when I finally launch a wedding website), turned in my resignation letter to All Souls stating that my last day of work was June 25th, and last Wednesday, I packed all my earthly possessions in the back of a 10 foot Budget rental truck and drove over 600 miles “home” to Pennsylvania.

I’ve been in a transitional state (yes, again!) since January of this year. I knew big decisions were to be made within the next six months. Getting engaged long distance, quitting your job, moving over 600 miles to a new city, planning a wedding, and hunting for employment is a LOT to balance, but that’s what I’ve been attempting for the past three months. Honestly sometimes it’s hard for me to picture what this process would look like for “normal” people who have actually dated in the same town and are planning to combine lives. They say that wedding planning is stressful but WOW, this must be a whole new level.

So we have no date yet, because just this past Saturday we were finally able to go visit venues together. It was so good to finally go and experience such an important part of this process together in person instead of just being stuck doing research, research and more research online. We hope to be able to come to a decision in the next couple weeks and finally set a date! I promise you, dear friends, when we finally know something in stone, it won’t be long before you’ve been informed.

Last week I moved all my non-essentials to my parents’ house, and packed Nick’s car full of the rest and moved me up to Jersey City Heights, which is about a 20 minute walk from Nick’s place in Hoboken. I’m subleasing here for the next month or two, but will have to come up with a new plan come the beginning of September. I am realizing that while I do have savings, they won’t last very long with NYC cost of living. I will need a job before long, and ideally I would like to find something that is in the editorial world. I’ve considered the idea of being a live-in nanny or working retail, etc. just to make ends’ meat but something keeps pushing me to just go ahead and apply for jobs that actually relate to my career path for a month or so before “giving in.” We’ll see how that goes.

I spent the 4th of July on the Hoboken pier with Nick and his friends from Hoboken Grace. It was a poignant moment, sitting there under the fireworks, considering that everything started between Nick and I on the fourth of July two years ago. Back then we (especially I) fumbled things pretty badly. I knew I liked him but wasn’t sure what I wanted, and here we are, months from spending the rest of our lives together. God sure has a sense of humor.

Feel free to call or write (leave a comment if you don’t know have my current contact info). I’m unemployed again, so I’ve got all the time in the world ;)