Saturday, April 26, 2014

Wedding Season

We're beginning to receive "Save the Date" postcards and wedding invitations in the mail, and recently someone said, "In every wedding, something will go wrong." My cousin, who will be getting married next year, then asked, "So, what went wrong at your wedding?" Here are a few things that happened with mine:

1. Luke's tux was too small
2. My maid-of-honor got food poisoning the night before the wedding
3. Our pastor had kidney stones and we weren't sure who was going to be officiating the wedding (He did end up officiating, but was still in a lot of pain)
4. My maid-of-honor's dress didn't arrive until just before we started taking pictures, about 4 hours before the wedding ceremony.
5. The week of our wedding our friend who was making our cake said she couldn't make it anymore. We did some negotiating and were able to get it taken care of, but instead of getting our cake and 300 mini cupcakes, we got our cake and 300 regular cupcakes...SO MUCH leftover cake!
6. I forgot to get straps/sleeves made for my wedding dress (It was originally a strapless dress, I just wanted a little extra embellishment)
7. Our photographer didn't get some of the pictures I thought we'd get.

All in all though, we had a WONDERFUL wedding. So many friends and family showed up to support us, and really, at the end of the day, the important thing to remember is that you're getting married to your best friend. You're about to start your life together and the wedding is just the starting point. It doesn't have to be perfect. Some of the details don't matter.

So, to those of you about to get married and are stressing about how many guests you have coming or that small decorative item that you "need" to have, but just can't seem to find, think about the days, weeks, months, and years after the wedding. You have so much to look forward to! Don't get so caught up in the details that you forget who you're getting married to and why.




Friday, April 25, 2014

It's OK to be Ordinary

Lately, I've been learning to be content with being "unseen."

When I married Luke, he was the Director of Student Ministries at our church. Everyone knew Luke, so everyone knew me. Before meeting Luke, I was a track coach, a swim coach and teacher,  and a LOT of people knew me. It was a bit awkward for me because I am the middle child from a large family and was not really used to being noticed, but at the same time, I didn't mind so much.

Then, as the years passed and jobs/life changed, I have become "invisible" again. I am not a youth pastor's wife, I am not a coach, I'm not the "big name on campus" so to speak. I'm barely even recognized as Luke's wife,  Seth's Mom, or even Autumn's Sister. I'm simply a, *shudder* Homemaker or Stay-at-home-mom as some people call it. I don't think I ever thought I'd be "just" a wife and mom. I thought I might have some ministry or impact on lives outside my little bubble, but that's just not the case right now.

I wasn't meaning to go on a rant about how life isn't what I expected it to be, but rather, I want to share about the peace and hope that I am finding in this time in my life.

I've been reading through a book "Anonymous: Jesus' hidden years...and yours" by Alicia Britt Chole. It's about the unseen portions of your life that no one gushes over or applauds. It's the everyday, hum-drum, boring stages of life that we often see as useless and wish we could skip through for the more exciting stages. But I'm learning that those so called "useless" days, weeks, months, and years are actually where we develop our foundation and strength. I'm only a third of the way through the book, but so far it's hit quite a few points that are close to home, especially for a mom of a young child.

I don't know if it's just our culture, but it appears that everyone is striving to be famous.  Not just popular in their school, but to become the next YouTube sensation that will be known world wide. However, how many people will know the Rebecca Black song "Friday" in ten years, most people have already forgotten the three year old song and groan at the remembrance of that terrible auto-tune monstrosity.


You don't have to be popular or famous, because the most important person already knows your name, He sees your everyday life. It's OK to be ordinary, this does not mean lazy or unambitious, but it's OK to have times in your life where you're "invisible."