One Day 'Til 'I Do'
The week of your wedding can be the most exciting and most stressful week of your life, hands down.It's a lead-up to what is considered to be the best day you'll ever have - that kinda holds a lot of weight and that means you kinda want it to be perfect.My wedding week has been full of great memories and great conversations along with some bad memories and stressful situations - but that is a testament to how life really always is - and it's always about your attitude and how you handle it.I'm not going to lie and say I have handled it well, and I'm not going to act like I haven't had bridezilla moments because I want to be transparent and real and let you know that these things can be struggles - but we can ALWAYS learn and always grow and always walk away better than we walked in.I'm not the most organized or most graceful bride to wear a wedding dress and walk down an aisle, but I am trying to be the most grateful bride I can be. God doesn't have to allow us to do these extra, over-the-top things in life, and He doesn't have to give us people to help us along the way - but HE DOES, and I am overwhelmed by it all the time.Throughout wedding week, I have had to do last minute errands (just like every bride), resign from one job, begin paper work for a new job, go to a funeral, and manage all the details and all the people involved in the planning process. I don't tell you that to make you feel sorry for me - I am fully aware that many brides are dealing with A LOT more during their wedding week. I am dealing with a very light load, but that's the point - I am STILL very stressed, so I can't imagine dealing with anything heavier, and that's what puts me back in my place and puts things back in perspective - I've seen brides dealing with a lot more and being a lot more graceful than me - and that makes me want to be better.The hardest thing with any wedding, and with life in general, is the balance between making other people happy, making the most important people happy, and making yourself happy. Let that sink in because that is true in EVERY SINGLE situation you will ever face. You have to have people priorities and you can't let the happiness meter of everyone else lower yours to zero.People you were sure would be at your wedding won't be able to make it, and you can't let that get you down because life happens and people have to react. You have to know that nothing is a personal attack against you - everything is always love.I have panicked over everything from guests to my manicure to decorations to the florist sending flowers with brown spots on them. But you know what? It has all somehow worked out - really and truly by the grace of God.I ran into a friend two days before my wedding and after talking with her for 30 minutes and catching up, she said the sweetest prayer over me - the sweetest prayer I've ever heard. She prayed for good attitudes, only love, and the feeling of beauty and only beauty. It was yet another reminder that God places people in front of us at the most perfect times for the moments we need them the most.I remember being so sad that I didn't find a venue with a big tree to get married under, but God did me one better. My dad cut down a tree on our land and hand made a cross for us to get married under. I've never been so aware of God replacing our ideas with His better ideas and using a servant like my earthly father to make a small detail dream come true.I have had a front seat to watch my mom serve me like I've never seen her serve anyone before. She has wiped my tears, ironed table runners for hours, and laughed hysterically with me about nothing.My grandmother has put together so many bouquets she probably can't stand the smell of flowers anymore, but I will look at those flowers and smile because I know they have an extra touch of love from someone I love with my whole heart.So many friends and family members have gone above and beyond and traveled so many miles to make sure me and my groom have the most perfect day.I went to the church my parents got married at today to stop and pray and it calmed my soul like nothing else. Jesus was there with me and I know He will be with us as we say our vows and say, "I do."I type this as I am running late for my rehearsal dinner, but I wanted anyone who reads it to know that no matter what stress you're under, whether wedding or other event, Jesus really is in the details. He is so sweet to us in the smallest ways.I tend to care way too much about the little things, and that can cause a lot of stress if I let it, but I know it's a gift because I know He does too.And come tomorrow, there won't be 25 or 10 or 5 days until I say, "I do" because it will be THE day that I have always dreamed of, wearing my favorite dress, surrounded by the best people on earth, marrying the single greatest man I have ever known and the one I have prayed for for so long.It has been a long, windy, adventurous road, and I can't wait to reach our destination and take in the view that Jesus paints for us as we commit ourselves to Him and each other forever and turn down a new road for a brand new adventure.