Time is just flying by, isn't it?! It is just mind blowing to me that it's already June 26th. Now that the weather is starting to feel more like summer here, I wish we could somehow press the pause button for a while. The speed of which life flies by truly does make me sad. So many reasons and recent reminders to make every day count, and just treasure those we love.
I'm looking ahead to my youngest nephew's upcoming wedding and thinking back on the last big wedding our family had: mine & Dave's. It was almost 11 years ago! I still get teary-eyed thinking of how God changed my life when He brought Dave into it. Those post-college years (and pre-Dave years) were some of the most depressing years of my life.
I graduated from college in December of 1993 and didn't meet Dave until August of 1999. During those years, I was kind of a lonely, single mess. Looking back, I can see the foothold that Satan had on my thought life. In this last year (thanks largely to the lessons God taught me from Lysa TerKeurst's book Made to Crave) I have gotten a tremendous amount of freedom in this area. (Praise the Lord!) But for much of my life, this was a huge problem. And during those 6 years after college (and before Dave) it was probably at its worst.
I know many of the reasons why it was such a miserable time: for at least half of those 6 years, I didn't have a roommate (so I was alone a LOT), I was recovering from a broken heart (we "dated" for almost two years but I spent at least that much time afterwards trying to figure out where things really stood), I really thought that men found me repulsive (a long story of how this idea was formulated...but my 6 years of having not one single date sure made me believe it was true), I watched the show "Friends" and wanted my social life to be like theirs...but it wasn't even close. You get the idea. I was caught up in what the world said made you happy (men, big social life) and failed to see the person I was in God's eyes. I wanted to be loved and validated from other people...instead of finding my self-worth in God.
Want to know the timing of when God brought Dave into my life? Right about the time I got a grip. (No, seriously.) I had finally gotten to the point where I decided it didn't matter if I was single. I only needed to find my happiness in God. So I totally ramped up my level of Bible study & prayer. I filled my mind and heart with all kinds of positive things. I even got to the point of taking better care of myself (and I had lost about 25 pounds...right about to where I am today, as a matter of fact). I went from a self-loathing downcast spirit...to one of joy & vitality. God had done a big work in me and He was about to do the biggest work ever.
The day that I first saw Dave in person (walking up my driveway on his way to a cookout at my house), I KNEW he was the man I was going to marry. His smile warmed my broken heart the way no other man's smile had ever done. He treated me like a princess...instead of like the ugly duckling I'd always thought I was. 9 1/2 weeks later we were engaged...and one year later I was walking down the aisle to meet the love of my life on the other end...smiling from ear to ear as I did it.
Our pastor shared these verses in Ecclesiastes 4 (verses 9-12) at our wedding:
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Then he went on to talk about how much better Dave and I will be as people because we are Christians joined together in marriage. That having God and Dave and I as our "cord of 3 strands", our relationship will not be quickly broken. His prayer for us was that years down the road as people look at us, they would see that I am a better person for having Dave as my husband...and that he is a better person for having me as his wife. And I believe it's true, but only because of the work God has done (and continues to do) in us.
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So as I think about my nephew - my godson - taking his vows of matrimony in less than two weeks, I get very sentimental. I think about the amazing gift of marriage in my life. The person that I wouldn't be if it weren't for Dave and the three children we're blessed to call our own. I think about my parents who have been married 57 years - what an amazing legacy of love they are leaving all of us. I think again about just how fast time flies.
Let me encourage you in these things: don't let Satan keep you down - with God you CAN find freedom from whatever stronghold you're under, don't forget to find your self-worth through the lens of God's eyes - no other view will show it to you straight, and make lots of great memories with the ones you love every chance you get. Laugh together. Take lots of pictures. Make your moments count. Because life...it goes by faster all the time.
Have a great last few days of June!
I'm looking ahead to my youngest nephew's upcoming wedding and thinking back on the last big wedding our family had: mine & Dave's. It was almost 11 years ago! I still get teary-eyed thinking of how God changed my life when He brought Dave into it. Those post-college years (and pre-Dave years) were some of the most depressing years of my life.
I graduated from college in December of 1993 and didn't meet Dave until August of 1999. During those years, I was kind of a lonely, single mess. Looking back, I can see the foothold that Satan had on my thought life. In this last year (thanks largely to the lessons God taught me from Lysa TerKeurst's book Made to Crave) I have gotten a tremendous amount of freedom in this area. (Praise the Lord!) But for much of my life, this was a huge problem. And during those 6 years after college (and before Dave) it was probably at its worst.
I know many of the reasons why it was such a miserable time: for at least half of those 6 years, I didn't have a roommate (so I was alone a LOT), I was recovering from a broken heart (we "dated" for almost two years but I spent at least that much time afterwards trying to figure out where things really stood), I really thought that men found me repulsive (a long story of how this idea was formulated...but my 6 years of having not one single date sure made me believe it was true), I watched the show "Friends" and wanted my social life to be like theirs...but it wasn't even close. You get the idea. I was caught up in what the world said made you happy (men, big social life) and failed to see the person I was in God's eyes. I wanted to be loved and validated from other people...instead of finding my self-worth in God.
Want to know the timing of when God brought Dave into my life? Right about the time I got a grip. (No, seriously.) I had finally gotten to the point where I decided it didn't matter if I was single. I only needed to find my happiness in God. So I totally ramped up my level of Bible study & prayer. I filled my mind and heart with all kinds of positive things. I even got to the point of taking better care of myself (and I had lost about 25 pounds...right about to where I am today, as a matter of fact). I went from a self-loathing downcast spirit...to one of joy & vitality. God had done a big work in me and He was about to do the biggest work ever.
The day that I first saw Dave in person (walking up my driveway on his way to a cookout at my house), I KNEW he was the man I was going to marry. His smile warmed my broken heart the way no other man's smile had ever done. He treated me like a princess...instead of like the ugly duckling I'd always thought I was. 9 1/2 weeks later we were engaged...and one year later I was walking down the aisle to meet the love of my life on the other end...smiling from ear to ear as I did it.
Our pastor shared these verses in Ecclesiastes 4 (verses 9-12) at our wedding:
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Then he went on to talk about how much better Dave and I will be as people because we are Christians joined together in marriage. That having God and Dave and I as our "cord of 3 strands", our relationship will not be quickly broken. His prayer for us was that years down the road as people look at us, they would see that I am a better person for having Dave as my husband...and that he is a better person for having me as his wife. And I believe it's true, but only because of the work God has done (and continues to do) in us.
So as I think about my nephew - my godson - taking his vows of matrimony in less than two weeks, I get very sentimental. I think about the amazing gift of marriage in my life. The person that I wouldn't be if it weren't for Dave and the three children we're blessed to call our own. I think about my parents who have been married 57 years - what an amazing legacy of love they are leaving all of us. I think again about just how fast time flies.
Let me encourage you in these things: don't let Satan keep you down - with God you CAN find freedom from whatever stronghold you're under, don't forget to find your self-worth through the lens of God's eyes - no other view will show it to you straight, and make lots of great memories with the ones you love every chance you get. Laugh together. Take lots of pictures. Make your moments count. Because life...it goes by faster all the time.
Have a great last few days of June!
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