Not sure where to begin when my life is radically different than the last time i posted. Kent and I were married on July 4, 2008. For everyone who then says,"You
got married on the Fourth of July?" um, yes obviously the Fourth of July and July 4th are the same date. (You wouldn't believe how many people say that!) Our wedding was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I prayed a lot that we would remember the entire day, and by his grace we do. I heard the stories of everything being a blur too many times, and I really was thankful to Him for not letting that happen. We don't have wedding pics back yet, but as soon as we do I will post some of them on here. You can see one of us on our photographer's blog.
Our rehearsal dinner was at Mattito's in Dallas. The food and drinks were amazing, and it was a wonderful night with close friends and family. Here is a picture of my friend Amber Cassidy and I. She has known me very well since I was about 8 years old, so you can only imagine the stories she told during her toast.
I spent Thursday night with my parents at The Magnolia Hotel in Dallas, which was a risky thing to do the night before your wedding since both of them snore terribly. Thanks to Kent and Geoff, I slept wonderfully all because of the ear plugs they purchased for me. Friday I awoke refreshed and surprisingly very calm. Lindsey Brittain, who was my wedding week right hand man, my mom, my sister, and I spent the day at the Ritz Carlton eating lunch and getting our hair and makeup done. This was a special wedding day treat from my mom and sister. Here are the pictures.
I am going to wait until I have more pictures from the wedding to share those details, but let me say it again...It was the best day of my life. Here are a few of the pictures I do have.
If you were at the wedding and you have pictures, please send them to me!! I hardly have any, and I am itching to see some.
So, the wedding details and honeymoon will be a separate post, but I wanted to share one more thing since who knows when I will actually getting around to blogging again. I have been reading through the book of Proverbs this summer, and I have noticed several themes...watching the tongue, pursuing wisdom, fearing the Lord, foolishness vs. wisdom, etc. One theme that I have been extra sensitive to recently is how many times Solomon and the other writers of Proverbs mention wives.
Proverbs 11:22 "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion."
Proverbs 12:4b "She who brings shame is like rottenness in his (her husband's) bones."
Proverbs 19:13 "...and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain."
Proverbs 21:9 "It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than i a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
Proverbs 21:19 "It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman."
Proverbs 27:15-16 "A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand."
So, it may seem as if the writers of Proverbs are suggesting that wives are only annoying and out of control, but considering that Solomon also wrote Song of Solomon which is all about making love to his bride, I doubt that. The writers of Proverbs also say:
Proverbs 12:4a "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband."
Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord."
Proverbs 19:14b "but a prudent wife is from the Lord."
I share all of this as encouragement to wives and those that desire to be wives. The call is weighty and hard, but it is one that is from the Lord. We cannot submit, serve, respond, or encourage our husbands in the way scripture asks us to in our own strength, but through humility that produces dependence on Christ we will be able to fulfill the task the Lord has called us to. Ask the Lord to teach you when to speak and when to be silent. Let's learn not to be quarrelsome, but instead encouraging and supportive.
My daily prayer for Kent and I comes from Proverbs 5:18-19, "Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love." I want the love and passion that Kent and I have shared these first 3 weeks of marriage to be a fraction of what is coming in 10, 20, or 30 years. All of this is by the Lord's grace alone!
If we aren't sure where to start on the pursuit of becoming godly women, Proverbs 31:10-31 provides a strong foundation. This list isn't exhaustive, but some of the qualities of an excellent wife: She is trustworthy, good to her husband, hardworking, wise, strong, giving, creative, courageous, prepared, dignified, kind, and on and on the list can go. Again, the task is not easy, but my prayer and desire is at the end of life this can be said for me, "Her children rise up and called her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." (Proverbs 31:28-29) I think verse 10 of this chapter suggests that this woman is rare, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." My desire is to be a rare woman that always remembers, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
