Thankful that Marriage is for LIFE!

As funny as this might sound, I'm really glad I'm only getting married once--for lots of reasons!!  For one thing, I want to spend the rest of my life with my man.  There's no one I'd rather live, love, struggle, rejoice, praise, serve and grow old with.  Also, getting married is a lot of work.  It takes a lot of time, a lot of planning, lots of other people helping, and a lot of money.  I've been having the weirdest dreams of my life related to the wedding.  It is, after all, the biggest decision of my life, the biggest change I'll probably ever go through, the most life-changing event I'll ever experience.

However, I'm thankful for every aspect of this whole experience.  I'm learning more about myself, my future husband, and what all marriage entails.  I'm SO thankful that we have our whole lives to get this marriage-thing down.  It's going to take a lot of work, a lot of patience, a lot of love and forgiveness.  Thank God for his grace, and for the strength we'll need to honor him in our marriage.  I'm so thankful for the man God has given me to "do life" with.  I wouldn't want to go through life without either one of them--God or my man! :)

I'm coming to realize how much so many people love and care about me, about us.  So many of our family and friends are coming, so many are helping in myriad ways.  Our parents have expressed their love to us so clearly.  We are so blessed; God is so good.  And as one of my favorite bloggers, Nikki, reminded me in a recent post, God is not just good in the good times.  We will struggle, but God will be just as good then as he is now, in the happy times.  And we can have joy in those hard times too, because joy is not of ourselves but comes from Him and Him alone.

I have more thoughts, but those of you who are married understand that five days before my wedding, my to-do list is still overwhelming!  I'll get it done...but I need to get it done.  :)

I promised pictures.  They will come...eventually!