Wedding Countdown! 2 Weeks - The Meaning of Marriage

On Wednesday night, Jordan and I met with the pastor who will be leading our wedding ceremony. He wanted to meet with us to review final details and discuss our ceremony message. We spent the hour chatting and sharing more about our relationship and why marriage is such an important covenant to us. Before we left, our pastor handed us each a sheet and asked that we email him our individual responses, without sharing them with one another.

The letter read:

"Write me a letter telling me why marriage and why this person. This is not a test, but rather

my chance to get a peak into the window of y'all's relationship and a chance for you to

press pause on all the logistics and think about the importance of the marriage itself."

It came with prompting questions like, "Why is marriage important to you and before the Lord?", "Why do you love this specific person?", and "What does a lifelong, covenantal relationship mean to you?"

The assignment truly caused me to pause, take a moment, and really think about what this upcoming marriage means to me. At this point in the countdown, often referred to as the 'final crunch', questions from vendors/attendees are more frequent than ever, and little details are given large amounts of attention. Since I love to write, I didn't think the assignment would be difficult to complete. But when I sat down to type my answers, the assignment offered me a sobering moment to grasp the realization of the promise we are about to make to one another. A moment I'm not sure all brides and grooms take the time to have during the chaos of wedding planning.

The words 'why is marriage important' and 'what does marriage mean to you' stuck in my brain throughout the week. We get so wrapped up in the wedding, we often forget intentionality and the purpose behind the commitment we are making in marriage. And while I won't share mine or Jordan's private answers on this site, I am wondering... what does marriage mean to you?

This afternoon, we saw what marriage means in the eyes of the government. We went down to City Hall, filled out paperwork, signed our signatures, and raised our right hands solemnly swearing the information on our marriage certificate is correct. It was a hard realization that the meaning God gives to marriage is very different from the meaning our government gives it.

On our way to the appointment, we were rushing. I had gotten off work later than planned and every entry to City Hall stood barricaded with 'Locked Entry' signs. Jordan and I both began to panic, wearing masks in a heat advisory, running late to our appointment. When we arrived at the last entrance to check if it was open, we were greeted with yet another 'Closed' and 'No Entry Permitted' sign. We each took a deep breath and decided to call the number on the door for help. The woman on the line explained we were at the wrong building and would need to walk several blocks over. "Great..." we both exclaimed as we hustled down the street. Just as we were fast-walking across the street, my shoe strap snaps in half. We both take the moment to laugh at ourselves and exclaim how nothing can be easy for this wedding.

We finally made it to the clerk's office and the appointment went just fine. But that memory right there, is exactly what I think of when I think of marriage. Life may never come easy, but we will always have each other. Marriage is taking a moment to breathe, learning to laugh at yourselves, and always remembering that we're in this together.

2 weeks to go...

XOXO,

Sarah