Planning A Christ-Centered Wedding

I've been very excited, thinking about our big day and starting to plan every single detail. But I have to admit, I may have been caught up in the not so important details. Sure, family and friends love gorgeous centerpieces, a unique color scheme, and a beautiful bride in the perfect dress. But planning a wedding should be much more than the looks and how much money you spend.

God created marriage, it is His idea. We love, because he first loved us. A wedding is the perfect time to rejoice in His Word and praise Him for all we've been blessed with. I would've never found Brian if I didn't find God first. 

I want to share God's love with our families on this day, more than I want for every single detail to be absolutely perfect because this day shouldn't be just about us, but about the love God showed us when He came to this world as a human being, not to rule but to serve! to save! and to draw us closer to Him! I want our wedding and our marriage to reflect God's love. I want to serve God by serving my husband and others. I want to have a Christ-centered wedding. So I pray that God helps us plan this wedding according to His will.

Thankfully, before I got too deep into the wedding planning, I found this book, A Christ-Centered Wedding: Rejoicing in the Gospel on Your Big Day by Catherine Strode Parks & Linda Strode. Although I've barely found it and started reading it today, the first few pages opened my eyes and I am so eager to plan a Christ-centered wedding with Brian.

I hope everyone has had a great start to their week!

So We're Engaged!

I've known Brian since my junior year in high school. We were in Chemistry together, and were in common classes like woodshop and auto tech. He was one of my best friends that I enjoyed hanging out with. We graduated in 2010 and didn't hang out for a while. When I moved in with my dad, I ended up living in the same neighborhood as Brian so we started hanging out a lot more. My dad always asked me, "Why don't you date a guy like Brian? I really like that boy." and I, like any teenage girl talking to her father about boys said, "it's not like that dad, we're just friends."
Well, Brian went from being a walk away, to a 20 minute drive away. On my 21st birthday, I asked him to go dancing with me and my friend Evelyn. I was so excited. I couldn't stop talking to Evelyn about him. I kept looking around for him, waiting for him to show up. He finally did! Our first dance EVER was to I Do (Cherish You) by Mark Wills. I was so happy to be there dancing with him, a friend I'd known for years already. When we left our separate ways that night, I told my friend Evelyn that I was gonna marry that boy. I swore up and down that he was my future husband.


Brian proposed on October 18th, my 23rd birthday. I still have butterflies! I can't believe it. I mean, I can because I've known for a long time that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with but I can't believe we actually get to start planning our wedding!

He took me to the park and while we were walking on the trails, he stopped and got on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was very sweet! And I, of course, got all emotional and shed some happy tears.


I'm so incredibly blessed to be with Brian. God gave me the best man He had, and I can't wait to live the life God wants us to live together.

Good Reads: Love Well

The main reason I picked this book up was the title. Love Well. I hadn't really been loving well, and decided to put forth the effort to change that. This book has definitely taught me a few lessons and I've been applying those lessons to my everyday-life. I have this book to thank and it's author Jamie George.
Not only am I much happier, but those I surround myself with have been happier! Each chapter is filled with the wisdom of God's Word.

Jamie George also discusses relative issues that might be getting in the way of you "loving well". For example:
Those who know me best know that I am a terrible listener! I'm so ashamed of how selfish I am, and not paying attention to what someone is saying is just ONE of the ways that I can be selfish. I'm working on myself, and I believe God is also working on me. In Love Well, Jamie George quoted Mark Nepo. I've never heard this quote before but I have a new goal for myself, and that is to listen. "To listen is to continually give up all expectation and to give our attention, completely and freshly, to what is before us... To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear." Oh my lanta. I think that is just amazing!

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear your feedback and what stuck out to you the most. I hope everyone is having an amazing week! It's almost Friday, so hang in there!

Purchase Love Well by Jamie George here