Looking on the inside

Last night was mine and Nate's first pre-marriage counseling session. All I can say is that it's pretty intense when you actually start to dive into the "deeper issues of relationships". All I can give for advice for people going into this themselves is to try to keep everything in perspective. You both are on the same team, you are working through this together, so there is no need for division. The enemy is also going to try to come in and make everything 10 times worse then they really are. We need to remember this. Satan hates relationships. He hates marriage and the idea of two people about to make that covenant. Here is a quote from a book I was reading today: "The oneness (in marriage) gives us a power that the enemy doesn't like. That's why he devises ways to weaken it. He gives us whatever we will fall for, whether it be low self-esteem, pride, the need to be right, miscommunication, or the bowing to our own selfish desires. He will tell you lies like, 'nothing will ever change.''Your failures are irreparable.''There's no hope for reconciliation.''You'd be happier with someone else.' He'll tell you whatever you will believe, because he knows if he can get you to believe it, there's no future for your marriage. If you believe enough lies, your heart will eventually be hardened against God's truth." This is so true in so many ways. I just wish it wasn't so hard to go through. But this scripture brings encouragement:
James 1:2-4
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Praise God!

Shopping for my Maids

This weekend I took two trips to David's Bridal to get bridesmaids dresses for my girls. It was really fun and seeing the girls find dresses they loved was the best part. Just a tip to any future brides though, assume that you are going to have to order at least half of your dresses from outside of the store because the store will most likely not have the size you want or the color or both. So make sure that you go dress shopping at least five months before the wedding because some dresses take up to two months to finally come in. Then you will have to do fitting, and tailoring, and steam cleaning.So anyways, these are the bridesmaids dresses that we picked out this weekend.

From the top left: Krissi (maid of honor), Alysha (bridesmaid), Sharissa (bridesmaid), Tara (bridesmaid). Very beautiful huh? I love them all! By the way, have you ever thought of the word "bridesmaid"? This is what I found when I looked up the word "maid":

maid–noun
1.a female servant.
2.a girl or young unmarried woman.
3.Archaic. a virgin.

Interesting huh? I wonder which definition fits best :)

Six months and counting...

Ok, so it's December 1st and we have six more months to go. Logically, I am trying to figure out in my head if time is going to go fast, or if time is going to go slow. From experience, time moves fast. But my experience when I am waiting for something, time moves slow. But the cool thing is that Nate and I are making a lot of progress on wedding planning. Here is what we have so far:

-Wedding dress

-Grandma is going to pay for the cake and put us in her time share in Maui!

-A catorer

-A flower guy

-A possible wedding planner

-Our guest list

-Bride's maids and maid of honor

-Best men (yes there are two)

Also, next weekend I have two appointments at David's Bridal to get my bride's maids fitted for their dresses. I am also meeting with my catorer, a good friend, tomorrow to talk about the details. We still have to get the photographers down and figure out our music. According to wedding checklists, those are the next thing on the agenda.

To talk about more then just wedding stuff, Nate and I spent our first Thanksgiving together the other week and we will be spending Christmas together as well. It's good because we are easing into eachothers families. My grandma hugged him before we went home and said, "oh, my grandson in-law!". It was very cute :)

Well, we are in a waiting season. It will be good for us. I just want us to continue to honor God and stay strong. We will make it!

Until next time!