It's been a long time since I last posted, a really long time. I think the last I posted was in January or February, and here it is May already!
So very, very much has happened during that time.
My sweetie Mike and I have been dating for just over a year now.
It was a long, cold, harsh winter.
But spring finally arrived.
I even got a new (to me) car!
Mike wrote another excellent eDevotion, this one about an interesting subject. He titled it:
My Day as a Bride
"“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:2
Recently a big bridal show came to town and I was there. (It’s too hard to explain why.) They had a huge room full of booths where people sold the kinds of things that brides like. You could browse dresses, flowers, jewelry, cakes, crystal. There were photographers, disk jockeys, travel agents, and hotel managers. One lady would take your ordinary folding chairs and wrap them up in satin sheets which seemed like a bad idea to me because I couldn’t see what would keep old folks from sliding out of there. Caterers had toothpicked samples of their finest grub. A harpist would sit you down and pick a little for you.
But more than anything there were lots of excited young girls. They shot from table to table with no signs of waning enthusiasm. They giggled with their friends or their mothers and tasted cakes and tried on crowns. You could tell this was not work for them. There were a few grooms there too. They didn’t look so good. Most of them had the same expressions that I see on a lot of guys in church on Mother’s Day – like they were there against their will.
Like I said, the young ladies were the highlight of the day. They were so excited about becoming brides – and why not? I am too. According to scripture the Church will be the bride of Christ, and I owe it to those girls for reminding me what a big deal that is. It’s something to squeal about.
It seems to me that lent, if you care anything about it, is a time to prepare ourselves to be the bride. Lent can seem pretty gruesome, with all its thorns and ashes and fish dinners. But this is also a time for excitement. It’s a time to get ready for the Biggest Day of Your Life – and then to live happily ever after."
Maybe some of you have already guessed the reason why he was at a bridal show. In late February, Mike asked me to be his wife!!!
His church was very excited to learn that he was going to have a wife. Rumor got out ahead of time, so our big announcement came as no surprise. They were ready for us, with signs declaring their congratulations!
This is as close as we are going to get to an official engagement portrait.
Mike was pretty happy when I told him he didn't have to buy me a ring, as it has been my heart's desire to wear the ring that belonged to my grandmother. She became a bride in 1920, I believe!
The very first thing I did was buy a wedding dress! I was hoping for a proposal, so had already been searching eBay for a dress. I was very lucky and found one that I loved for only $111, and it was brand new with tags!
I found lovely earrings on sale for $10. The aqua and lime green are going to be my colors.
I'm making my own bouquets. Mine will be somewhat similar to the one pictured. I love hydrangeas and roses! Hydrangeas grew in my grandmother's garden.
This is the style of dress my bridesmaids and I selected, except it will be a lighter blue called "pool."
My future step-daughter Corinne will be a bridesmaid, and my daughter Tara is going to be my matron-of-honor.
A young woman that I knew from church since she was a little girl is starting a cake business and offered to do the cake at cost! This is a picture that she is using for inspiration.
Hopefully, I will be posting more pictures as I prepare for my wedding day, which is rapidly approaching: June 18, 2011! And if any of you reading this are pastor's wives, I would really love some input on what I can expect in that role. In three weeks, I'll be a preacher's wife!