The wedding, August 7, was flawless (in my eyes) and was absolutely everything Jon and I wanted. We left for our AMAZING honeymoon in Hilton Head, SC, and moved in to our new apartment exactly a week after the wedding, and exactly 10 days before the new school year started. Both still being students, that didn't give us much time to get used to married life first! But we jumped right in.
Life is a crazy-busy-hectic with both of us working, both of us juggling homework, and both of us trying to be fully-invested Young Life leaders. All the while both trying to adjust to thinking for a family and not just for our single selves. (And I have the additional adjustment of learning how to cook dinner while all of this is happening!)
(Side Note: Single Ladies, LEARN TO COOK. Be ready. I was counting on time to learn, but I didn't realize that, for me, marriage meant that that time was up!)
Anyways.
Between work, school, and endless Young Life meetings, we're loving married life. It is more wonderful than I thought it could be, and difficult in different ways than I expected. I am always been stretched and challenged, but I fall more in love with Jon every day. I am constantly amazed at how the Lord speaks to me through Jon, both with conviction and encouragement.
A Few Thoughts:
If you want a good picture at how selfish and sinful you are, get married. It sort of came as a surprise to me how much laundry two people could create, and how difficult it is to be creative for 7 dinner meals a week, and how much time is required to think ahead and make grocery lists and meal plans on a budget. I was looking forward to everything about married life except the cooking and the cleaning, so these did not come as "good surprises."
But the Lord is even changing my heart in those small ways, as silly as it sounds. What better way to serve my husband? How else would I prefer to spend my time? If this makes his life easier and makes coming home more relaxing, why wouldn't I jump at the opportunity to do this for him? But there is no hiding my "selfish ambitions and vain pursuits" when I have the accountability of living with a man of God, and often I choose selfishly.
I knew marriage would make me lean on Jesus a whole lot more and know Him a whole lot deeper, but I thought that would be primarily with the "big" things. I did not realize how much I would need Him in the simple day-to-day.
What I'm learning was perfectly summed up in an Oswald Chambers Devotional I read this morning from My Utmost for His Highest (my favorite devo, for the record, definitely an awesome read)
"September 11 - Ministering as Opportunity Surrounds Us. This does not mean selecting our surroundings, it means being very selectly God's in any haphazad surroundings which He engineers for us. The characteristics we manifest in our immediate surroundings [or, as I read this, "home surroundings"] are indications of what we will be like in other [outside] surroundings.
The things that Jesus did [ Chambers is referring to John 13:14, after Jesus had washed His disciples' feet ] were of the most menial and commonplace order, and this is an indication that it takes all God's power in me to do the most commonplace things in His way. Can I use a towel as He did?...
It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty as it ought to be done."
I am definitely finding how I need the God Almighty Incarnate every day. Yes, I spend more time at home than I used to, and I feel like I'm always doing laundry, and I have to be home by 3:00 at the latest if I want to make sure the house is straight and dinner is ready before my husband gets home, and I still need to make sure I am lovely and pleasant when he walks through the door even though I know the freshly-cleaned kitchen is about to be covered in dinner dishes and I can't forget to switch that last load of laundry..!
But this is not drudgery to me. When Jesus truly is involved in these daily chores and discouragements, they are a delight. God does not call us to be weighed down with these sort of responsibilities, but rather bring His joy into moments that could be seen as drudgery. He transforms everything. Even chores;)
SO.
In closing: married life is great, I'm so thankful for both Jon's and Jesus' grace as I struggle with my selfishness, and I can't wait to get a little more consistent on this blog and share WEDDING PICTURES! =O
Welcome to the Capra life.
Love,
Case
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