January Wedding

  

   For those of you who do not know, or those of you in shock.... SURPRISE!! After a lot of praying, talking, and reading in Bible study together Joel and I were married Friday night. I know many were surprised that we had only been engaged for three weeks, however I believe when you know, you know. On Friday morning I picked Joel up from the airport and drove down to the courthouse to apply for our marriage license. Eight hours later back at the courthouse, we exchanged our vows and our rings. Honestly, I do not believe I would have had it any other way. Neither of us like to be the center of attention. Plus, I would have been a nervous wreck getting married front of 150+ people. Thankfully, our family was in support of this and we had a small reception of just our siblings, parents, and grandparents. It was sweet and simple exactly like, if not more than we could have wanted. 
  I think that the movie When Harry Met Sally says it best, "When you realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Joel and I knew we wanted to spend our lives together, so why not go ahead and build our life together now? Especially when we have put Christ in the center of it all. I am so blessed to have married a man who loves Jesus as much as he loves me, and even more so he loves me as Christ loves the church. I've always been told and firmly believe that true love is putting the other person before yourself, which is what we strive to do and I pray we will continue to do. We have taken a big life changing step, but  we serve an omniscient God who knew our future together before I could even imagine it! I never would have thought that I would be married to the boy I had a crush on over a year ago, but Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written Your book and planned before a single one of them began." I am so excited to start this journey with my best friend. I know were made for each other; he truly is my other half and God certainly knew what He was doing when he brought us together. With that, here are a few of my favorite wedding photos: 

"The man said,

"This is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called 'woman,'

for she was taken out of man."

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."

Genesis 2:23, 24

I have found him whom my soul loves.

   One of my favorite books in the Bible is Song of Songs. I love the story that is created between King Solomon and his bride. Not only does it reflect the intimate relationship between a husband and wife, but it also reflects the relationship of Christ and His bride, the church, which we are called to have in Ephesians. Another reason why I love this book is because Joel included a passage of it in one of his letters to me while he was in OSUT.
   I don't think I can begin to tell y'all enough how much of a blessing he is. He has such a giving heart and always makes sure that I am laughing or smiling. He listens to me when I rant, tell him stupid stories, and when I'm down right confused on what to do. I praise God that he is a man who prays before every one of our meals and before he makes decisions. I am thankful that he seeks after God in everything that he does. People see Christ in him; one letter I got from him while he was training talked about how some of the guys had started reading their Bibles and were asking him questions. Most of all, he loves me, just as Christ loves the church. I have absolutely no doubt that Joel will be the leader of our household that God has called him to be.
   We took our engagement photos the Friday before he left to go back to Texas. Miranda, Joel's (and soon-to-be my!) sister-in-law, took some amazing shots. Pictures that captured our silliness and our love for one another. There were so many great ones that I wanted to include on this post, but I've narrowed it down to some of my favorites.

"His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable. 

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem."

Song of Songs 5:16