Life Lessons Learned on the Way to Marriage- Part 3

Here is the end of this series of posts. Sorry it took me so long to post on here again. I want to start posting more on this blog again, but right now I only have internet when I go somewhere and get online.

• Never take for granted the way God has created you for each other.

I stand in awe all the time of how God has blessed me. I will be sharing my love story once things slow down a little(probably after the wedding) but take my word for it. God was definitely in control of my love story and my man of God’s. He was so persistent and I am so glad. But remember God created you the way you are to help the man that He created for you and vice versa.

• Be willing to be broken and molded into what God wants you to be.

Just recently an issue came up regarding something that I said I never wanted done to me as a bride, have a bridal shower. I was never crazy about them and most I’ve been to are inappropriate. My future sister-in-law wanted to give me one though but more like a house ware party. You must understand I am not one who likes to be the center of attention, I enjoy doing the behind the scenes work. I really struggled with it, talked with my fiancé about it, prayed about it until I let God break me. Matthew told me that I needed to just be thankful and let my church ladies be a blessing like they want to be. I’ll admit my pride was fighting really hard, along with a good dose of selfishness. I didn’t want people to give me things, I had dreamed all my life exactly how I wanted to build my home but other people had no ideas. God smote my heart with Psalm 78, my reading for my devotions that evening. God was providing for me and what was I doing? Complaining because it isn’t what I think I need. God wants us to be a moldable vessel through which He can flow, be willing to be broken and shaped.

• Take time to reflect on where God’s brought you from.

I am reminded of all those years of clinging to the verses in the Bible about waiting and trusting the Lord for a husband. I knew God had him out there somewhere. I read book after book on waiting and being who God wanted you to be right now. And now I can look back and see how each on e of those verses, books, quotes, and songs made me into the person I am today and prepared me for this moment. He brought me through that journey of my life, and oh, how some of those times were hard! But despite the hard times God remained faithful.
These are just a few lessons I have learned and wrote down in my devotional journal. I’m sure if I took more time I could think of many, many more, but this must be sufficient for now. May the be a blessing to you, whether you are in the engaged season of your life or still waiting. We never reach perfection, but we can always strive for it by keeping sin out of our lives.

Books that Helped Me During that Waiting Period

My Disclaimer: I don’t endorse everything in some of these books (those marked with an *) whether it be principles or Bible versions.
*I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris - these were a real eye opener as to how guys think in a situation and help to know how to guard yourself and thing things you do and say.
Stay in the Castle , The Seven Royal Laws of Courtship , and The Teenage Years of Jesus Christ by Jerry Ross - Excellent! By far probably some of my favorite resources on this topic. They are small pamphlet type books, very inexpensive but packed full of wisdom.
*Passion and Purity and Quest for Love by Elisabeth Elliot - very good, read slow and soak it all up.
Looking at Myself Before Loving Someone Else by John Coblenz - this was great, it is in the form of a Bible Study where you answer questions and fill in the blanks.
*Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones - I remember this having some very encouraging poems, though it’s been a while since I read it.
Just Friends by Cary Schmidt and Mike Ray - This is hands down one of the most amazing books written about relationships. I just found it about a year ago, but I wish I had been written when I was a teenager.