Summertime is Wedding Season! June is a fantastic month for marriage, especially if you’re into Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Andrew and I are about to celebrate our 5th anniversary on Thursday. We’ll officially be out of the “newlywed” category with a few solid lessons learned and millions more to come. With more confidence and joy even than on my wedding day, I can say that there is not one person better for me than Andrew. I had no idea how blessed I was then and how much of a blessing our life and children would be, too.
IMHO, the best wedding and marriage prep is prayer. It’s gotta be individual and as a couple, too. Pray for your future spouse. Pray that you’ll develop virtue. Pray you get a good D.J. Pray that you can keep praying. Pray that God will give you the grace to have what it takes to be Mrs. Right. When I was a freshman at Benedictine, my friend Allison and I were chatting about what it takes to be “Mrs. Right” and she pulled out this list of standards from her desk. It could have been on a bookmark or something, but I copied it from her feeling pretty compelled that I should get started in preparation for getting married some day. The qualities are as follows:
Full disclosure: When I read this the first time, the only thing that I thought I needed to improve was #1 – HA! (I’m aware I have a pride issue – I’m working on it.) It’s true that #1 can always use improvement; we can never be close enough to Christ. It turns out being closer to Christ made me shake my head at how not together I am in any of the other areas. Examining each one in relation to my soul is a harsh-yet-healthy reality check. It’s the type of challenge I read as an 18 year old and frequently consider nearly 10 years later.
Truly, a closer walk with Christ effects #2-9 with grace, the superability to choose good and deny temptation. We can’t reach perfection on this side of eternity, but there’s no doubt that pursuing these Christian standards will land you the happiest of marriages with peace amid any of life’s storms. Pass the list along to any bride-to-be or print it off and keep it for yourself – this image floats on my desktop as a good reminder to love my husband through bettering myself.
