The countdown is drawing to a close as we approach our wedding that will be here in just two and a half short weeks. It's the moment we've both been waiting for, praying for, expectantly looking for, and dreaming of our whole lives... the day we would marry the love of our lives.
And it's almost here!!!
Emotions are beginning to rise in excitement as we draw closer and closer with every passing moment to that glorious day when we will exchange our vows and promise our love to one another for as long as we both shall live!
How could I ask for more?
This is it! It's my dream come true!
Yet in the midst of the crazy happy emotions of us getting to start our married lives together in about eighteen days, there is another crazy emotion that is doing everything it possibly can to take over my thought process and steal the excitement right out of this incredibly blessed season... that emotion is called "stress".
I was doing fairly well up until about two days ago when the reality of how soon the wedding is hit, and I started thinking about all that still needs to be done in the short two and a half weeks we have left.
This may sound like a surprise, but the wedding details aren't really what I'm even worried about. It's that we are trying to get our apartment all set up THE WEEK BEFORE THE WEDDING!
Are we crazy?
I've heard the week before the wedding is a very busy week, and we decided when we went apartment hunting to say we didn't need to have the apartment until exactly one week before the wedding takes place. We aren't just moving down the street either. We are moving 45 minutes to an hour away from where we currently are at...
There it began!
"How are we going to get everything accomplished in the short amount of time we have left to work with?" "Will we sleep on the floor the first night back from our honeymoon being that we haven't even picked up a bed yet?" "We're both going out of town the day we sign for the apartment to go on our bachelor/bachelorette parties! That leaves us with 4... maybe 4.5 days to work on the apartment before the wedding! What are we going to do?"
On and on the questions and panic went in my mind with thoughts of, "How are we going to do all this!?!?!"
Last night I was pretty worked up about the many details on my mind, but today, the one thing God keeps laying on my heart is this: "Cast your care."
In 1 Peter 5:7 we read, "...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." ESV
This is exactly what God has been speaking to my heart through.
I've been so wrapped up in all the details of "how? when? and what if?" that I've been hanging on to stress, worry, and reason that really leave me in a rut because I'm not entrusting all these details into the hands of God Himself.
What I'm finding in this amazingly beautiful season of walking into marriage and all the changes that it brings with it is that this is a season to rejoice... and it's also a season to learn how to trust God deeper.
As I'm getting ready to move into our own place in just two and a half weeks, I'm moving out of the home I grew up in and am familiar with.
As I step out of the world of living with my parents and walk into the world of having to manage our own bills... I feel unqualified.
As I exit the world of wondering who God has for me and enter the world of building a Christ-centered marriage with the man He's so graciously given to me... I fear I'll fall short.
And this is when God whispers to my heart, "Cast your care."
This morning as I was driving, I prayed a simple prayer. I asked God to take care of the apartment situation. I prayed if there was any way possible He'd allow us to get the apartment early, and I shared that even if we didn't I was going to trust Him that it'd all work out regardless.
Then, I made a call.
I shared with the guy who works at the apartment that I knew it probably wasn't a possibility, but I wanted to know if we could get the apartment early if they were finished with it early. He put me on hold, and when he got back on the phone, he said we could have it as soon as the fifth.
That gave us four extra days!!
Currently, we're waiting to find out if that'll work with Nathan's work schedule, but once more, regardless of the outcome, I saw how God took care of us and how my stressing was truly such a waste of time.
The phrase that's been on my mind all day is the Christian term, "Too blessed to be stressed!"
That's so true!
In the next two weeks of having a lot going on and a lot of changes taking place, I can stress, or I can count my blessings. I can focus on my fears, or I can praise God for the amazing things He's done in my life! I can allow stress to take over my thoughts, or I can take every thought captive under the obedience of Christ and find peace.
Have you found yourself stressed out lately?
Me too!
Instead of focusing on whatever is causing you stress, my challenge for you is to put as much energy you'd put into stressing into praising God for every blessing instead! We're too blessed to stress!
Dear Jesus,
As the wedding draws near and the details seem to maximize, I pray You'll keep my focus on You. Lord, I've been stressed! I've allowed the questions of "how? when? and what if?" to take over my thought process and rob me of joy that You've freely given me. Forgive me for not trusting You more. Forgive me for worrying instead of casting my care. Thank You, Jesus, that You are in control! I love You and pray You'll be glorified in this season of celebration and transition. In Jesus' Name I pray.
Amen.
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