By the Third Month {Concerning Engagement}

Let’s just get a few things straight…..

By the third month, you start to not care about the bridesmaid dresses or the wedding dress or if the pictures are even going to turn out.

By the third month, you just want to get married. You’ve got the dress, the place, the preacher, the MAN. I mean snatch that marriage license right up & get on hitched. Seriously.

By the third month, those creative wedding details start to blend into everyday life….or maybe just buried beneath the grading of papers, the busy school life, the everyday responsibilities like you know….getting up on time and going to bed not too late. Yup, the creativity just gets smashed and chopped up. Ohhhh look….there it goes.

By the third month, you realize you have not been on Pinterest for “oh my goodness like 3 weeks!” What about your hair for the wedding?! Your makeup?! Another day, honey. Skip that Pinterest & go right to sleep or work on the other half of your life that needs tending too.

By the third month, you have to actually find where you stored the wedding part of your brain. Someone asks you something about the wedding cake or something and you’re like “Ummm…uh…uh…let me find where I stored that. Haven’t thought about it in awhile.” You know it’s almost time to get married when you have to search for details about the wedding you are planning for!

By the third month, you try to find any kind of money shortcut. Just kidding. That happens the first month.

By the third month, you realize that girls who aren’t getting married have much more organized for their wedding than you do! When did that happen?? Oh just when your creativity got squashed by lists and lists and more lists. And spending money. Boy that numbs you. Good thing we have a budget that we stick to like it’s what keeps us alive. “Oh and hey you over there, the 13 year old with the awesomely, perfectly planned wedding board on Pinterest, can I steal it?”

By the third month, you think to yourself….”Maybe I should start thinking about our wedding again. Maybe it’s time to pin something or plan something or just do something creative. Those creative juices will come back….right?!”

By the third month, you’ve practically forgotten your engagement story (you know that moment that you have been waiting for since you were a 5 year old little girl). But the memory is almost gone. So you have to read your OWN blog about it to remember the details. Happy days are here…at least I wrote our story down.

By the third month, you begin to wonder how in the world you are going to organize the gifts that are already coming in. Stuff. Stuff. Wonderful stuff. Your house with that wonderful {future} husband doesn’t exist yet….so thanks mom & dad for the storage space! But you still wonder how you are going to organize all the gifts in a nice easy way. And anyhow, should I address the invitations tonight or tomorrow? Tomorrow.

By the third month, you are thankful that you didn’t have crazy expectations for the months of your engagement. In fact, you practically had no pre-planned notions about it that you are still having fun despite the busy craziness. And hallelujah you have a grandma who uses two hangers to hang up your veil. She’s so smart. And China. Thank you China for sending us high quality items for super cheap.

By the third month, every other word or so in your mind happens to be the month that you are getting married in. “I will…May…focus…May…on grading…May…these May…Spelling tests. May 23rd is COMING!”

By the third month, the post-it note above your bed that says “Let’s grow old together” reminds you why in the world you are taking the time to plan this wedding. Because you love this man. And you love your friends and family. You want to celebrate with them. The joining of two lives, the combination of histories, joys, and sorrow. The praising of the Lord who brought us together in the first place.

By the third month, everything is more busy, more precious, and more hilarious. So you know you have to write about it {hence this blog post}. Marriage is so much more than the wedding day. And you’ve known that since forever. But now you get to live that knowledge out. You get the chance to keep your priorities in the right place. You have the ability to show that weddings aren’t about you at all.

In fact by the third month, your excitement takes a whole new level. It’s less shiny. A bit less glamourous. But beautiful.  Imperfectly perfect. The engagement story doesn’t matter, really. And your little girl dreams vanish for the reality that is far better, and far deeper than you could have ever dreamed.

And by the third month, you are more thankful than ever.