Two of my closest friends got married in the past two weeks.
No, they didn’t get married to each other. They were two separate wedding ceremonies that we attended, the first two weddings in our little group and we were all excited to witness them get married to the loves of their lives. It was the perfect way to end 2013 and start 2014. ♥
I really like weddings. I can’t not like them, I guess, especially since my brother is a wedding videographer, and I’m always around wedding stuff when I’m with him. I like weddings not just because I’m a romantic sap, but because I think weddings are a solid proof of God’s faithfulness to His people.
All wedding stories I’ve heard from friends, and from people my brother worked with always had a story behind it, one that involved a lot of struggles and tears and heart break. It all seems lovely on the day itself, but can you imagine how the two of them got there? What did they go through, not just in preparing for the day itself, but you know, before the proposal, before they got together and all that?
Take one of my friends who got married, for example. I’ve known her since elementary, and she’s one of the nicest persons I know. She’s pretty and popular in school, and from the outside, I always thought she seemed so lucky with love, because boys always noticed her first and went for her. But I was also privy to some of her greatest heartaches, especially before she met her now husband. I can still remember those days when we’d all sit together and talk and keep her company, because the one relationship that we all thought would be forever ended like that. And then she met the next guy, and I can still remember that long discussion we had about commitment and what she wanted and what he wanted, and I saw how it was such a big decision for her and for him. It wasn’t easy, and I know I just saw a fraction of her struggles. But I saw how faithful God was to her and how He took care of her heart, and when we watched her walk down the aisle, all I could think of was: This is what we have been praying for for her. This long journey really battered her heart at some point, but it made her a different person. It made her even more beautiful, and now she’s with someone who will take care of her heart the way she deserves it, and we’re all just very happy for her.
Then our other friend, who I had the privilege of talking to about love and life for a long time as we ruminated over our own struggles. It’s funny how I was a witness to how God transformed this guy through some of these love struggles, and sometimes I still laugh when I remember how he was before to how he is now. His story with his now-wife took years in the making, and he tripped so many times in the journey, but the road led back to her again. This amazes me so much, because it almost seemed like a dead end story when he first told me about it. After a rejection, and some pizza time (because I can’t forget about that, haha), my friend started building his relationship with God, and then found his way back to his girl. I don’t mean to make it sound so simple because there was a lot of work in the background of their story, but the point is — and I’d like to borrow my friend’s term for this — it’s all God’s favor. And His faithfulness to the the people faithful to Him.
It’s not an if-else thing (because if it is, then I should have been married by now, too :P). The thing I realized over these two weddings is that God really is writing our love stories, and it’s almost always not in the way we thought they would go. If anything, the story God writes for us is way, way better for us, and something we never really thought would be possible until we get to a certain point and look back. It takes action on our part, of course, but most of it is a trust thing — trusting that wherever we are now, God is always working on us, and He always sees, and He always loves us even in our most difficult times.
It gives me hope, you know. Not just in the romantic aspect, but in all other aspects of my life. I really believe that God makes all things good and He gives what is good, and He works for the good of all the people who love Him. My idea of what is good may be different now to what He has in mind, of course, and I’m learning that bit by bit. That’s why I’m also learning take delight in Him, be it in good times or success or failures or heartache, because I trust that He knows and sees more than I do.
And He is faithful, always and forever. My closest friends are proof of this. :)
I’m still a single man but I’m listening about all the engagements and upcoming weddings in circles and at the same time listening to the number of heartbreaks and lack of hope from others.
“I really believe that God makes all things good and He gives what is good, and He works for the good of all the people who love Him.”
Amen.
Thanks for sharing!
I enjoy finding nice blogs randomly and you’ve received a new reader.
Hi PP! It seems like there’s always a season for engagements and break-ups at a certain point of the year, and then weddings for a certain time in our lives (next will be christenings, heh). As much as I would want to be the ones with the story, I realize that maybe there’s a good reason why I’m where I am. So no need to worry. :)
Thanks for the comment, and for the compliment. :) Take care!
I love weddings :) congrats to your newlywed friends! Made me think that from my circle of elementary school of friends, I was the first to get married (and yet I was the one who did not have a relationship way back in high school).
Indeed, He has these grand plans for us. It might not be the same of what we have in mind, but it is always so much better than what we have planned for our lives. :)
Weddings are so wonderful, yes? :) Well, there’s just one other person in a relationship in our group, while the rest of us are single. No hurry. ;)
His plans are always higher than ours. Sometimes we just get so stubborn and force our own. Oh, how we never learn sometimes. Thank goodness He’s patient. :)
So patient. It’s funny how we usually think that our plans are better than what He has in store for us. ang smart naman natin haha :)
And wonderful, yes. I will get married again, I’m telling you. 10 or 15 year anniv, maybe. this time, on a beach. :D