“An excellent wife who can find? She is more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and no harm, all the days of her life.” – Proverbs 31:10
For nearly half of my life I have been dreaming about the day I get married, and who my future husband would be. Like most girls I know, I dreamed of my prince charming, the man who would take care of me and be a good father to our children. As I entered adulthood I began to second guess my hopes and dreams. I wondered if I even deserved such a man, with the path I had taken as a teen I figured no God-fearing man would take a second glance at me. Instead of dreaming of the perfect man, I dreamed of any man. I lowered my standards, and yearned for love where God was not. Instead I found heartbreak and sorrow.
Almost fifteen months ago I met a man who is truly my prince charming. He is like no man I have ever met. When we first began dating he was very honest about his willingness to commit to me, and his desire to find a wife. When I would worry that I was not good enough, he would encourage me and love me. My prince charming was not afraid to show emotion where our Saviour is concerned, the only time I have seen tears in his eyes are when he is so overwhelmed with love for our Lord. About a year ago, my beloved realized that there was nothing else in the world that he would rather do but serve the Lord. Immediately, he transferred into Youth Ministry at Redeemer University, and ever since his passion to serve the Lord has continually increased. Daniel, if you are reading this, I love you so much because of your passion for Jesus Christ. Two years ago I would have laughed if someone told me that a man like you would love me, but you prove yourself even more wonderful by your willingness to forgive and love.
Friday, June 25, 2010 was a very exciting day for both Daniel and I. It was Daniel’s 21st birthday, and we had a lot of celebrating to do! Daniel picked me up from work, and we drove in the car listening to Robbie Seay Band (one of our favs) and talking about our day. I was really excited because I had a HUGE surprise for Daniel, I was planning a surprise birthday party for him on Saturday. I was very careful not to spill the beans about Daniel’s surprise, and tried to do as little talking as possible. We drove down dirt roads towards his house, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Daniel was excited to show me a new road that he had discovered, so he turned down the road. I began to notice Daniel was acting unusually “giddy” and even a bit nervous, a side I never really see of him. Soon I realized that we had turned down a dead-end road, apparently he had taken me down the wrong road. As he turned around I saw him fiddling with the radio, he put on our song, Love is Not a Fight by Warren Barfield. At that moment he slowed down and I looked up to see a sign outside, it said....Brianna, will you marry me? I was shocked, and overwhelmed with emotion. I felt like I was dreaming, we got out of the car and he knelt down on one knee. My beloved, the man of my dreams, proposed to me!
It has only been 6 days since Daniel proposed to me, but I have been thrust into a whirlwind of planning and worrying. Almost every night I wake up in the middle of the night, worrying about the wedding plans, and thinking about our future. I feel a mixture of so many emotions, I’m excited to be married to my best friend, but I’m also worried about paying for our wedding, and the never-ending opinions of others. I want a wedding that is elegant and beautiful, something that suits the fairytale that I’m living. I have so many visions for the day of our wedding, and even more for the lifetime that we will have together. But, as the reality of my engagement settles in, I remember the reason I am engaged. The reason I said yes to spending the rest of my life with Daniel. Jesus. I have so many options for the “theme” of my wedding, but the only real focus of my wedding (and my marriage) will be Jesus. I can make plans to have beautiful flowers and an elegant dress, but that means nothing if the Gospel is not central on the day that I marry Daniel. The day of my wedding will be just that, one day. In an instant, all the planning, money and time will vanish. Similarly, the life-time that I spend with Daniel will also be momentary. But, just because our marriage is momentary does not mean that our marriage will have no impact on eternity. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m getting married to my best friend, and I pray that our marriage will leave an eternal legacy. I don’t care about the car we drive, or the house that we live in, I don’t even care what people say about my wedding day. I just want Jesus to be at the centre of it all.
