Our Wedding VIDEO

I realized the other day that I never posted the video of our wedding. Well, better late than never.

While uploading the video, it was a sweet moment, looking back to my wedding. I can't believe it has been one year and eight months since that day.

I hope, if you take the time to watch our video, that you will see the Lord Jesus, the great Author of Love, all throughout the ceremony.

My Wedding Remembered

A sweet friend made this slideshow of Grant's and my wedding last spring. It was such a blessing to view and I thought I would share.




P.S. The song is "Bless This Man" by Katie Drake

A Year Ago

Today marks one year since I stood in a pretty white gown before a handsome fella and exchanged rings, vows, and a totally-worth-waiting-for kiss! Today is my anniversary.

Happy Anniversary, to my husband, Grant!

 

Bridalplasty

There is a new reality show on TV.

The name? Bridalplasty.

What's it about? Brides competing for plastic surgery.

Being an "all-things-wedding" lover, the title caught my eye. SO, I sat down to find out what the show was about. It took less than 10 minutes for me to change the channel. All in the name of "beauty" and offering "the dream wedding," the show is all about a woman's beauty coming from a fuller bust or slimmer waistline. It is about validating one's worth through being cut and "fixed."  As if women need more pressure....

The women on the show compete by writing vows or planning honeymoons and the "winner" of each level is awarded various surgeries. I only watched long enough to witness a few chosen ladies who won a certain level and were moved up, leaving two women who had to return home, with no "cutting" in their future. Both girls cried over their loss, as I expected, but I remember thinking, "They are really very attractive. I can't imagine what they would want to cut on themselves." THEN my eyes caught two pictures hanging on the wall behind them. They were pictures of the same two ladies in beautiful wedding gowns - with a Barbie-like waist, colored hair, toned arms.... Very different from the true looks of the two girls left behind. Interviewing them, one by one, the first woman pointed to "her picture" and said, "I just wanted to look like that! That is how beautiful I could be! And now I'll never have a chance...."  My blood boiled and my heart broke. Here was a pretty, average lady and her sense of self worth was so low, that she was on national television competing for a chance to change everything about her physical appearance. Her natural beauty was not good enough when held up next to mock photographs of some imagined model-like image of herself.

Our society has made beauty to be strictly outward when God Himself said that HE looks on the heart (2 Samuel 16:7). Have you, ladies, ever walked into Wal-Mart into the make-up section and just stood there overwhelmed? What about the shampoo and hair gel section? Or the face wash area? So many choices and so many targeted to "fix" puffy eyes, wrinkles, blotches, blemishes, age spots, freckles, and enlarged pores. Don't mistake me, there is nothing wrong with wanting to look your best or get rid of a few problem areas, but our society has made the outward physical appearance an obsession! The media holds up airbrushed models and tells us that we have to look like that - something that is unattainable, even for the model herself!

Hollywood produces magazines with the latest "how-to-fix-this" and "how-to-get-rid-of-that" in order to "keep your marriage on fire" and the number of lasting marital relationships in Hollywood is....well....I'll just say LOW.

The media has made beauty to be all about the outward adorning and has made marriage to be all about two things: sex and selfishness. Forget intimacy or deep bonding. It's now about the thrill and the fire of a biological act. Forget giving 100% all of the time. It is about getting your own needs met. Women are expected to show no emotion, be aggressive, be seductive little play toys, and never get wrinkles or stretch marks.

I'm on my soap box, I know. But how I wish that the girls and women of today would stop being materialistic and obsessed with their physical appearance. It is Jesus Christ who adorns a woman with beauty and HIS beauty lasts forever (yes, even well into your 70's). You can have all the plastic surgeries there is to offer, but if you do not have an intimate relationship with Christ, then your physical beauty is vain. Meaningless. And it will vanish quickly. You can have all the latest clothes, make-up, and accessories, and still feel worthless and unattractive. How I wish they would see that God did not just created us, He FORMED us. It is up to us to take care of our bodies and maintain them well, not to cut and tuck and change what He made. How I wish the girls and women of today would plant their high heels firmly on the ground and say, "MY beauty comes from my relationship with Jesus. MY marriage stays hot because we have the Author of Love in the center of our relationship."

A word to brides.... YES, it is your day. YES, I know you want to look BEAUTIFUL! But do not fall for the lie of this world. Your beauty comes with from Christ. It comes only from your closeness to our King. Perfect the inner beauty and the intimate relationship with Him, and you will be one radiantly beautiful bride!....no cutting involved!

Proverbs 31:30
"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."

We've Been Featured!

  

Ashley over at Bride on a Budget has featured Grant's and my wedding!

Please go check it out!

To Top It Off!

Did I ever blog about my cake topper?

.... I didn't think so.

In my post about our wedding cake, I likened the cake to salvation. Salvation is sweet! Salvation is amazing! It is the precious blood of Christ which redeemed us from sin! While thinking about our cake topper, I suddenly had a great revelation!

My God did not just give me salvation, but also SO much more!

Think about it. Salvation would have been enough. God Himself, in all His divine glory came down to this earth. He put on flesh, He lived on earth, He endured trials and temptations. He suffered. He was refused and rejected. He died. And He did it all for me....and for you. He gave all that He was to redeem us from our sin. We did not deserve His salvation. We did not deserve His love or grace, or His pardon. We surely did not deserve His sacrifice. Yet He gave it....and then He gave more!!

When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, He not only comes into our hearts and lives and SAVES us, but then He blesses us, directs us, convicts us, teaches us, strengthens us, comforts us, and enables us to do His will. Talk about icing on the cake!

Galations 5:22 and 23 says that the fruit of the Spirit (meaning, the proof and evidence of having Him in our lives) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, to ask God in faith, and He will give it liberally (meaning, as much as we need!). Wow! All those wonderful gifts given freely by Jesus to those who call upon Him.

In a wedding, there is a cake. It is beautiful and sweet to the taste - like Salvation. But in most weddings, there is also a cake topper; an added touch on the top. It may be flowers, a figurine of the bride and groom, a crystal shape or, like my husband and I, a monogram letter. It is a personal touch to the cake that is already wonderful and perfect! So it is spiritually. Salvation is already there, waiting to be "eaten"....and to top it off, our great King also places a personal, added touch on top! Blessings! Gifts! ....and more!


Ephesians 1:3"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

Ephesians 3:20
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

More of Him

This song has been on my heart all day. Grant and I asked our dear friends to sing the following song at our wedding. Written and recorded by Eric and Leslie Ludy, you can listen to and download the song on iTunes.

In a marriage, it is easy to demand that things be all about us. More of "my way," more of "my needs met" and "my likes." But in reality, for a marriage to flourish and thrive, it should be ALL about more of Jesus.... in life, and in marriage.

I stand before you nowWith a sacred vow
To love you for a lifetime
To give all my heartBut there's One who's there
Where my love will fail
And He is all that I'm not

So now I must decrease
Usher His full glory in
May there be less of me and more of Him

When you see me
May you see reflections
Of One who's perfection won't end
When you hold me
May you feel the touch of
The One who loves much more
Than I can comprehend
When you fall more in love with me
May you fall more in love with Him


As the years go by
May I always try
To draw you closer to your one true destinyMy love for you is great
But it's just a taste
Of what's waiting in eternity

So now I must decrease
Usher His full glory in
May there be less of me and more of Him

When you see me
May you see reflections
Of One who's perfection won't end
When you hold me
May you feel the touch of
The One who loves much more
Than I can comprehend
When you fall more in love with me
May you fall more in love with Him

Remembering "Bridedom"

Today, I am reflecting on my season as a bride-to-be. I'm remembering what I call "Bridedom."  Why? you ask.

It is because my sis-in-law is now engaged!!

Congratulations, Kristin!


The ring is on, the date is set, the bride is busy planning, and well.... you know the rest. :) Just getting over my own wedding, I am excited for my sister-in-law as she prepares for her wedding day.

The October wedding coming up is making me think back to my own engagement and wedding planning. I remember the stack of magazines cluttering my desk and my bed, I remember the planners, the notebook always stuck in my purse, the endless phone calls, the hours spent online, the trips to various department stores and shops...whew!! As fun and amazing as that season of my life was, I am just happy to FINALLY be married to Grant. The months of engagement are to be cherished. There is so much beauty in being engaged and understanding the significance of engagement and what it means spiritually. But engagement is not the destination. The destination is wedded bliss! It is sharing your life with your spouse. It is learning to be more selfless, giving, understanding, patient, etc. It is about family and leading your family closer to Jesus Christ. It is about learning more about the beauty of our "marriage" to Jesus. It's wonderful!...and I love it!

Anyway, congratulations Kristin! .....and all you other brides out there! Enjoy it! The best is yet to come!

Our Covenant Vows

Many people have commented about the vows Grant and I used on our wedding day. It was difficult trying to decide what we wanted to say. We wanted more than the usual "I do" vows (though we included those while exchanging rings) but we also didn't feel led to write our own vows....yet we could not seem to find the right vows that would fit the commitment we were making to one another....until the last minute!

Somehow, we stumbled upon the story of a couple's wedding and marriage and we read, with awe, their vows to each other. It took less than 5 minutes for Grant and I to say - "That's it!!"

Our vows were so important to us. In a time when the divorce rate is 50/50, even in Christian marriages, we wanted our covenant marriage to have a covenant vow, a Biblical vow. Our desire is to have a beautiful marriage relationship, that exhibits Christ and is a picture of all that He is. We wanted our vows to reflect what true marriage is supposed to be; the husband's role and the woman's role. We wanted our vows to be more than just a repeated promise that is broken daily by thousands all over the world, but a covenant vow to one another based upon the Word of God and Biblical principles. So, each part of our vows were taken from Scripture. So, below are our vows. I hope for all of you bride's reading, that it inspires you and gives you a glimpse of what marriage is really supposed to be. And for those of you who are already married, may it strengthen you and encourage you in your marriage relationship with your spouse.

GROOM:

I, Nathan Grant Lee, covenant before God and man, to you Kristen Elizabeth Lisemby to be your loving husband, and to lead you, to protect you, and provide for you in the fear of the Lord[1]. I vow to love you as my wife even as Christ also loved the church, to lay down my life for you[2]; to wash you with the water of the word[3]; to love you as my own body and to nourish and cherish you even as the Lord does the church; to render unto you the affection due you, knowing that I do not have authority over my own body but you do[4]; to dwell with you according to knowledge, giving honor unto you, as unto the weaker vessel, and living together with you as heirs together of the grace of life[5]. You alone will be my delight as the wife of my youth[6]. I will fight for you, for our sons, for our daughters, and for our household[7]. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me[8]. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I pledge to you my life as a loyal and faithful husband[9].

1 Timothy 5:8 ** Ephesians 5:25 ** Ephesians 5:26 ** 1 Corinthians 7:4
1 Peter 3:7 ** Proverbs 5:18 ** Nehemiah 4:14 ** Ruth 1:17 ** Hosea 2:19-20

BRIDE:


I, Kristen Elizabeth Lisemby, covenant before God and man, to you Nathan Grant Lee to be your loyal wife and to submit myself under your headship[10]. Just as the Church is subject to Christ[11], so I will be to you in everything. I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, caring for you, obeying you, and ever seeking to please you as my earthly lord[12]. I will be your discreet, chaste keeper at home[13], diligently, industriously, and faithfully caring for the affairs of your household so that your heart may always safely trust in me[14]. If the Lord chooses to so bless us, it will be my delight to be your fruitful bearer[15] of children, and I will help you diligently teach them the commandments of the Lord as we talk of them in your house, as we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up[16]. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, And your God, my God[17]. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me[18]. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph, I pledge to you my life as an obedient and faithful wife.

Ephesians 5:22 ** Ephesians 5:24-25 ** 1 Peter 3:6 ** Titus 2:5 ** Proverbs 31:11
Psalms 128:3 ** Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19 ** Ruth 1:16 ** Ruth 1:17

[1] 1 Timothy 5:8
[2] Ephesians 5:25
[3] Ephesians 5:26
[4] 1 Corinthians 7:4
[5] 1 Peter 3:7
[6] Proverbs 5:18
[7] Nehemiah 4:14
[8] Ruth 1:17
[9] Hosea 2:19-20
[10] Ephesians 5:22
[11] Ephesians 5:24-25
[12] 1 Peter 3:6
[13] Titus 2:5
[14] Proverbs 31:11
[15] Psalms 128:3
[16] Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19
[17] Ruth 1:16
[18] Ruth 1:17

The Lord said in Ecclesiastes 5:5 that it is better never to make a vow, than to make one and break it.

The Bride Lives

So hello everyone! I am finally back to the land of the living (or blogging!). For starters, the wedding was a perfect dream come true! (pictures here) The day was beautiful! The weather was perfect, our friends and family were there to cheer us on; Jesus Christ was our honored guest, and His presence was definitely felt there.

After much thought, I have decided to continue blogging on this blog. After all, it IS subtitled "Viewing a Wedding and Marriage from God's Perspective." So I will continue to blog, first recapping some wedding planning topics I never had time for, and then writing about the amazing beauty of God's love and salvation demonstrated in a marriage relationship. I have also been praying (and hearing semi-threats from various friends and relatives) and, after discussing it with my husband and family, I have also decided to eventually compile a portion of this blog, my wedding planning thoughts, into a book one day; creating a journal-like journey through engagement and encouraging all brides to see the incredible love of God in every aspect of their crazy season of wedding preparation. So pray for me as I, first, continue writing and, second, begin to eventually compile this blog together in a book.

Stay tuned for updates and recapping. I will slowly begin blogging here again as I get more and more settled in my new home and in my new life. :) Until then, stay helplessly and completely in love with our King!...because after all, you ARE the King's Bride, are you not? :)

Wedding Program

I never got a chance to post our wedding program. May I say that it was absolutely perfect without sounding too bias? :) Because it truly was the most beautiful wedding ever. :) Below is the outline of our wedding program to give you lovely readers who were unable to attend the wedding a glimpse of our day. :)

PRELUDE


LIGHTING OF CANDLES
“Sunrise”….. Faith Lisemby

COUPLE’S SONG PLAYED
Theme from “Fireproof”

SEATING OF GRANDMOTHERS & MOTHERS
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

PROCESSIONAL
“I Will Get There”

WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER
Evan. Jack Daniels

REFLECTIONS ON MARRIAGE
Rev. Joel Lisemby

SONG
“More Of Him” … Pam, Sarah & Zach Smith

PASTORAL CHARGE

SONG
“I Do” …….. the Bride, Kristen Lisemby

MARRIAGE VOWS / EXCHANGE OF RINGS

PRAYER

BREAKING OF THE GLASS / THE KISS

PRESENTATION OF BRIDE AND GROOM

RECESSIONAL .……….. “To God Be The Glory”

Wedding Pictures

I'M MARRIED!!

Song of Solomon 2:16
My beloved is mine, and I am his...

*** Pictures and news coming soon! ***

Wedding Prep and Rehearsal!

I thought I would share a few pictures of this wedding prep craziness!

The bouquets turned out lovely! Thanks to Mrs. Shannon Meyers for doing such a marvelous job!

Placing lights in the chapel, decorating the reception area.....wooo!

The flowers for the gorgeous centerpeices!

Now, for the REHEARSAL dinner! It was absolutely beautiful!

The Wedding Guestbook

Personally, I think our guestbook is GORGEOUS!! I had looked at several different guestbooks at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Wal-Mart and various other places but when my Mom found this one, I instantly fell in love with it! It's perfect!....very fitting for the style of our wedding.

A few weeks ago, when discussing the recent wedding purchases, I mentioned that we had finally bought the wedding guestbook. To my surprise, someone said, "So what will that represent?" To be honest, it didn't take long for the Lord to place a likeness in my path. While I was thinking of where to set up the table for the book that would be easy for the guests to get to, I was struck with the thought of another guestbook....a very important guestbook.

What is the purpose of the guestbook anyway?

Well, it is a keepsake reminder for the bride and groom of who attended their wedding. When guests arrive, they sign their name and take a seat. With all the hustle and bustle of a wedding, most times the bride and groom can't remember who attended the event so it's great to have a book of names to look back on and cherish.

So how is that spiritual?

What's the other very important guestbook?

Have you ever heard about God's guestbook? If you haven't, please keep reading! The Bible tells us about a very important "guestbook" in Heaven's courts. It is a book of names.

What names? Those who have accepted the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.

It is known as The Lamb's Book of Life. The very moment a person cries out to Jesus, asking His forgiveness and grace, and accepting His life for their own, their name is written in that great Guestbook. They are now invited to the wedding! Their name in that book means that they have a place reserved in Heaven. It means they are now a child of the Living God. Their name is in the book! It cannot be erased or scratched out. It's written with a heavenly, heavy duty permanent marker if you will! :) THAT is the other very important guestbook. And my wedding guestbook reminds me of it.

However, do not be fooled into thinking that you can slip into Heaven without signing in and enjoy yourself there. I'm sure there will be people who will forget to sign their name in my wedding guestbook this Saturday, but they will still be able to take a seat and watch me and my groom enter into a covenant marriage. They will still be welcome. But with God's guestbook, however, it does not work that way. No one can slip in late and have a place in Heaven. No one can get in without their name written in His book. And unlike a wedding where you can write your own name, in Heaven, Jesus does the writing. If He knows you, if He has called you and you have answered, if you have cried out to Him and accepted God the Son into your life, then your name is written by the hand of God.....not by your own doing.

I hope your name is written in God's Guestbook. If not, it can be! Don't wait. Do not hesitate. Jesus wants you to join Him. All of Heaven is praying you will come. All you have to do is call upon the name of God and accept His saving grace.

And then when the roll is called up yonder, you will be there.

Revelation 20:15
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

The Last Minute Details

COUNTDOWN:  1 week left!!!!!

My goodness, how time is flying by! There are so many details to take care of in these last seven days.

• Clean up the wedding and reception area
• Decorate the wedding and reception area
• Finish packing
• Get my nails done
• Pick up part of the wedding party at the airport
• Bring the flowers to our cake baker
• Print the programs
• Get pictures printed for framing
• Put up signs at designated places
• Get baskets for the programs and wedding favors
• Pick up the corsages
• Go for one last trial run for my hair
• Clean! Clean! Clean!

There are lots of last minute details to take care of on the final week of the wedding. There are decisions to make like "Who will pick up the tables?" or "Who is taking so-and-so back to the airport?" or "What about parking?" etc. etc. etc. Details + Wedding = Stress. :) But it's all good and by this time next week, they won't even matter. All that will matter is that the bride and groom are finally married!!

My dear friend, Anna, loaned me a book early on in my engagement and its sole focus was learning to plan a wedding, while keeping God the center of your life. It inspired me to find rest and peace in Christ and not get caught up in the chaos and detail planning. And it has been so refreshing and it has helped remind me that is not all about the wedding....it's about the marriage!

Sadly, though, many people around the world today, when thinking of Christianity and Salvation, think only of the "details"....they think of good works, of Church attendance, of Baptism, or some other thing, and forget entirely the main foundation - which is Salvation through Jesus Christ! So many countless millions spend their lives trying to live well, be faithful to a Church, or get plunged in water in order to go to Heaven...yet they miss the point! They get caught up in the details, but when all is said and done, the details won't be the focal point. When they stand in front of God on Judgement Day, He won't ask about how they lived, what Church they went to, or whether they were baptized. He will ask, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus?" It's all about Christ! It's all about the "marriage" in other words. Baptism, Church attendance, and good works are FRUIT of Salvation. They are the beautiful resulting acts of salvation. It's proof. It's the details of the big event....just like the napkins, the parking attendants, the candles, and the wedding favors are all the details of mine and Grant's big event - our wedding! In a week's time, the color of the punch won't matter, nor will the fact that the programs were on ivory paper instead of silver. All that will matter is the vow we made to one another and the marriage that took place.

 

I pray those of you who are reading this blog will never be a "detail person".....getting caught up in the details and forgetting the "marriage." Trust me....when all is said and done, and when we leave this earth, nothing will matter except Jesus and what we did with His love, His blood, and His sacrifice.

Captured!

Photography.

Let me give a shameless plug to the wonderful husband-and-wife team that make up Word Photography. Andrew and Heather Word did our engagement pictures and will do our wedding next weekend. If you haven't seen our beautiful pictures that were taken in November, please feel free to go check them out here. They were taken on my family's beautiful campground which is also the location of our wedding.

For me, it's a strange feeling when you are told by a photography to "act natural" while they snap away with a camera. Walking, talking, laughing, content, etc. They are trying to capture the real you. A fake smile will not do. A pose is usually stiff and uncomfortable. So they say, "Just smile! Be happy! Act normal!" Why? Because they want you as you! Genuine. Authentic.

Now, I hope you know where I'm going....

Photographers watch, then snap, and capture who you really are. And likewise, the world is watching and clicking away with their "cameras" - observing us, testing us, critiquing us. They want to see if we truly are who we claim to be. They watch to see if we're really committed to the God we claim to "serve." They test us. They try us. They want to capture us; to see the real Christian.

Luke 14:1
And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

The world is searching for truth. The world is searching for something real and geunine. The Christians declare that we have it!.....and yet so often, the Christians are entangled in the chains of sin; talking the talk, but failing to walk the walk. The lost see that. The world, full of God-haters and mockers, laugh at it. And Satan uses it to his advantage.

We are captured every day, through the lense of this world. What do they see? When they bring their camera up to their eye and snap, do they capture a genuine Christian, full of joy and honor and holiness? Do they see a happy man or woman of God, as giddy in Christ as two newlyweds on their wedding day? Do they see the Gospel demonstrated and lived out in their life? Do they see a real Christian? Or do they find that the snapshot they took is a posed picture; an act; A phony and hypocritical person with a fake smile, an artificial joy, and a conterfeit Christianity....

Let it not be so!

Next weekend, when our photographers take dozens of pictures of me and my groom, they will capture us as we are - as a bride and groom completely in love and altogether happy! But my prayer is also that they, along with the whole world watching us, will see the joy of Christ in our eyes and in our smiles....and in our life. And I pray that is your prayer too.

Luke 6:7And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.

Luke 20:20
And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Goin' to the Chapel

• Going To The Chapel by The Dixie Cups

More The Dixie Cups music on iLike

The Best Dishes

Have I showed you all our china patterns yet?? No? Well now, I simply must! :)

Grant and I picked a very simple, yet elegant pattern from Noritake called "Stoneleigh."

Flatware? As a gift from my grandmother, we have "Tabora" from Reed and Barton.

Crystal glassware? "Paris" from Noritake.

Now, there you have it! :)

My faithful few readers must be thinking, "Okay, HOW is she going to liken this to something spiritual? I mean, it's dishes!" I appreciate your confidence! :) Actually, I was suprised when it hit me just yesterday afternoon while finalizing a few china issues. What is china for?? I mean, all you need is everyday dishes to get you through. When do you ever even use your wedding china??

Well, in my family, we get out the china dishes when there is a special occation. Thanksgiving, a birthday, Christmas, graduation, etc. We take them out and place them neatly on the table when there is some sort of celebration. It's the very best. Sometimes we do the same thing for company. We don't want our company to eat off of the broken and chipped dishes, we want them to have the best!

Now do you know where I'm going with this??

It may not be much, but while I was thinking about china and how beautiful it is, I had to think of how Heaven gave us its very best when Jesus, God in human flesh, came down to earth. With all my sin and all my shame, our Heavenly Father looked down and decided to send the best Heaven had to offer to redeem me from sin. He did the same for you too! And when He saved me, He didn't just forgive me of all I had ever done up to that point.... He kept on forgiving! He washes me clean every day. He loves me unconditionally. He doesn't have a limitted amount of love or pardon or grace.... He doesn't give me the "chipped and broken dishes" - He breaks out the china! He doesn't set His table with paper plates and throwaway cups. He sets His table with overwhelming mercy, unfathomable joy, unspeakable peace, indiscribable love - THE VERY BEST! He gives the best gifts. He gives a human race that scorns Him, ignores Him, and spits in His face His very life. And He gives His children, who stumble and who question Him, the best of all that He is!

....I will never be able to look at wedding china without thinking of God's "best dishes" too.

Luke 15:22
"But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:"

1 John 3:1
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:"

A Public Announcement!

Psalm 22:22
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Last month, our wedding announcement was put in the local papers and it looked wonderful! It made its way into four different newspapers in four different counties.

Thinking on our newspaper announcement that goes into the hands of nearly every person in town, I've thought of this: Why don't we make our salvation more of a public announcement??

Think about it. When a couple gets engaged, they are so in love with the other and they begin right away telling those they know that they will soon be married! The bride shows her ring to all of her friends and all of her family members. The groom tells his buddies how fortunate he is to have the most sweet and beautiful girl in the world. The bride gushes to her friends how wonderful and handsome her husband-to-be is! Even while shopping for wedding supplies, people notice the purchases and then notice the ring and a "Congratulations!" normally will follow. People quickly hear the news when a wedding is being planned! The word spreads!

So, in our Christian life, I have to ask myself the question, "Do people see the joy and love in my face, in my eyes, and in my life when I speak about my Heavenly Bridegroom? Do they see the excitement of preparing for my Heavenly wedding? ....Do I even show it??"

I enjoy it when people ask about my groom, my wedding, and my planning. I enjoy talking about it and I believe they can see the excitement when I tell them all the latest bridal news. But my deepest prayer is to have so much excitement and joy over my Prince Jesus that everyone I meet can see it written on my face and glittering in my eyes and smile. I want to open my mouth boldly and unashamedly and "announce" what Jesus Christ has done in my life....with no reserve, no hesitance, no embarrassment. I am not ashamed or hesitant when I speak of my earthly bridegroom. So speaking of my Heavenly Groom, the One who moved Heaven and earth for me, the One who redeemed me and cleansed me from my sin, the One who welcomes me into His holy presence, I should never falter to speak joyously about One so great as my Heavenly Love.

Let me encourage you....TELL PEOPLE about Jesus Christ! Tell people what He has done for you! Tell them what He has rescued and redeemed you from! Do not be ashamed of the Creator, the King of all Kings, the Savior and Master that is GOD. Spread the joyous and amazingly wonderful news and declare His mighty, saving grace to EVERYONE you see.

1 Chronicles 16:24
Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Matthew 9:31
But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.