Bridal Beauty

Earlier this month, I had the joy of reuniting with some precious girls from a youth group. Many of them, knowing my purity testimony, asked about married life and I was able to tell them just how wonderful it is! We talked of purity, of relationships, and of the wedding day. MINE was such a beautiful and glorious day! Thinking back on it today, I began thinking of all the things I did to make myself beautiful for my wedding.

The night before the big day, I deep conditioned my hair. I polished my toe nails and scrubs the balls of my feet until they were smooth. I had already gone to get a manicure so my fingers and hands were ready! I washed my face and put on a facial mask. The next morning, I brushed, scrubbed, buffed, shaved, moisturized, and polished. I went to the hair salon and got my hair pulled into a beautiful curled updo. Then, I took care in putting my makeup on just so! I highlighted, I concealed, I blushed, and I outlined. I dabbed myself with perfume. I donned my gorgeous dress, slipped into my pretty shoes, and put on my jewelry. On our wedding night, it was no different. After arriving at our hotel, I went to the bathroom to change. While I was in there, preparing for our sacred and long-awaited night, I fixed my hair, brushed my teeth, and tried to look and smell sweet and desirable.

You may ask, "Why did you go to all that trouble?"

It seems like a lot for just one day. But it was THE DAY. And I wanted to look perfect for my groom. I wanted him to be captivated by my beauty. I wanted to be pleasing to him. Most any girl would agree that when they come to their wedding ceremony and wedding night, they want to look PERFECT!

With all that said, I have to say that we, as Christians, should do the same spiritually. I went to a lot of trouble for my wedding day. I had my hair done by a professional. I made sure my wedding gown was clean, pressed, and perfect. I took care to ensure my veil held no wrinkles. My shoes? They had to be clean and white, without a trace of dirt. On our wedding night, I did not throw on sweat pants and an old t-shirt. I adorned myself with a beautiful gown, clean and white. My spiritual state should be the same.

When Jesus Christ enters into your life, you are a bride! You are HIS! From that moment on, you have the desire to be clean, to be desirable, and to be beautiful for Him. You have the longing to always be perfectly groomed on the inside. To come before Him in old, smelly clothes with greasy hair, and unbrushed teeth is to show a careless attitude towards Him and your place as His bride. I am speaking spiritually. In my marriage with Grant, there have been moments where we have not looked our best. There have been mornings when I have been sick, and moments when my hair has been a mess and my clothes have been wrinkled. BUT my desire is to ALWAYS be desirable to him....and I put forth an effort. So it should be with our Jesus. I never want to come before Him and be unkempt and undesirable. I never want Him to see me dirty and unclean. Again, spiritually, I want to be BEAUTIFUL for Him! As girls, we always make time to make sure our hair is just so, our make-up is flawless, our breath is sweet-smelling, etc. We buy the straighteners, the curlers, the curling irons, the hair spray, the mousse, the gel, the styling creme, and the shampoo. We spend money making sure we have the foundation, the bronzer, the concealer, the mascara, the eyeliner, lipliner, lipstick, lipgloss, and lipbalm. We buy the razors, the lotions, the teeth whitener, the nail polish, the perfume, the clothes, the shoes, and the jewelry.

Girls and women have a built-in desire to be gorgeous on the outside. It is my desire, however, to be gorgeous on the inside; to make THAT my priority. If we, as Christian ladies, learn to, first, polish and perfect the inside, then that will seep forth and make our outward appearance radiant and stunning.

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

 Psalm 45:11"So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him."
Psalm 90:17a
"And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us...."

Wait! I'm a Bride??

The other day, as I was driving home from town, I thought back to my wedding day. I do that quiet often. Now that I am expecting and my clothes are beginning to get tight, sometimes I sneak a peak at my wedding dress hanging in my closet and wonder if I will ever fit into it again! But regardless if I will be able to zip it up or not, I will always love my wedding dress. The same goes for my wedding shoes (which were GORGEOUS, by the way!), my wedding veil, and my jewelry.

Here is a question:  Do you think I could forget my wedding attire?

Would you forget your wedding attire? Would you forget your wedding day?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? A BRIDE forgetting about her wedding day? A BRIDE forgetting about her wedding dress? Unheard of, right?

A few nights ago, I was reading my Bible and my eyes hit a verse that stopped me in my tracks.

Jeremiah 2:32
"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?

yet my people have forgotten me days without number."

Over and over, I read and re-read that verse and I asked myself, Could I forget my wedding attire? Could I forget what a beautiful day my wedding day was? Or how beautiful I felt? No. Not at all! Yet.... have I ever forgotten, for one moment, about my Lord?

A sobering thought. It is a scary one too. Here, the Bible plainly says that the people of God have forgotten Him. Yet, a bride does not forget what her wedding gown looks like. How can that be???

I have to admit, I was convicted when I read that verse. I have been guilty of forgetting about my Savior. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my wedding at some point. When I look at my handsome husband, sometimes I think back to the smile he had on his face when we shared our first kiss at the alter. When I struggle to zip up my jeans, I sometimes think back to how easy it was to zip up my gown on my wedding day. When I see a wedding show on TV or pass a bridal party in town, I remember my own day. But at the same time, I have gone a day and never remember the great love of Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice He made on my behalf. I have gone a day (even two!) without stopping to thank Him for all that He has done. I have spent a quiet evening alone and never once pause and just bask in His goodness. I have forgotten HIM!!!

That verse in Jeremiah spoke to me and humbled me greatly. Never again do I want to forget about my Master, my Savior. Never again do I want to forget about all that He has done. I challenge you as I challenge myself to REMEMBER our King. Remember His love. Remember His commands. Remember His faithfulness. Remember His might. Remember.....

Do not forget, even for one moment, that you are His! His people, His creation, His bride...

The Single-Hearted Virgins

Written by Thaysse Costa and found on the Set-Apart Girl website in their latest magazine, the following poem captures what should be the heart of every young woman.

I heard Him say, "Be single-hearted, My Bride"

The applause and shame of men despise.

Care not at all what they think and say,

Place thy eyes on Me: I will not delay.

Break at My feet alone thy spikenard jar,

I want thy heart from Me not afar.
Incline to Me thy intimate thoughts;
Embrace the narrow road that is rough -
For My love is far better than wine;
For thou art Mine, and I am thine.
Run to Me despite what thy enemies tell,
I have crushed them under My feet; they all fell.
My blood will cover thee in and out of need,
It will empower thee for multitudes to feed.
Examine My Word to find Me alone,
Each new day let me rule in thy hearts throne.
Be not afraid, I uphold thee in My right hand;
I am the One who will make thee stand.
My grace, love, and peace have already sufficed;
I AM thy Lover, thy LORD; I AM thy Christ.
Deny thy interests, give Me thy life;
I long to make thee a gracious wife.


The single-hearted virgins were bought with a price;
Their affection and interest are for the Risen Christ.
With undivided heart they delight in His name,
To be His and His alone they are not ashamed.
In Adullam's cave they have joined their King;
In being hunted and despised for His sake they rejoice and sing.
There they are made ready for the fight,
Being freshly anointed with the captain's might.
In pain and purging they cleave to the Spirit's Sword;
In the Lord's strength and grace they march forward.
The Lamb's righteousness is their cloak,
And only in the cross they dare to boast.
They become Mary sitting at Jesus' feet,
And following only where the Spirit leads.
With effectual fervent prayers they intercede;
Building up broken walls, standing for the least.
They do not indulge under a chapel's bell,
But spend themselves within an yard from hell.
In the bedrocks of unchangeable truth they stand
Immovable and shielded by the Almighty Hand.
And this is the single-hearted virgins' cry:
"Give the glory due to the Triune GOD on High!"

Like a Bride Adorned

A few days before my wedding, my parents presented me with a special gift: a beautiful white gown and robe for my wedding night. Along with their present was a small card. When I opened to read what they had written inside the card, all I found was this:

Revelation 21:2
Love,
Dad and Mom

It didn't take long for me to find the verse which says, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

....as a bride adorned for her husband.
 
I had read that verse many times throughout my life, but that night, just a few short days until my wedding, that verse took on a whole new meaning.
 

When I think of the new Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven one day, I think of beauty. Splendor. Glory. Shining, glistening, gleaming....   When the holy city comes down, it will be a sight to behold! And the Bible likens that glorious picture to a bride adorned for her husband. What a comparison!! Before that night when my parents presented me with their special gift, I had always thought that the bride's adorning the verse spoke about was her wedding gown. And it could very well be. However, after I received that beautiful evening gown and robe, I began to really dwell on that verse.

 

....as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

For her HUSBAND. Not a crowd of people. Not her friends or family, but for her husband. To me, that speaks of privacy. I think of intimacy. Sacred. Mysterious. I think of purity. How should a bride be adorned for her husband? She should be adorned in holiness, in glory. She should be adorned in beauty, but it should be a beauty that is reserved for her husband only. Far too many women refuse to protect that which is pure and sacred. In our culture, girls and women flaunt their bodies and reveal themselves to everyone around them. Then when they adorn themselves for their husband on their wedding night, they are giving him a view of their beauty that has, usually, already been glimpsed, if not completely seen, by many others. Sadly, the adorning that most choose is NOT likely to be compared to the holy city of Jerusalem in all its splendor and glory.

If I could encourage you girls, ladies, and brides out there to do one thing, I would encourage you to adorn yourself honorably for your husband. Keep what is sacred, SACRED. Keep what is mysterious under wraps. Make up your mind to refuse to dress or act unholy. My prayer for each of you is for you, as a bride, to be holy and clothed in splendor....like that holy city of God we will see one day.

 

 

As He Rejoices

Isaiah 62:5
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.


As the bridegroom rejoices over his bride...so shall God rejoice over you.

That jumps out at me and gives me such girlish delight! As a girl, as a woman, as a lady, and as a bride, you LONG for your love to rejoice over you. You long for him to gaze at you in awe. When he speaks of you, you want his words to drip honey! Being rejoiced over by a prince is every girl's desire!

When I fell in love with Grant, I wanted him to love me with a love that could not be matched by any other human. I wanted him to be anxiously excited when he spoke to me or when he saw me. I wanted him to REJOICE over me. And he wanted to be rejoiced over as well.

When I married Grant, that feeling exploded and began to rise to a much higher level. I not only wanted him to rejoice over seeing me or speaking with me, but I wanted him to rejoice when he came home to me at the end of the day, when he tasted dinner made specially by me for him. I wanted him to rejoice over me as I kept house, cooked, cleaning, washed, and ironed. He is my bridegroom and I want to always be worthy of his rejoicing; of his delight. And I want to rejoice over him too!

"...as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride..."

Now, let us look at the second part of that verse, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. That brings me to a whole new dimension! So shall GOD rejoice? When I think of it, I have to ask myself if I have done anything that merits the LORD God to rejoice over me? Have I? To be honest, no.

We often wrap ourselves so deep into earthly relationships that we become completely oblivious to the need of our heavenly romance. We long for our fiance' or husband and we work hard to be worthy of him and have him fall more in love with us every day. But rarely do we work to make ourselves a holy, pure, empty vessel that Christ desires us to be. If we would spend as much time and effort and energy every day beautifying ourselves spiritually, and making the temple of God (us!) a more pleasant, clean, and holy place for our heavenly Bridegroom to dwell, then our God would definitely rejoice over us more than we could fathom! Let us "seek Him first" and make our relationship with Him our first priority. Let us desire to be desirable by Him. Let us long to be rejoiced over by HIM. Our earthly marriage is VERY important, but always remember that our Heavenly Marriage is the foundation for it all.

Praise God From Whom ALL Blessings Flow

It's funny how I have been married for four months and a part of me still feels like a bride. I hope I never lose that feeling! I hope 20, 30, 40, and 50 years from now, I still feel like a bride on her honeymoon. I know I have said it many times, but I have to say it again. I love being married!

I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a granddaughter. I am a niece. I am a cousin. I am a friend.

I am a WIFE! ....and this spring I will become something else. I will become a mother!

God Almighty has seen fit to touch me intimately and physically and has blessed my womb with a life! A soul! A little one. I am beyond humbled. I am 7 weeks into my pregnancy and I covet your prayers. Please pray that this little life will be a mighty prince or princess for the Kingdom of Christ!

In closing, all I can say is:

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

We've Been Featured!

  

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

Please go check it out!