So I'm sure the first thing many people jump to the gun about is that when I mention love I'm going to focus the love in relationships, the love in a marriage. To talk about "love" probably sounds super "girly"...although reality check, I am a girl, haha! However, the concept of love is so much more than just a feeling or expression.
Lately, my mind has been trying to wrap around the idea of love, specifically the love of God. Growing up in a Christian home, I always understand that God loved me. However, in the past few months, God has truly been revealing the extent of that love. For this post, I'm going to focus on one aspect of this: marriage. So here's to part one of Love: The Beginning of the End.
I'm sure almost EVERY girl dreams about their wedding day. I can't even tell you how many times when growing up me and my friends played dress-up and acted out a wedding. Or, decided to conduct a ceremony between Ken and Barbie. Or, were obsessed with TLC's "A Wedding Story" at the ripe old age of ten.
I bet any girl could describe bits and parts of their dream wedding. From what color the bridesmaid's dresses would be to the types of flowers they want to have or to what time of year it should take place! Weddings are a girl’s fantasy. However, the most important part of the wedding is, who am I going to marry! From a super young age, many girls start weeding out who would make an acceptable candidate as boyfriend/husband material. Even if a girl is not into dating, they can still describe to you their "dream" boyfriend/husband.
Okay, I'm taking a little bunny trail to briefly say what I mean by "not into dating." It's exactly that. I'm one of those girls that falls into this category. I've been brought up under the aspect of courting. So, when I say courting I don't mean the old-fashion concept that the couple never goes out alone and everything is centered on the family. However, I love in the book Sexual Revolution how Kris Vallotton differentiates dating and courting: He states that dating is for people who just like to have fun and are not interested in purposefully pursuing a relationship that might end in marriage. Courting, on the other hand, can be defined as two people who get together as a way to pursue this idea of marriage. So, for example, when I agree to date a guy, it is because I'm trying to see if I could find myself spending the rest of my life with him and building a home together. Needless-to-say, I'm still waiting on God to send me the right one. In the meantime, I could tell you characteristics of my dream husband ;)
Off my bunny trail and back on track. So what does this have to do with the love of God? When a girl is preparing for the day of her wedding, she focuses on every little detail. But, the most important detail is the dress and appearance of the bride, herself &&&&&& if everyone in the world could be invited to see two people exchange everlasting vows, they would.
One day, this past year, it got me thinking. Shouldn't our love and yearning for God be the same exact way? When my girls and I get together to talk about our love life and our dream wedding, our faces just light up. When a friend gets engaged, we are soooooo excited and just start spreading the word. Then, when we can watch the day they get married, it's a huge party!
I want my love for God to be the same exact way. I want to be so completely in love with God that I can't do anything else but talk about Him. I want to anxiously await the wedding day, the day the church (the bride) meets Jesus (the bridegroom). I want to be focused on the details. Am I pure enough? Have a pleased Him? I want to invite everyone to the wedding. And, of course, I anticipate the HUGE party that will last for eternity!!!
God's love is just so absolutely extravagant. I could continue to talk about it forever. I think I just might do that in the next post, when I bring in a series of books that has recently drawn my attention to this love between God and us.
