If you follow me on instagram, you know that my husband and I just celebrated our one year anniversary. I was slightly obnoxious with the amount of pictures I posted, both of our beach vacation and photos from our wedding. I couldn’t help myself. All day long on our actual anniversary, I was constantly reminiscing about our “big day”.
The great irony in all of this is that I did not want a big fat Christian wedding. I wanted to elope with only our immediate family, say our vows on a remote island somewhere far away, and avoid all the hoopla.
But hoopla we had. And as we scrolled through all our photos and watched hours (yes hours) of video footage from the day, I realized something profound. While March 22, 2014 was an important day for Tyler and me—the pieces of the day that I kept reminiscing about, that made my heart so full, were the ones that pointed to the faithfulness of our God and the honoring of our friends and family.
Our wedding day wasn’t so much about us as it was about testifying of God’s goodness and honoring the people in our lives.
Were Tyler and I the reason 200 folks gathered in a Nashville chapel on a Saturday? Sure. But the central figure was God and the guests of honor were those friends and family who worshiped, dinned, and danced with us.
Not to pat our own backs (truly), but I have to tell you that we were very intentional about this. After the wedding, my dad kept saying, “People showed up for a wedding and a worship service broke out!” Yes, it did—but that was not a surprise to Tyler or me. That had been our intention and prayer the whole planning season.
Pretty much every decision we made while planning (ok…except my dress) was filtered through the lens of how to best honor God and our guests. And while that sounds all good, Christian, and godly—that’s not my point. My point is that our intention paid off.
Because if our wedding had just been about the bride and groom, it would have fallen flat.
Looking back over our photos and footage would have been nice, but not as meaningful. Think about it. Think about the last time you achieved personal success. It was really important to you in the moment, but as time passed it faded. You are now hungry for more, even greater, success. I’m the same way. My personal achievements never satisfy for very long. And that’s what our wedding day would have been if it was just about us. A fun, expensive weekend that was great—but fades pretty quickly and leaves me a little unsatisfied.
Instead, as we reminisced, my heart only got fuller. LOOK HOW GOOD GOD IS! LOOK AT THESE AMAZING PEOPLE THAT GOD PUT IN OUR LIVES. Every way we turned, that weekend was about how rich our lives were because of God and friends and family.
Which finally (phew. I know. Thanks for sticking with me) leads me to my point.
Reminiscing over my wedding day made me realize that someday, hopefully many, many years from now, I will be reminiscing over my life. And how I feel about the success of my life isn’t going to be about me.
What if my life isn’t about me?
My heart is only going to be full if I’ve made my life about testifying of God’s goodness and honoring the people He puts in my life.
I know this is insanely counter-cultural. In our society, a wedding is all about the bride and this American life is all about me, me, me.
But we’ve got it wrong. And deep down you know it.
What if you and I lived every day with intention to testify of God’s goodness and honor the people He puts in our lives? Every day. With fierce intention.
I think our hearts would be much, much fuller than they are now. When I live for me, each day eventually falls flat. But when I live for God and people, each day grows fuller and grander over the years. That’s called a legacy.
