Dear 19 year old bride with love in your eyes…
What a beautiful wedding day! It really couldn’t have been better. The powerless reception hall and the standing water on the indoor dance floor were a little unexpected. Of course, no power meant dinner by emergency lights, a hardened chocolate ‘fountain’, oh and music playing from laptop speakers… but none of that mattered. Did it? Because that sweet boy standing next to you is now officially yours forever.
You cannot imagine what the next 7 years will hold. You are standing there in your rain-drenched wedding dress ready to conquer the world while half wondering what you just got yourself into. You are just a baby. You have no idea about life or what it means to be an adult or wife… But with that sweet boy by your side… Well, you just wait.
Sweet little bride with life in you eyes, explore as much as you can on your honeymoon! Seven years from now you won’t care that you got an even tan one afternoon, BUT when you have two tiny toddlers around your legs, you will long for a day of exotic exploration. Soak it up!
In that first six months, you will stand with all you can for “rightness.” Don’t bother. To this day if that sweet boy standing next to you says the sky is orange, there is nothing you will be able to do to convince him that it is blue. Practice with me, “Yes, what a lovely orange sky we are having today, my darling.”
Pay the electric bill. He isn’t paying any bills because he thought you were… And you obviously weren’t either. It’s okay. It will be a pretty spring night and no power means no lights. Early bedtimes aren’t always a bad thing. 😉
Don’t make him sell that gas guzzling beautiful truck of his. You don’t know how much he really loves it. You also don’t know that you are about to move and won’t have to drive as much. Trust me. That sweet boy standing next to you will STILL be talking about it 7 years later.
Oh sweet little bride with love in your eyes, you just wait…Try to remember that he isn’t perfect and that neither are you. You will quickly learn how to hurt each other effectively. Do not use your words as weapons. There will be no greater regret, and you will never be able to “unsay” it.
Oh sweet little bride with life in your eyes… Slow down. Enjoy married life. Take short trips. Explore. Enjoy each other’s company because babies come quickly.
You will buy your first house on your one year anniversary. You will spend the next two years remodeling every inch of that home. Your husband will be right about just about everything when it comes to the remodeling process. Save your breath at Lowes every Saturday. Unless of course you enjoy eating crow.
Oh and that giant flat screen you will buy for your new house will be a terrible idea. Five years from now you will still be paying for it and seven years from now you will be able to buy 4 giant TVs for what you paid for that thing. Oh well.
Look into that sweet boys eyes. He will be the one with whom you share life’s greatest joy and announce to the world that you are expecting a baby. That sweet boy will also be the one who holds you in the emergency room as you grieve the loss of that precious little life.
But oh sweet little bride with hope in your eyes… You just wait. Praise will be your greatest weapon against grief. Sing to The Lord and remember His goodness. Hope will rise in your soul and joy will return to your heart. Don’t fret. You will not lose your faith.
Just wait, and go on that family cruise the next April. Enjoy every minute of your vacation. It will be your last before you are parents. You will bring home a precious souvenir and will tell the world that you are expecting again!
Life will never be the same once you are a momma. Your priorities will change. Your attention will be on the baby. Put the baby in the crib and look at your husband every now and then.
Sweet little bride, that man will put your wants above his own for years. Notice it. Love him fully, and tell him how much you appreciate him every day. He loves you so much even if he isn’t very good at “saying how he feels.” Seven years from now you will realize that he has shown you with hard work and dedication just how much he adores you. Listen to his heart.
You will be exhausted and sleep deprived and keeping up with the needs of an infant when that sweet boy standing next to you says its time to move back to his tiny hometown. I told you to enjoy the fast food…You will live for six months with your in laws and your baby in your husbands old bedroom while that sweet boy goes back to work for the family business. Meanwhile, you will try to get a house built of your own. It will be about this time that you find out that you are pregnant again. Congratulations!
That second baby will bring so much joy to your family and 7 years from now you will be so glad that those two babies and so close together and such good friends.
Oh sweet little bride, there is so much more that I wish that I could tell you. There is so much that you couldn’t ever foresee, but 7 years from now you will love that boy more than you do on this day. You will grow up together and make the journey into adulthood holding each others hands.
You will change almost completely from the people you are today. But, the Lord will grow you together. He will keep you together. There will be moments when you do not recognize the person across the kitchen table from you. You will wonder how the heck you got “here.” You will wonder if you’re going to make it… And then, you will. Dream together. Hope together. Remind each other of God’s promises for your lives. Reach for them. Succeed together.
Sweet little bride with love in your eyes…
God knew exactly what He was doing when he gave you that precious boy standing next to you. Trust God. Love your husband. Enjoy every minute of the journey… because 7 years from now, you will love him more than you ever thought you could and you will wonder how 7 years could have possibly passed so quickly. Oh sweet little bride you just wait. It will all turn out better than your sweetest dreams.
