I just dropped my best friend off at the airport and am now sitting at Panera, one of my many guilty pleasures. Is there anything better than drinking a chai tea while people watching and enjoying the benefits of free wi-fi? If you can tell me something I might like better, I dare you to leave a comment :)
This has been quite the week. My best friend came home from Georgia because she is finally getting married. As the maid-of-honor, I knew I needed to throw her a shower and perhaps a bachelorette party...it makes life a little tricky living so far away from each other, but it all worked out. We had an amazingly fun and productive week. It is always so good to catch up, but more than just catching up, I realized this week that there is so much beauty in the traditions leading up the pinnacle day-the glorious, and hopefully once-in-a-lifetime day. This year, I have been surrounded by failed marriages, and it has left me very cynical. I have spent much time in sorrow by how broken we have become. I have found myself questioning things like divorce and remarriage and everything that goes along with it. I have wondered if it is possible to truly be able to stay married in this crazy, messed-up world.
I know the answer is yes, but there are times when I have been afraid that no one will be able to succeed in what seems to be an increasing impossibility. In the end, this week has helped to restore my faith in the beauty of marriage—the beauty of what God created. Maybe it seems strange that a week with my best friend did that, but I have watched her figure this thing out with wisdom and grace. If anyone can make it, I know it will be her.
I realized the beauty of the human spirit in the traditions of weddings. The coming together of those you love. People really do care about your future. They do all they can to prepare you for a new life and to succeed at that life - gifts to set your house up, advice for everything from cooking to kids, and making you feel like the most important person until the wedding day.
What a good week. I am grateful for my dear friend; I am grateful that my big job is over with :) (other than writing that pesky wedding toast); and I am most grateful for the people in my life who have worked hard at marriage and made it work forever. They are my heroes.
