so they are no longer two, but one. therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. Matthew 19:6

You know, when I was growing up, I imagined getting married to be one of the most phenomenal and wonderful experiences of my life.  I thought that as a bride-to-be I would be pampered and treated like a princess and it would be the most luxurious experience of my life.  However, I also thought that it would be an ending.  I dreamed of getting married, but never actually imagined what it would be like to be married.  God has been teaching me lately that marriage is infinitely more than I ever believed it could be.  It is so easy to be consumed by trying to make the details of our actual wedding perfect, but there is no such thing as perfect except in Christ.  And I don't want our marriage to be about the small details and about pampering ourselves or trying to get everything right.  I want them to be about seeking God, no matter the circumstances.  And to love as He loves, because He is Love.  My prayer for our marriage is that we won't let it become about each other or we won't get bogged down by our own expectations.  God has shown me over the past year that there is nothing that can interfere with His plans and nothing can hold Him back from making Himself known.  I am very thankful for this, but also extremely scared because I am a planner and I like to know what is going to happen.  I have no idea what God has in store for Jake and me, but I hope that you will join in praying with us and for us that we may seek His will above all other things and that we may conduct ourselves always in a way that pleases Him.  There is so much beauty in the unknown and I am looking forward to seeing what God has to teach us through our engagement. 

Welcome!

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for visiting our blog. Courtney and I have quickly come to realize that engagement and marriage are not simply about romance and happiness. They, like all of life, are about Christ's Glory and making us dependent on him. Courtney said to me today,"Without God, marriage could never work." I'm convinced that this statement is absolutely true. The two of us have come to the agreement that our engagement will not simply be six months of wedding planning; it will be six months of training for a Christ-centered marriage and planning a wedding ceremony that will celebrate the Glory of Christ.
To that end, we've started listening to a sermon series by Tom Nelson called Love Song. It is a verse by verse study of Song of Songs. We're only two sermons in, but it's already challenging us to love eachother better. We also plan to make use of a number of other resources, including a DVD sermon series by Chip Ingram called "Marriage Built to Last" and we hope to enroll in premarital counseling asap. I say all of that to make this point: we are treating our engagement as a very serious time of preparation and reflection.
In light of that, this blog has two main purposes: (1) it gives us an outlet to reflect on the knowledge we're gaining and the training we're going through and (2) it creates a forum for us to share our experiences and hear your thoughts/advice. So, please leave a comment if you have any thoughts/advice you'd like to share.
Finally, Courtney and I pray that we are all mutually encouraged and challenged as we engage with eachother through this blog. God bless you all!
-Jake