I’m a sucker for weddings. I went to a wedding the other day and almost cried like five times – and it was the first time I had met the couple. Weddings are beautiful and fun and just, ahhh. And what girl doesn’t dream of her wedding? Like I said, I seriously love weddings and thinking of my own, but I think today a lot of girls – and guys – get so caught up with the preparing the perfect wedding that they forget to prepare themselves for a marriage.

The media honestly irks me greatly with its portrayal of marriage – the husband who does nothing but watch football and drink beer and the wife that takes care of the kids and nags all the time; not to mention all the fighting. That’s not what a marriage should look like. The media says that us women should be jealous, controlling, and nagging rather than gentle, patient, and kind. It says that men should be lazy, rude, and lustful rather than leaders, loving, and respectful.

While weddings are super fun and wonderful, we should be more concerned with being equipped with the character of a loving, supportive, God-mirroring spouse than with what flowers to choose. We shouldn’t just be praying that God sends us the right person to marry if that’s what He wants for us, but that we are the right person to marry.

Whether you’re single or dating or engaged, don’t let this be just a time of waiting but a time of preparation.

Photo Credit: Simon Hesthaven