Well, as I'm sure anyone who will actually read this will know, this is not my first foray into the blogosphere. I have now tried on many different and various occasions to begin to put my thoughts out here into cyber space, with little to no effectiveness. So, as I begin this journey once more, I do so with no great confidence in myself, but we shall see where this heads. Who knows, I may actually find the time to keep up on this and to make an actual go of this. So, with that said, here we go... for now.
As I thought about what this blog could be titled/about, it seemed like waiting would possibly be the best thing I could write about. You know what they say, write what you know. And, believe me, I know about waiting right now. It seems like in every area of my life, there is something I am waiting for at this point. I know that so much more detail will come as I delve into each area, so I will spare you snippets of what will come in future posts. For now, I will write about the largest and most obvious thing I am waiting for right now: my wedding day.
On May 19th, 2012, I will officially become Mr. Luke Henry. (Ok, so that's a joke and a reference to when Andy Bernard asked Angela to marry him on the Office. Sorry if you don't get it.) But anyway, in less than 7 months, I get to stand in front of a crowd of witnesses and promise to love, honor, cherish, provide for, and support Lauren LeeAnne Cox for the rest of my life. I know it will be a great day that I will not forget for the rest of my life, but at this point, it still seems so far away. It feels as though I have been waiting forever, and I know that I am so ready to be with her and begin the rest of my life.
For those of you who may not know, ever since we started dating, Lauren and I have gotten to spend very limited time together. We are from the same hometown, have gone to the same church for years, and actually live less than 3 miles from each other. However, since we started dating, she has been in college, so our time actually spent together has been very limited. As a result of this, it has made the time we have been able to spend together in person very special, and has allowed us to become very skilled at communicating as best we can over the many months we are apart, but it makes the waiting until each time we are together still seem like an eternity. In fact, it has only been 2 days since we were last together, but it seems so much longer than that.
This weekend, we had the blessing of being together here because she was home for fall break. It also happened to be her birthday, so that made the weekend extra special. We spent as much time as we possibly could together, but it still seemed to be entirely too little. I guess it is these glimpses of what is to come that can make the waiting all that much harder. I get to spend a weekend here and there with her. I get to hold her hand, open her car door, talk to her face to face, but never for more than a few days or weeks at a time it seems. I know that God's timing is perfect, but it is times like this past weekend that I wish He would just speed time up for a little bit! But, I think that also can be part of what makes waiting hard: wishing it away never works. So, here I am caught in the middle of a conundrum: I don't want to have to wait anymore, yet I know that waiting is where God has me, so I have to try to make the best of it. So I do my best to occupy my time with things that I know will improve our relationship when we do finally get to be together. I have worked on trying to keep things in order, trying to eat healthier, involving myself more with other Christians so that we can have a place to grow in our faith as a couple, and doing my best to develop a personal schedule that will be easy to carry over into our marriage.
But, as I look at Lauren and my story, I cannot help but see a bit of the story of God in it. From time to time, we as Christians here on earth get a glimpse of what is to come: a view into the future, when the bridegroom comes for His pure bride. We see this, and we wish for nothing but the day to come when we can be with Him. Yet, He calls us to wait. He gives us the glimpses to remind us that there is something better than this waiting in store, yet we are left in waiting. So we wait. We do our best to work on our long distance communication as best we can: we read, we pray, we go to church. We long for the day when waiting is no more and unity is all we know. But, is there more that He wants from us? Are we simply called to wait here, or are there things He would have us do in the waiting that would make the time pass faster and make His return even more glorious? Are there things we can do now that can make our eternal "marriage" even better when the waiting is finally over? I believe with all my heart that there are so many things I can be doing better, both as I head into my earthly marriage, and as I step toward the "marriage" of the Church to the great bridegroom. So, in this waiting, may God always guide me to do the things that make Him happy and that will better both of the most important relationships that He has put me in.
On May 19th, 2012, I will officially become Mr. Luke Henry. (Ok, so that's a joke and a reference to when Andy Bernard asked Angela to marry him on the Office. Sorry if you don't get it.) But anyway, in less than 7 months, I get to stand in front of a crowd of witnesses and promise to love, honor, cherish, provide for, and support Lauren LeeAnne Cox for the rest of my life. I know it will be a great day that I will not forget for the rest of my life, but at this point, it still seems so far away. It feels as though I have been waiting forever, and I know that I am so ready to be with her and begin the rest of my life.
For those of you who may not know, ever since we started dating, Lauren and I have gotten to spend very limited time together. We are from the same hometown, have gone to the same church for years, and actually live less than 3 miles from each other. However, since we started dating, she has been in college, so our time actually spent together has been very limited. As a result of this, it has made the time we have been able to spend together in person very special, and has allowed us to become very skilled at communicating as best we can over the many months we are apart, but it makes the waiting until each time we are together still seem like an eternity. In fact, it has only been 2 days since we were last together, but it seems so much longer than that.
This weekend, we had the blessing of being together here because she was home for fall break. It also happened to be her birthday, so that made the weekend extra special. We spent as much time as we possibly could together, but it still seemed to be entirely too little. I guess it is these glimpses of what is to come that can make the waiting all that much harder. I get to spend a weekend here and there with her. I get to hold her hand, open her car door, talk to her face to face, but never for more than a few days or weeks at a time it seems. I know that God's timing is perfect, but it is times like this past weekend that I wish He would just speed time up for a little bit! But, I think that also can be part of what makes waiting hard: wishing it away never works. So, here I am caught in the middle of a conundrum: I don't want to have to wait anymore, yet I know that waiting is where God has me, so I have to try to make the best of it. So I do my best to occupy my time with things that I know will improve our relationship when we do finally get to be together. I have worked on trying to keep things in order, trying to eat healthier, involving myself more with other Christians so that we can have a place to grow in our faith as a couple, and doing my best to develop a personal schedule that will be easy to carry over into our marriage.
But, as I look at Lauren and my story, I cannot help but see a bit of the story of God in it. From time to time, we as Christians here on earth get a glimpse of what is to come: a view into the future, when the bridegroom comes for His pure bride. We see this, and we wish for nothing but the day to come when we can be with Him. Yet, He calls us to wait. He gives us the glimpses to remind us that there is something better than this waiting in store, yet we are left in waiting. So we wait. We do our best to work on our long distance communication as best we can: we read, we pray, we go to church. We long for the day when waiting is no more and unity is all we know. But, is there more that He wants from us? Are we simply called to wait here, or are there things He would have us do in the waiting that would make the time pass faster and make His return even more glorious? Are there things we can do now that can make our eternal "marriage" even better when the waiting is finally over? I believe with all my heart that there are so many things I can be doing better, both as I head into my earthly marriage, and as I step toward the "marriage" of the Church to the great bridegroom. So, in this waiting, may God always guide me to do the things that make Him happy and that will better both of the most important relationships that He has put me in.
Well said! We are so excited for you and Lauren.
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