Our Engagement

No, I'm not talking about my engagement with my husband. I'm talking about the engagement that we, as Christians, have with our Savior and Suitor, Jesus.

First, some background about how I came to think about this, as it is kind of obscure. First, and this just hit me, I've been asking God to draw me back to himself, as lately I've been feeling really withdrawn from Him. This has been quite evidenced in my attitude and temper toward my children. I've been struggling with patience and wanting to play with/teach them. I hate being crabby and don't want to be, so I've been praying that God will draw me in again.

Anyway, that was off-topic, but I believe it's part of the reason why I was led to the blog that I got this idea from. So I was invited to join a facebook group called A Beauty Glorious. They describe themselves as "a place for teen girls - although anyone is welcome - where we can talk about what it means to be young women and daughters of God." While I am certainly not a teen girl anymore, I have been grappling with what it means for me to be God's child... how I'm supposed to treat my husband, my kids, my family, my world. It seemed like it would be a good place to get some insights into it.

The group was created by a girl named Caitlyn. I met her on Ted Dekker's website, though I cannot for the life of me remember what her screen name was on there. She also keeps a blog, also called A Beauty Glorious. And the things she writes about are incredible. I've read through a few posts, and everything on there is just striking. Some things I've been adjusting, as I am already married, and she speaks of dating. But there are things about keeping one's mind pure that ring true for everyone, no matter your age or marital status.

Anyway, I'm off-track again. But it is a good blog, so excuse my excitement. ;) So here's the thing I was all excited about. She pointed out in one of her recent posts, that "We are Jesus’ bride! The King of heaven and earth has chosen us, courted us, and proposed. For those of us who have accepted, a beautiful wedding beyond imagination and blissful unity for all eternity await us." This is beyond beautiful to me. Seriously, the man of everyone's dreams, who can see the intense beauty that He Himself created in us, is waiting for the day when we will wed for eternity. Incredible.

And then this hit me, too. Not only is there a wedding coming up, but this time on Earth, between the day we accepted Him as our Savior, until the day we see Heaven (whether that be at the end of our life or the end of the world), is our engagement time. This is the time when we must prepare for our wedding day. Just like a bride on earth spend the weeks or months or years before her earthly wedding planning and buying and scheduling, so we also should be spending our time storing up our heavenly treasures.

Personally, this means many things. This means setting aside time every day away from the computer, the iPod, the TV to spend time being washed in Him and His word to me. This means finding ways I am not currently letting Jesus live in and shine out of me, and changing that with His help. This means respecting my husband for the man he is and the man God is making him. This means helping my husband in the way God has called me to. Things like laundry and dinner and cleaning. The things that keep this house working so he can peacefully and easily keep the money coming in.

This means treating my kids with kindness, without sarcasm, with respect. This means spending time each day making sure they're learning not just book smarts, but how to interact with other people, how to respect their elders, how to love their Savior. This also means being kind to those beyond my family. Keeping sarcasm out of my voice. Treating the cashier at the grocery store with kindness and respect.

Beyond that, it means treating those in need with the respect that them being a beloved child of God demands. We had a guest pastor this week and he pointed out that beyond who they are as a human, Jesus has said that when we treat them in any way we treat Him that way. We need to see Jesus' face in the face of those in need. We need to do everything we can to help those who need it.

All these things are things I can hear God calling me to do to prepare my heart for the day we will wed in paradise. Probably that all means something different to you. But I pray I will not waste my engagement to my Prince.