My Favorite Wedding Moment

Last week, I was in Illinois doing the bridesmaid thing for one of my absolute best friends in the entire world. Friday morning, we all woke up with the sun (thanks to there being no curtains up in her house yet) and realized it was the big day. We sang "Goin to the Chapel" to Lisa, drank coffee, watched part of "Father of the Bride" and went to the salon to get our hair done together. I was running around like I was on speed (big shocker to all, I'm sure) and was still taking pictures from Lisa's camera that had become a permanent fixture in my hand. Jody got her hair done first and brought me more coffee. Kristen and Bonnie got their hair done and stood around, eating fruit and taking pictures. Then they brought out Lisa's vail and the tears that had found their way to my eyes multiple times that week came back. It was one of those moments, seeing her with the veil on, that kind of made it real that things were changing. Lisa was getting married. And in a matter of hours.

We went home and did our makeup and got dressed. Lisa got on her gorgeous dress and the photographer started taking pictures. She was taking the classic wedding shots (bride by the window, bride holding the flower girl, etc.) and they got to the shot of Lisa sitting on the couch, looking down at her boquet. The photographer took it from above and showed the picture to Lisa. And she was surprised. "Did you see that? It's gorgeous!" was her response to the black and white photo of herself. "Yes, honey. You're stunning" was all that I could say. And she started to cry when she realized it. Lisa didn't cry at the rehearsal when we did. She didn't cry at the salon when they put in her veil. She didn't cry when we were cleaning up her house for her husband. But when she finally realized how absolutely stunning she is, it was an amazing thing to watch. For years we have been telling her that she's gorgeous. But it's not exactly the type of thing that someone can tell you. For some reason or another, she just couldn't see it. And then all of a sudden, something happened, and she was able to see herself as the person we see she is. I think she realized that she is breathtaking.

The way that I felt to see her eyes finally opened was so overwhelming. I could not have loved her more in that instant. And then the thought crossed my mind that this is what I am guilty of on a daily basis. I so don't see myself as God sees me. And people could tell me all day long until they're blue in the face what they think of my looks, but the compliments just come and fall around me. It's like I block them out or they hit this wall that doesn't let them in. We all enjoy compliments, especially those that are unexpected, but for some reason we have a barrier up that keeps us from believing that they are true. God, however, sees us that way all of the time. He created us in His image and He knows that we are beautiful because that is truth. We just refuse to belive it. And whatever the lies are that keep us from seeing ourselves as God does, I bet it's just as frustrating to Him as it was to me when Lisa couldn't see how incredible she is. But something finally clicked and she was able to see it.

I was listening to a cd today from a speaker that I heard when I was at the Ignite conference in 2002. Her name is Tammy L. Smith (Ph.D.) and her seminar was called "On the Road to Wholeness: Dealing with the Effects from Past Wounds." I very much enjoy her which is why I not only got the cd of the seminar that I was at, but have also listened to it multiple times. And today, as usually happens, something different stuck out to me. About 7 minutes into it, Tammy told about a girl that she knows who gets anxious to meet new people because she thinks that they will see her as lazy and immature based on some things that her dad said to her when she was very young. When the reality is that the is beautiful, very mature and that people look up to her for her godliness. I totally thought of Lisa as I heard that because maybe they aren't dealing with the exact same struggles or looking through the same lies as filters for how people perceive them, but it's the same situation. And it sickens me.

Why is that we allow people to speak such evil into us? And even more importantly, why do we do it to others? Tammy L. Smith also said that the negative emotions we feel are like echoes of our past. We belive things about ourselves because other people say hurtful things and then the evil one takes over and tells us that they are truth. I'm not saying that anyone who believes these lies is a fool. I am more guilty of it than anyone. But was this does say to me is that we need to be that much more combative for each other. We need to block those lies that cause such pain with the abounding love that we are pouring on each other. If someone close to us can't see how incredible they are, we need to love on them even more. Because satan can very easily get a stronghold of our minds and we need to form an army against him. We win, guys. We always do. God made sure of that when he put his one and only son on the cross for us. We just have to decide to fight for each other and the victory is ours.

While your time might not have come yet and you're not quite to the point where you can see yourself as the incredible creation that God has made, it should give you hope that one day it will come. It does for me. One day, we'll be able to see ourselves as the beautiful creation that God formed in His hands and it will warm His heart to know when we finally get it. Until then, I'll keep fighting for you. That you will see what Lisa saw in that picture. The absolute magnificence of God's creation.