I've noticed a trend among newly-wed couples on Facebook... Browsing through pics and albums, you can see their friendship unfold like a flower... there are pictures of them "dating" and attending events together... inevitably, there are proposal pictures of some sort, displaying glittering rings and dazzling smiles of euphoria. Then there are engagement pictures... always a little sappy, but they still make me smile and sigh nonetheless :-P
Finally, there are wedding pictures... the bride is stunning and the groom is clean-cut and beaming. Surely the day is an occasion to remember and celebrate for years to come --and understandably so. But then... something happens. Profile pictures tend to stay in "wedding memory lane" mode for months and months to come --as if the wedding were the "happily ever after" monumental moment that climaxed and then froze the couple in that "just married" dream for all eternity. That is, UNTIL... baby photos arrive (sometimes preceded by pregnancy montages). Either way... I wonder, when I see those photos, why hardly any time was taken to highlight the "after wedding/before baby" life. Is it because life becomes mundane or is viewed as non-documentary worthy? Is it because the "wedding" epitomizes the "happily ever after" that sums up just about every Disney movie? I'm not trying to get philosophical... I know not EVERY couple follows this pattern... but I'd be confident to say that it's the majority.
Each time I see that procession of profile pics I wonder if our lives are viewed as "milestones" --college, engagement, marriage, children, retirement (though not always in that order). It makes me want to celebrate the "in-between" stages... makes me want to break free from what culture has claimed to be "important". I want to celebrate my married life (if God has planned that for my life) as something worth documenting and celebrating... Ultimately, the reason I started this post (and unexpectedly turned it into a Facebook culture commentary :-P) is because I thought to myself... I want to have a "married life bliss" photo shoot/album after I'm married --depicting the blessing and gift of married life before Baby ever enters the picture.
The process of best friends passing from singleness to marriage should not be represented by just ONE day. It's a journey from singleness to marriage that occurs long after the wedding day... it's a 'becoming of one' --not just in body, but in soul and spirit and mind. Each day, learning to die to self and give your heart away to your spouse... learning to serve a fellow sinner with humility and love, and to consider them more important than yourself. It's putting aside your own agenda for a greater purpose --one of unity and sanctification.
Lord, I want to have this mindset toward this beautiful institution that You established called "marriage"... and I think I want to honor it with an album...
I think I'll call it "Married-life Blessed".
:-)
~Jess~
