A Bride Prepares

A Bride Prepares

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

John 14:3

I can clearly remember the weeks leading up to my wedding day. As I was taking care of all the details of the wedding ceremony and reception, John, my future husband, was preparing our first place—cleaning it (yes, really), hauling furniture, and making the place ready.

Before every Amish wedding there is also a time of preparation. Here is Lovina Eicher’s description of the days leading up to her Amish wedding:

The days before our wedding were busy days of washing walls, ceilings, cleaning closets, cabinets, windows, and everything that goes with a thorough cleaning. Mom would have us girls helping her make homemade noodles for the big event. Another job was collecting Mom’s many plates, glasses, bowls, silverware, pots, and pans needed for the wedding meal. . . . The day of our wedding was one of the coolest days in July. I am sure the cooks were glad for this, since they fried three hundred pounds of chicken for the noon meal. As always, God has sent his blessings from above.

Preparation is the outward manifestation of inward anticipation and eagerness. We prepare because we’re excited, because we’ve been waiting for something for so long. There is no way we can sit still with all that nervous energy inside!

A wedding, whether Amish or English, tops the list of things to get excited about. Brides focus on all the details because they want everything just so. Yet sometimes we forget that we still have the most amazing wedding celebration waiting for us: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself” (Revelation 19:7).

How are you preparing for your reunion with the Son of God? What can you do today to make yourself ready?

Dear heavenly Father, so many times I focus on the dailyness of life and forget that the most amazing wedding feast awaits me. Thank You for Your Word, which gives me a glimpse of what’s in store.