There are three more lessons that I learnt from my whirlwind wedding day (which I wrote about
here). The first two lessons: God works all things together for good and God’s
timing is perfect I wrote about in a previous blog post here.
Lesson 3: There is joy to be found in giving
…God loves a cheerful giver 2 Cor 9: 7
We felt a sublime joy in the days surrounding (and of course on the day of!) our wedding. We
noticed that our friends and family seemed to radiate joy as they gave to us their support, prayers,
gifts and helping hands. As I delivered the little bouquets to the elderly residents, I was filled with joy
in seeing them smile so much so that I didn’t really have room left in me for disappointment. Then of
course there was the joy we experienced in giving ourselves to each other in marriage. I had of
course known the theory of finding joy in giving but I got to experience it on a deeper level.
To know that there is joy to be found sustains me as a strive to say ‘yes’ to my vocation each day. In
my relatively short time spent as a married woman I know that my vocation is essentially a call to
give myself and my whole life to God, through giving of myself to my spouse and family, as we as a
family give our communal life and mission to God. There is a lot of giving! Those who have been
married longer will know this more so.
The call to give seems simple enough yet difficult to put into practice, as well as lofty. Yet I know that
God, who is never outdone in generosity, supplies all that I need and more in order to answer this
call. He, who is the ultimate Giver, has made me in His image and likeness and therefore when I
imitate Him in giving of myself (however tiny my efforts are in comparison to His infinite perfection) I
am more fully who I have been called to be. I am alive and joyful.
Lesson 4: Do not worry about what you will wear
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about
your body, what you will wear. Lk 6: 25
I love the symbolism of a beautiful, ornate, white wedding dress but the green dress I wore really
made the flowers of the bouquet ‘pop’! I love that green is a symbol of new life and growth and,
looking back, I feel this was entirely appropriate for my wedding day. God cares about every little
detail of our lives and I feel that this is reflected in the way He even provided my dress.
Every day there seems to be a million little details, little points on my to-do-list and little worries that
occupy my mind. Since being married there is the potential for me to worry because it’s not just me
anymore and there are a greater number of variables that come into play! However, if God can take
care of every little detail of my lockdown wedding, feed the birds of the air and clothe the lilies of
the field (Lk 6: 26-29) then I know he can handle taking care of my day. Each day, I try to hand over
every little thing to Him and trust that He’s got it covered! We have a mug in our kitchen with these
words on it: “Good morning. This is God. I will be handling all your problems today.” It’s my favourite
mug!
Lesson 5: Our God is faithful
In the end, God faithfully made a way and provided for our every need and wish. He taught me to
give Him my trust. He gave us a wedding day that was more beautiful than what we had planned and
hoped for. He showed us the beauty of the Sacrament of Marriage. We didn’t have all the usual
bells, whistles and trimmings to get caught up in but we got to receive the Sacrament from each
other, before our loving, generous God who really is the source of all our joy.
To be stripped back to the essentials was a blessing which helped me focus on God’s love for us and
our love for each other. The words of the verse engraved on our wedding bands (alongside the
wrong date!): “We love because God first loved us, 1 John 4: 19” were perfectly fitting.
As I reflect on what I have learnt from our wedding story I can see how God was schooling me in the
virtues that I would need for marriage: patience, trust, self-giving and love. I can see that His plans
are far better than my own. I shake my head at the fact that I still often struggle to trust Him even
though history shows me that He is perfectly trustworthy and faithful. I hope for us to continue to
build upon this firm foundation and grow in virtue as we live out our calling to Marriage in the years
to come.
For great is His steadfast love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Ps 117: 2.
Written by Grace Morey
Grace is originally from Barooga, NSW, and after a transformative experience at World Youth Day in her teens she decided to place her faith at the centre of her life. She has been active in youth and womens’ ministry in a variety of parishes and universities since. She studied Medicine in Sydney and is now a qualified general practitioner. Over the years she has moved around a lot (having a total of over 20 different housemates, she thinks!) and now lives in Albury, NSW, with her husband, Sam, and daughter, Evangeline.