Monday, February 9, 2009

5 days before we get married!











         

I'm sitting in our new apartment, drinking a cup of coffee, staring outside at the sunshine who has graced us today with her enveloping presence. I just finished
some carpet-time with my Jesus; now that I think of it though, everything Nate and I have done here in the past week has been carpet time as we are 
completely furniture-less. Grin. I wouldn't trade it either. There is nothing like trying to create a dinner with the few pieces of kitchen appliances that you have and one old knife, and then sitting down together on our floor to dine. Personally, I could care less about owning much of anything, so I am more than content to prop our plates on one of my yet-unpacked moving boxes from Boston and laugh about it. 

        Nate and I are getting married in about 5 days. Oh...my....word. Y'all, I really need your prayers. My marriage to Nate feels so unreal that I cannot believe it's happening! I fear I'm going to get half-way down that aisle and drop flat on my face, veil flying forward, when the fullness of the reality hits me. The last few days, I have spent a lot of time in my car, repeating this to myself: "I'm getting married....I'm getting married....I'm getting married." I keep hoping it will resonate in this ever-active brain of mine. 
      Unfortunately, it seems more than my heart and mind can wrap around. It seems too good to be true. God has done so much in the 'more than you can ask or imagine' category in terms of my marrying Nate, that I really truly can't! Bless me, and help me! :) 

       We leave for St. Simons Island, GA tomorrow to prepare for the Day. I'll have friends flying in all the way from Boston 
(I treasure them so), and his troop of godly warriors and best buddies are likely going to take over the island. They are having his bachelor night Friday evening. Pause....Did y'all catch that? That's the night before we get married!!! That's all I'm going to say about that.....

      The ceremony begins at 2 pm, and the reception (aka - you better bring your dancing shoes and give Jesus some praise time) will follow immediately. According to my future groom, he truly believes we should only have to stay at the reception for 
approximately thirty minutes. Bless his heart...  :)   We'll then stay in Amelia Island for a few days, and spend the next 2 weeks of our honeymoon in Kauai (the 4th island in the Hawaiian Island chain) with cell phones turned off! 

      This isn't a creative or inspiring post, but for those who wanted to be 
informed of the 'Shate and Nelly' future days, here it is. I love him to pieces y'all. I actually want to get back on my carpet and bawl thinking about it. We are wonderfully imperfect (I say 'wonderfully' b/c I know God gets the glory in our weaknesses), but that man is absolutely perfect for me.  I hopped in his very manly and sporty car yesterday to go to church and grinned sheepishly over how handsome he is. And then, I realized that he had put my CeCe CD in his player; he said he wanted to get his upbeat praise time on this morning. I nearly died laughing. 
      That woman (CeCe) makes me want to bust out in Jesus-based aerobics - so I did...in the car, on the way to church, with my man shaking his head at me half the the way. After he surprised me with flowers later that evening, and cooked dinner for us while I worked on the wedding, I decided he, and Jesus, were due some more praise. 

     Nate makes me love Jesus more. And I know that the only way I can serve
and love that man as I should is by keeping myself bound to my Only True Love. Anything Nate and I have to offer one another is only as a result of the overflow of our personal relationships with the Lord. I'm thankful the Lord has set things up that way. Because ain't nobody allowed to get in the way of my Jesus and I :) I love y'all sweet siestas. Nate and I have coveted your precious prayers - I mean that so sincerely. You could never imagine how they have covered us in this past year and a half. 

     So I leave you with the very last post as Shelly Elizabeth Bland. I am dropping the last name of the man whom I love more than words express; no name is necessary to remember him. How could I forget my first hero and love? I trust and pray that the life Nate and I live will be an offering of gratitude towards him. I am sure that if my Daddy had the blessing of meeting Nate, he would have given us quite the blessing; He and Nate are alike in many ways. Twinkle in his eye, and lump in his throat, he would undoubtedly have handed his little
girl over to the man she loves. And I would have danced with him one more time at the reception, on top of his feet, held upright by his strong arms, as always. I'll surely dance one for him on that day...

      Yes indeed, there will be much to celebrate on this Bland-Griffin wedding day. I suspect the celebration in heaven may be just a little rowdier than ours: If He does dance, God would likely be tapping his holy feet on His heavenly Throne, the angels giving Him praise,  and a cloud of witnesses cheering Nate and I along. 

     We give you all the praise, glory, and honor oh Lord. You are absolute Life to us. It is you that we adore....come sweet Jesus, and may we be a blessing back to you as we join, with one voice (Romans 5), to shout praises unto your holy and magnificent Name. We bless you Jesus.

19 comments:

debra parker said...

Shelly, Have the time of your life. Love. Love. Love.

Kristen said...

What I love is that you are so excited about your wedding, but even more excited about the life the two of you will share w/ Jesus! Yes sweet girl...that's what's important! Our God is invited to your wedding - and our God is the biggest and best part of your marriage!

Tears came to my eyes when you spoke of your daddy.

Shelly - this post most definitely is definitely creative and inspiring.

Dear girl... I will be lifting you and Nate in prayer! REALLY! And I will be writing your names on a strip of paper... our Church has been focusing on prayer for the last year - and we are in the home stretch in concluding this spiritual renewal in prayer. (not that prayer won't continue beyond this time;) ) On these strips of paper, we are praying over and Church's Prayer team are praying over. Once prayed over - they are attached like the paper chains we made as kids. We are hanging them in the Sanctuary... at the end of 7 weeks of this prayer study - can you imagine the amount of prayers that will have been prayed! You and Nate will be prayed for... and your link will hang high above the heads of the members of Calvary Lutheran Church in Indianapolis IN!

Sorry for such a long post. I am just gushing over God for you!
Love,
K

Lindsee said...

I am at work but have tears streaming down my face. I love you, Shelly BLAND and can't wait for the next time I get to see you as Shelly GRIFFIN! Praying.

{Insert HUGE hug here.}

Holly said...

All I can do is CLAP!! And Praise Jesus! And think of how wonderful, how very wonderful, our Jesus is to give us a love like the one I have with my Chris and that you have with your Nate.

You both are beautiful inside and out, Shelly.

Clapping still!!

mandy said...

Whew.
I like this blog SOOO much better when you are the one doing the writing and not me.
:)

Can't wait to see you in a few days! MATRON OF HONOR REPORTING FOR DUTY!

Amanda said...

I'm so happy for you guys. Marriage is awesome. You will love it. Enjoy your big day!

Jenny Fleming said...

So happy for you my friend. I'm sending my love to SSI with Lindsey and Brian Fox!!

beckyjomama said...

Oh, Shelly, I read your blog but have never commented. But I just want you to know that this MI Siesta is praying sweet Blessings over you and Nate.

My sis in law gave me this advice on my wedding day and it was the best ever:
Take moments to look around and really soak everything in. Before you step down that aisle, look at him standing there. Breath it in. Before you say I do, soak it in. Before you kiss, remember the moment. I have such vivid memories of my day becuase I truly took that advice to heart. I remember everystep of that aisle and it is more of a Blessing than I can tell you!

Soak it in sweet girl! I will be praying and waiting for pics!

XOXOXOXOXOX
Becky Jo

Anonymous said...

WOW! To God be the glory for the things He has done!

I love what you wrote ..."Nate makes me love Jesus more". That is the way it should be!

Valentine's Day will be overflowing with joy and the Presence of our loving, living God.
He is delighted!

I just want to praise Him!!

connorcolesmom said...

Oh that made me cry!
I know your daddy was in Heaven thrilled to see you and Nate meet and now get married!!
Enjoy this week
Know that I will be praying for you and Nate
Enjoy your time in Hawaii - I have been there and it is beautiful!!
Love you sweet Shelly!
Kim

Kelly S. said...

You dance girl!

glorious dancing and "glorious living"

I'll be praying and praising Jesus too.

Have a wonderful time in Hawaii.
love you

jamie b said...

I am so excited for you and Nate! enjoy your day! it'll be one of the most surreal of your life! :)

Fran said...

Oh my word i'm bawling. Big ole blessings over the two of you. Keep on keepin' on and may HE always be the thrill of your life.

On the carpet with you.

Love you so,
Fran

Anonymous said...

Blessings to you both! I stumbled upon your blog a while back and thought it was so beautiful. Be blessed!

Unknown said...

im crying. a lot. happy and sad tears. but mostly happy!

i dont know you...just through mandy (who speaks SO HIGHLY of you) but i am so excited for you and nate!

congratulations, shelly!

Brandon and Whitney Nall said...

Oh sweet Shelly! How I loved reading every word of this...Here it is at 12:04am on February 14th and I cannot fall asleep because I am so full of smiles and praises for you and Nate. I have my man sleeping soundly right beside me and I can only think about how much you are going to enjoy these times...Being married is by far the sweetest gift that the Lord Jesus has given me outside of my salvation. Family is something I have always held close to my heart--and having a husband is the closest I have ever been to anyone.

We're putting our dancing shoes on here in Nashville and ready to dance the day away with you tomorrow as yall party it up in St Simons. We are there in Spirit! We love yall and are praying for you with much love and joy in Jesus!!!

Emmy said...

Oh Mr. and Mrs Nate Griffin I have had you all on my heart all day! YEAH! Can you believe it! Whoo Hoo! You are going to LOVE being married! I am just so excited! Have the most awesome honeymoon... will be praying!

God Bless Griffin family! Emmy : )

Linda said...

Congratulations. I am so happy for the two of you. All the pictures on here of the two of you are so beautiful.
Blessings,
Linda

Anonymous said...

I drifted over here from Mandy's blog.
I just got home from seeing "He's just not that into you" which was sad and irritating. And this post was exactly the reminder I needed of how sweet and true God designed love and marriage to be. And how He is at the center and knows our hearts.
And the part about your daddy is making me cry like a little girl.
I hope God blesses your marriage tremendously and that you two will be an inspiration to others through your union.
Praise the Lord.