To those who don't qualify to wear a white wedding dress...

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
- Isaiah 61:10

I love the Duggar family. They almost make the task of parenting 19 children look fun. I have to give props to Jim Bob and Michelle. They sure know how to do family, and they've done one heck of a job raising their kids. It's a real shame more families can't be like the Duggars. I read a comment the other day by an individual stating that the Duggars were crazy radicals. Is it really so crazy and radical to love, provide for, nurture, care for, and have a good relationship with your children? Is that what we're calling outlandish these days? If you ask me, the unfortunate number of news stories I read about parents abusing and murdering their children is crazy and radical to me. Maybe I'm missing something here.

I spent most of last Tuesday night watching re-runs of 19 Kids and Counting. The episodes I watched were the two I was most hoping to see. One episode featured one of the daughter's wedding, and the other one featured another daughter's engagement. I will say that I absolutely respect and admire their decision to have such strict boundaries set when it comes to physical contact. The kids didn't hold hands until they were engaged and they didn't kiss until they were married. Certainly not an easy path to choose, but I can imagine it was most rewarding. These days you're pegged as a weirdo if you choose to live a prudent lifestyle. I don't quite understand that either, but I will say that I hope and pray my future children are just as "weird" as the Duggars.

Aaron and I are celebrating our 1.5 year anniversary today! It has flown by. It seems like just yesterday we were meeting one another. I remember when Aaron and I first talked about marriage. I was a little hesitant to entertain the idea of having a full out wedding. I didn't really feel like I deserved one. I'll never forget being asked by a friend if I was going to wear a white wedding dress. I suppose that was a legitimate question, but it was also hurtful. Obviously I wasn't the only one who felt undeserving of a worthy celebration. The truth is, though, I had been that girl before. I had been the one who knew of another's tainted past and thought, "Look at her parading down that aisle in a white wedding dress like she actually meets the qualifications to wear it." What a self-righteous thought, huh? Did you know that white wedding dresses actually got their start in the 1800's by Queen Victoria? They began as a trend and a status symbol. They weren't intended to be a reflection of purity. But I prided myself on the fact that I wasn't going to be that girl. I was going to be able to rightfully wear a white wedding dress and tout my purity to all who attended. I had been a "good" girl and fully deserved to wear the whitest of white. And I did...the first time.

The truth is, though, I struggled with it the second time. In fact, I struggled with the thought of even wearing a traditional wedding dress. I was probably wrong in my thinking, but I felt that if I wore a traditional, white wedding gown, people would have rolled their eyes in disbelief. But I wanted to look like a radiant bride for my groom. I felt like he deserved that. I wanted his jaw to hit the floor when he saw me. He had seen me in a ton of dresses, but I wanted it to be the dress that took his breath away. I wanted to be the imagery of bridal perfection, and I wasn't so sure that a simple dress was going to cut it. I remember when the church doors opened and I saw Aaron for the first time on our wedding day. I had on a simple, white-ish dress and he watched me walk down the aisle as he did his best to fight back tears while smiling from ear to ear. It was a joyous occasion, and I fully believe that he saw his bride in absolute perfection.

"No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool." - Isaiah 1:18

We're all stained in one way or another. No one is truly spotless, and no one deserves to wear white. But the beauty that comes from knowing Jesus is that we get to wear white. He has washed our stains away. All of them. So we can wear our white with joy and thanksgiving. Church, we can lift our head and walk down that aisle towards our groom because He shed His precious blood to give us that opportunity. What a joyous occasion! What a precious gift! To be presented as pure, white as wool, clean as freshly fallen snow. And when He sees His bride, He sees perfection. He doesn't see the stains. He died so that she could be clothed in white. Not because she deserved it, not because she earned it, but because His love for her is great.

"As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." - Isaiah 62:5