Our 4 Year Anniversary and the Meaning of Marriage...

Today, Jon and I celebrate 4 years of being husband and wife, and I’m definitely in my feels about him, us, and the BIBLICAL meaning of marriage.

When I walked down the aisle four years ago, clinging to my Dad’s arm and holding back tears, I truly had no idea what I was committing to. Though marriage counseling had been completed, newlywed books read, and well-meaning words of wisdom had been imparted, I could not have been prepared for the whirlwind of change that I was about to embark upon: living with (and for!) someone else.

I never thought of myself as an overly selfish person. I liked my me-time with trips, travels, and my fair share of manis/pedis. 👀 But I was always equally as passionate about spending time with God, church, family, giving, and missions and felt that my time and resources were well-balanced and well-disciplined. Before we were married, Jon and I also made the intentional decision to wait to live together until we were married. That meant that during our engagement, I was living at my parent’s and enjoying my own space, freedom, and independence. These things, when paired with my lack of experience in compromise, selflessness, and humility, made for a surprising first year of marriage.

AS A CHRISTIAN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ME TO HAVE AN OUTDOOR WEDDING WHERE I COULD TRULY FEEL GOD’S GLORY! WE CHOSE A QUIET VENUE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

PEEP SOME OF MY AMAZING NEW YORK WEDDING VENDORS:

• Wedding Boutique: Lovely Bride Rochester

• Wedding Gown: Wtoo by Watters (Della)

• MUAH: Ivory and Fleur

• Photography: Kendal Anne Weddings

• Videography: Raven Rose Films

After saying our I Do’s, we embarked on a journey of hard learning. The slightest differences within our upbringings and family dynamics caused a movement of tectonic plates within our relationship. Decisions on money, budgeting, problem solving, and things as dumb as bedtime routines (a.k.a. Xbox time or not for Jon lol) caused ripples within our ecosystem that led to massive earthquakes. Our feelings erupted (mine more than his lol) and words fell like hot lava between us… and so did maaaany, many tears. For the first time ever, we were starting to peel back the layers to the other’s innermost thoughts and feelings, which exposed also our flaws and shortcomings, including impatience and quickness to point a finger to name a couple.

I began to learn a slow-burn type of lesson ON THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF MARRIAGE: marriage was designed to point us to the gospel.

Marriage wasn’t meant to be easy. It wasn’t ever supposed to be this “fairytale.” And it was certainly never about simply “marrying our best friend.” Rather, marriage is a vehicle that point us to Christ because, within its trenches, we see how it’s possible to unveil the depths of another person’s failures, and still willingly choose to love them… because that’s what Christ did for us.

Best said by Timothy Keller in his book, The Meaning of Marriage (a must read! You can find it here): “Marriage shows that, though we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, we at the very same time are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ more than we ever dared hope. The gospel can fill our hearts with God’s love so that we can handle it when our spouse fails to love us as he or she should, and it frees us to see our spouse’s sins and flaws to the bottom – and yet still love and accept our spouse fully.”

As I come to the other side of four years with Jon, I’m able to treasure the most beautiful years of my life. I can cherish the happiest, most lighthearted times I’ve ever shared with another person on this planet… times of vacationing, inside joke telling, feet rubbing, and about-to-wake-up-the-baby type of laughing. But I’ve also come to an equally deep and poignant appreciation of the Biblical meaning of marriage: that no matter how far we fall, differ, or disagree, we have the unique ability to mirror the gospel. When we choose to love, forgive, and serve our spouse above ourself, we become models of how Christ loved us, putting the glory of His gospel on display.

This is why I’m not only excited to celebrate four years with my sweet hunny today, but why I can also step into wedding photography with infinitely more passion. I’ve embraced my role as a Christian wedding photographer with more purpose than ever. I’ve come to believe that marriage is truly the sweetest gift to all of humanity, blessing us with lifelong friendship, companionship, and intimacy, but it simultaneously points us to a cosmic love that is higher, wider, deeper, and richer than that which could ever be found in a marriage.

This love is only found in the One who can truly satisfy: the God of all creation, Jesus Christ! I thank God for His good, thoughtful, and creative design for marriage, and How in His wisdom and providence, He gave it to all of humanity as a gift. Soli deo gloria!

I can't go without giving a huge shout out to Kendal Anne for all of our beautiful wedding photos and our gorgeous waterfall wedding attire session! This is one of many reasons I’m such a huge fan of wedding attire sessions, which you can read all about here. Happy four year anniversary, sweetheart! Here’s to many more. ♥️