I Choose You

  I read a really thought-provoking article by Matt Walsh today. It's actually the second time I've come across it, but it still makes me think. The gist of it is that love, specifically marriage, is a choice. It isn't predetermined and it certainly isn't like in books or movies. Entering the Sacrament of marriage is the most important and life changing decision a person could ever make (besides choosing to follow Christ, obviously). That's just it; it's a decision.

  Maybe it hit me a little differently today because I am now reading it as an engaged woman. In less than 8 months, Jordan and I will be eternally binding ourselves to each other. Even though I'm very excited, the magnitude of the commitment we're making can be overwhelming to think about. We need to think about it. The reason I'm choosing to marry Jordan isn't because he's "The One." How could I possibly prove that anyway? I'll be honest here; I used to say that right away I knew Jordan was The One. I don't anymore, though. One of us could die in a car accident before our wedding and 10 years from now we could be married to someone else. How could we have been The One for each other in that case?

  Now I tell people that very early into our courtship I knew Jordan was (and still is) the man I want to marry. The person with whom I want to spend my life with. He won't be The One for me until I slide his wedding band onto his finger at the altar. I won't be The One for him until he places my wedding ring on my left hand. The moment we are married, our choice is solidified before God and the world. We will have chosen our one and will evermore be one. I love how Mr. Walsh puts it when he wrote:

"I didn’t marry my wife because she’s The One, she’s The One because I married her. Until we were married, she was one, I was one, and we were both one of many. I didn’t marry The One, I married this one, and the two of us became one. I didn’t marry her because I was “meant to be with her,” I married her because that was my choice, and it was her choice, and the Sacrament of marriage is that choice. I married her because I love her — I chose to love her — and I chose to live the rest of my life in service to her."

  Sacramental marriage is the most romantic relationship of all. It's all a choice to love each other for better or for worse, in every form that takes. It's going through life with your best friend by your side, to lean on and laugh with. Some of my favorite things to do with Jordan are the most simple. Sure, getting dressed up and going out is fun, but I live for afternoons of tossing a Frisbee or singing together in the car on our way to the gas station. Movies make it seem like love has to be dramatic kisses in the rain or slamming each other into a wall while taking our clothes off. Sure, passion is important, but it isn't everything. 

  When you choose The One, you choose them every day for the rest of your life. The marriage vows are best lived out in the way of saying and showing to your spouse, "I choose you."

*Here's Matt Walsh's post: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/i-didnt-marry-the-one-she-become-the-one-after-i-married-her/