This one will be short and sweet because in a just a little bit the wedding madness begins as today I get the joy of seeing my sister Katherine (Pooch Dawg) married to Austin Averill (Tina). It has been a joy for me to see both of them grow in maturity both in life and in their walks with the Lord these past years.
My sister is amazing! She is smart, beautiful, funny, and has a band-with that far exceeds most people.
Austin is her perfect match. He is laid back, kind, strong, loves Jesus and everything I would hope for a future brother in law to be! (especially the fact that I can own him in pretty much any competition...not that its all about me or anything :)
Anyways, all that to say here are 3 major ways that marriage has changed my life and I hope the same will be true for my sister and Austin
1 My View of Love - It is impossible to know what unconditional love is before you are married. Growing up you are stuck with your family, you love them, but its all you have ever known. Since Mary and I have been married my view of love has changed dramatically! I now put Mary's thoughts, fears, hopes, and joys over my own and am constantly in prayer for her, I defend her with my teeth snarled (not literally), and my goal is to give her every reason to continue to love me more and more. God has blessed me with a great wife and I do my best to be faithful to that gift!
2. Soberness in my walk with the Lord - The fact that I am now the leader of Mary and responsible for her spiritual walk is still terrifying to me. Often times I am convicted that I am not giving my all in this area and it is very sobering for me. Just like a father presents a bride on a wedding day I want to someday present Mary to the Lord with the same joy and boldness. In order to do that I need to be the man God has called me to be first and foremost, then I need to lead Mary and be the husband to her that Christ was to the Church! Pretty amazingly big shoes to fill!
3. God is undeniably good! - These last 2 years with Mary and been far and away the best 2 years of my life and my prayer for Katherine and Austin are that marriage would be the same for them and that marriage would draw them closer to the feet of God and that they would never take for granted the joys and a marriage rooted in Christ provides.
Well, thats all I got...everything else they need to know and learn they will do so in time!
Happy wedding Pooch
Cal
ps. the one with the crazy eyes in the picture is Katherine
