July 12, 2014 was the day that I had been dreaming of all my life. It was finally my wedding day! I had expected to be crazy nervous, but I was amazed at the peace that the Lord blessed my heart with on that day. We didn’t have anything major go wrong, just a few hiccups along the way, but none of them mattered because whatever happened, I was ending that day as Simeon’s wife.

We had decided to not spend a huge amount of money on our wedding, but instead to take a really nice honeymoon. Our wedding was beautiful, but simple.

Simeon’s childhood pastor, Pastor David Brown, did the ceremony for us. Simeon has always been close to Pastor Brown, so it was special for him to be the one to marry us. We were married in the cutest little white church complete with a steeple and stained glass windows- everything I was looking for in a location. We wanted the ceremony to be Gospel-centered and sentimental.

My favorite part of weddings is when the doors open and the bride steps out. While most eyes are on the gorgeous bride, I always find myself watching the groom. I love seeing the grooms eyes light up as he sees his bride coming towards him down the aisle. I told my photographer that out of all the photos she’d capture of our wedding day, the most important one to me was for her to capture Sim’s face the moment he saw me coming down the aisle. I know it’s become popular to do a “first look.” I’m way too traditional for that! I wanted Sim’s first glance of me that day to be when I started walked towards him during our wedding ceremony. My photographer got the photo for me; it is the one below. His eyes, his boyish grin. . . they get me every time I see this photo.

One of the most precious elements of our wedding was the presentation of the rings. On my 12th birthday, my Dad presented me with a purity ring. He talked with me about the importance of staying pure not only for my future husband, but most importantly, for God. I committed to God and my parents to keep myself pure. My Dad slipped the ring on my finger, and it stood as a reminder of that promise. As our wedding drew closer, Sim and I began to discuss what we would do for our wedding bands. My purity ring was so beautiful, and I was so attached to it, I asked Sim what he thought of using it as my wedding band. We realized that purity was not something we could check off a list just because we got married. Purity is a life-long pursuit as we seek to keep ourselves unspotted from the world and sin. We decided that we would use my purity ring and that it would continue to serve as a reminder that even as husband and wife, purity was still vitally important. Up to my wedding day, my Dad was the only person to ever put that ring on my finger. During the ceremony when we were about to exchange the rings, we had Pastor Brown call my Dad up. He told the story behind my ring, Dad then slipped it off my finger, handed it to Simeon, and Sim slipped it back onto my finger. It was such an emotional moment for me as it symbolled a promise kept, a gift given, and a goal for our future.

A blessing God orchestrated was that my brother, Clay, was able to be there. Clay is 18 months younger than me, and we’ve always been closer. At the time, he was in the army stationed in Germany. Up until a few weeks before our wedding, we weren’t sure if he’d be able to come home for it. We decided to trust the Lord and move ahead with plans for him to be a groomsman. I’m so thankful God worked it out, and Clay was able to be there. Clay passed away suddenly in March of 2017, so that answered prayer is even more precious to me now!

Our wedding day was nothing short of magical for me. That day was the culmination of many prayers and years of waiting and trusting. God was so good to bring Simeon and I together and write our love story. When we place our lives in His hands, He will always exceed our expectations.

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

*You can hear Simeon and I talk about our wedding on the No Higher Calling podcast, Episode 3- Our Love Story Part 2. Listen to the episode below or subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Links can be found here