Good morning, everyone! After going to Washington state, getting married, traveling to Switzerland and Boston, digging through all my e-mails, and catching up on the blog posts, here I am! First of all, let me thank Gusti, Lindsey, Jennifer, Amy, and Brianne for the fantastic and thought-provoking posts they wrote in my absence. I really enjoyed reading them.

Have you ever had a birthday, and someone asked you, “So, how does it feel to be 22?” If you’re like me, you usually answer, “Just about the same as it felt to be 21.” Well, let me tell you that this does not apply when you get married. Being married feels different. I don’t think I can even fully describe how it feels different, but it does.

In case you’re wondering how the wedding went, it was, of course, beautiful. In fact, had I been sitting in the congregation watching, I probably would have said it was absolutely lovely and I had the time of my life. And while I did enjoy it as the bride, I must say that my enjoyment was clouded by sleep deprivation and interspersed with moments of general confusion. It didn’t help that I was in a car accident two days before the wedding, and that I lost my bouquet somewhere on the way to the church (it was located, thankfully). But all was well, and by the end of the day we were hitched.

Switzerland was great fun, too—I must say that while Lugano, in the Italian-speaking southern region, had the best scenery, Geneva was probably my favorite destination. It was like Disneyland for Reformed Christians!! In one day, David and I visited the Wall of the Reformers monument, which featured giant statues of John Calvin and John Knox, the newly-opened International Museum of the Reformation, the archaeological dig under the church where Geneva’s citizens decided to join the Reformation, the Cathedral itself, and the Calvin Auditorium where Calvin lectured and Knox ministered during his Geneva exile. And to top it all off, David and I bought Mary Elva a box of “Le Petit Calvin” chocolates! She promised to share them at staff meeting tomorrow.

My experience of marriage thus far brings home to me how life-altering vows of commitment between two people really are. David and I have always been serious about our relationship—you don’t spend as many hours on your cell phones as we do if you’re not. And yet if you view marriage as a lifetime commitment, which I do, you find on the other side that you’ve entered a much deeper place with that other person. You risk a lot of yourself in that kind of commitment, because when you take the vows you’re saying, “I’m going to stick with you—even when you don’t wash dishes after dinner, even when I don’t like who you vote for, even when you wound me by your words and actions. This is a covenant, not a contract.”

I would be lying to you if I said that this huge life change didn’t scare the you-know-what out of me sometimes. But perhaps the first lesson I’m learning in this new relationship is trust—trust in the man who promised to stick with me, no matter what, and trust in the God that brought me to this point. Most of you have probably heard the story of Abraham. One day Abram wakes up and God says to him, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). The Bible says that Abram (later Abraham) went. He hopped on that camel, even when it meant leaving everything he had known behind.

David and I are going too, to a spiritual and emotional land we haven’t seen, one unlike the familiar relationships of our friends and family. We go believing that God has called us to this new place, and that God’s love is with us as we journey there.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” --Genesis 12:1-2

Kelsey

Congrats!! And you're welcome about doing the guest blogging. I enjoyed it!

I have been told that the day after a wedding, there's a big letdown. The bride (and possibly the groom) has been running around crazy for the previous days (or weeks) and now it's all over with. Did you feel any of that?

Oh, and of course I want to see pictures when you get a chance!

Speaking as someone who just got married a couple of months ago myself, I totally relate to what you've said -- it feels different, but I can't tell you how, and it's scary because there's so much that's unknown.

For me, the entire wedding day feels kind of like a dream now. Is it the same for you?

Finally, like Lindsay, I'd like to see pictures when you can share them! =)

Rebecca Morrison