Flourishing in Every Way

I have this framed poem in our main floor bathroom that I stare at regularly while I’m in there. A few days ago, I was staring at it once again, and I was reminded of my wedding day—especially my journey of finding my wedding dress. I was most stressed about this, mainly because I thought I started late in my search and didn’t have enough time, and I wanted to find the one. Pressure was on, but finally and thankfully, by the fourth shop, I said yes to my dress.

As stressed as I was, finding my dress turned out to be far more meaningful than I expected. One thing I realized after trying on dress after dress at the first couple shops is that it didn’t matter how you look and what you thought of yourself—a wedding dress itself is so beautiful that whoever wears the dress is, by default, beautiful.

And then, the truth hit me.

Jesus adorns us with Himself, and we are made beautiful and whole in Him. Just as the wedding dress covers our “flaws”, so does Jesus. What once was ash was made into beauty. This truth touched me so deeply that I was inspired to walk down the aisle to this song: Beauty for Ashes by Shane and Shane (listen below if you wish).

At the fourth dress shop (by this time, I was desperate and actually had lost some weight because of the stress of finding the one), I finally found a dress that I felt suited me, and my mom thought so too. But was this the one? I couldn’t answer that. I was looking for the feeling of a loud, yes, this is the one, but nowhere was that excitement and confidence felt.

As I stood there contemplating and holding up the line, I asked my bridal consultant. She said it doesn’t always come in a loud yes, and it actually wasn’t like that for her either. As soon as I heard that, I noticed a worship song that was meaningful to me playing in the background, and it immediately brought peace to my heart. Somehow, deep down, I knew this must be the dress.

It was a quiet and gentle—yes.

The poem hanging in my bathroom is Beauty for Ashes by L.B. Chiaro. This poem will always remind me of that season—the nuggets of truth that I felt deeply and the peace He used to guide me. The stress was worth all that I received during that time.

To my sisters—you are beautiful, and you will look beautiful in any wedding dress. But if you are a little meticulous and are looking for that perfect dress, it may not always come loudly. Sometimes it’s gentle—a sense of peace in your heart. You may not be fully confident on the outside, but you take faith in that peace. That’s the yes. A quiet and soft yes.

For my married sisters, what did your yes to the dress feel like?