Falling in love… with Jesus!

Well, it’s official. I am now a married woman! Almost three weeks ago, my husband and I said our vows and celebrated our new lives together in the presence of many great friends and family members. It was a beautiful day that we will always remember, and I’m so glad that it’s over. Sure, it makes me feel a bit reminiscent when I think about how I’ll never have a wedding day again and how my special moment is over and gone forever. But to be completely honest, it’s a huge relief to be done with it. Planning a wedding truly is a stressful and time consuming job! Fortunately for me, the majority of the nine months that I spent planning were not particularly stressful (at least not because of anything wedding-related). The only really hectic time was the week before, but one week of over-the-top busyness is quite enough for me. And truly, I feel more happy to be married now than I could ever have felt about any special day, no matter how significant. Not to mention the awesome two weeks we got to spend afterwards on our honeymoon!

Of course, in the crazy lives of college students there always seem to be new things happening. For us, the next big thing was a weekend trip to Catalina Island for a church retreat, which we just returned from on Monday. That is what I really want to talk about!

For those of you who don’t know what a church retreat is, here’s a quick explanation; a church retreat is like a mini vacation that you go on with other people from your church for the purpose of enjoying one another’s company, and more importantly, enjoying God and getting to know Him better. They can be anywhere and anytime, from a snowy mountain camp in the winter to a beach-side camp in the summer, but they are all typically camp-style. In other words, you stay in a cabin with a bunch of other people of the same gender and eat planned meals in a cafeteria. You sleep in a sleeping bag, don’t have to wear makeup, and sometimes don’t have electricity. Best of all, you get to spend several hours a day if not more just learning about God, praying, worshiping, and otherwise growing closer to Him. It’s absolutely wonderful!

My husband and I just went on one such trip this past weekend, and it was one of the best spiritual experiences either of us have ever had. I learned so many great things about how God works and came to peace with many of the concerns, doubts, and questions I had before. For example, I discovered that God speaking is not some magical experience that you can’t ignore. He speaks in so many different ways and most of the time, it’s not “supernatural” at all. His voice is also very easy to ignore if you aren’t listening. As a woman who always wondered why I never heard God speak to me, this new information was extremely comforting. I found out that God has been speaking to me all along, and that I just need to learn to recognize it and stop looking so hard. It was right there in front of me the whole time!

Cory told me that he also learned a lot about God speaking and that he heard God’s voice in ways that he never had before. I personally saw my husband grow in his relationship with God so much this weekend, and I can’t even begin to explain how proud and happy that makes me.

All of this to say that I am developing a new obsession for Jesus. Fortunately, an obsession for Jesus is always a good thing and falling in love with Him over and over again is life-changing. I am a different person when I’m falling in love with Jesus than I am when I’m putting him on hold; I’m a more loving wife, a more patient and considerate daughter, a more caring friend, a more confident woman, and a ridiculously more joyful person. There is no greater sense of peace than the one that comes from putting God at the front and center of your life.

I’m praying for all of my readers to either discover Jesus for the first time or fall in love with Him more than ever before. I’m praying that all of my readers who are married, especially, remember to keep God in the very center of their marriages. There is no greater way to ensure marital success than to share yourselves spiritually with each other and with the God who created love.

If you want to talk to me about anything in this blog, please feel free to find me on facebook and send me a message! Just search for Heather Westropp. If you don’t use facebook of course (and I don’t blame you), you can always email me at heather@heatherwestropp.com. I’d love to hear your comments, concerns, thoughts, and anything else you’d like to share with me.

Thanks again for reading!

 

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