Texas in the morning, Texas in the evening, Texas in the afternoon...

Could you guess it? I may or may not be in Texas.

Ok, so I'm in Texas...and I'm loving it.

My dear friend Vanessa is getting married this weekend--and I am here to support her and help her and love her. So things are good.

Yesterday, we spent the day finishing up last minute details, and today, we get to be rewarded by a day at the spa... (Look, I would give a spa day to each of you if I could...)

With all of this wedding hulu going on around me, I've taken some time to reflect on my own marriage.

I praise the Lord daily for how my marriage has already shaped me.

It really is amazing how hard marriage is, but also how sweet it is.

I am grateful to realize that though my marriage is a huge part of my happiness it is not the whole of the joy in my life...and that it is used to heighten my other experiences.

I am incredibly blessed to have a husband who encourages me in the Lord, and challenges me to grow and become a better person.

I am in awe of the amount of grace extended to me by the Lord through my husband, my picture of grace. I am humbled every day.

This Grace that has ruined my flesh driven life has marked me with the sign of Christ and enabled me to see the world with a new perspective that my marriage broadens and stretches daily.

I am filled with wonder as I look around. Nature, art, music, literature, traditions, languages, foods, dance, humor, science, intelligence in general: it all feeds this curiosity to know the world more, and inevitably experience Yaweh more. A curiosity that my husband fully supports.

(Even when it's a little different, or uncomfortable..or is with bad-timing...)

As I sit here in Vanessas' kitchen---preparing for this wonderful day---I am blown away.

Thank the Lord for Texas; and Thank the Lord for His Grace.