I am writing this exactly 6 days before my brother's wedding. He will be my fifth sibling to watch get married and my heart is exploding with joy. As I'm about to watch one last sibling get married, I have started to think about what it is to have a love to last a lifetime.

I was lucky enough to have 3 sets of grandparents- one I have only gotten the joy of seeing pictures and hearing stories- but the other 2 I have gotten to watch fall in love with each other over and over again each day. I was lucky enough to have parents who love each other endlessly and four, now almost five, siblings model what it means to have a godly marriage.

As I see each of my siblings with their children and their spouse, I see what it means to have that love that lasts a lifetime. I see what it means in the Bible when it talks about how the church is the bride of Christ and that is so hard for humans to model. It is hard for us to fully grasp what it means to love as Christ loves, but through my siblings, I have learned that our love is imperfect, but as we try to shape our families as Christ-like as possible the love of Christ is evident.

I will admit that it is strange to think about- marriage that is. It is something that I have prayed for each day, written letters about, and thought about endlessly. It is something that brings me joy to watch as it happens to two people, especially when I am related to them.

For me, I am still praying and anxiously awaiting my wedding day. It is something that I long for, but I know has to happen on God's timing and not my own. People always say good things come to those who wait so I am guessing God has a hunk waiting for me. The beautiful thing about waiting on that perfect person is I get to see how sweet marriage is from a distance and I get to look forward to the day I will get to share it with my future spouse.

A love to last a lifetime... it sounds so sweet. It sounds easy, but it isn't. While I was blessed with Godly grandparents, parents, and siblings I know that this love is sticky and it isn't always sweet, but what is sweet is the process of making it work. The love God has for the church is perfect and real, something that we as humans are not capable of and that is okay because we weren't meant to be. We fail everyday, but it is the process of making things right that makes our relationship with Christ and others so meaningful.

This whole new chapter that I will soon watch my brother entire into is something that is so incredible and I pray everyone gets to experience it.