First Year of Marriage: Paradise or Purgatory?

With all the attention on our blog regarding weddings during the past year, I'd love to take this opportunity to give you Alison's impression of the first eight months of her marriage to Eric. They were wed last October following a long-distance courtship.

This week she updated her blog, Impassioned Purity, with a post about what they've learned thus far as they walk the sometimes rugged trail of newlyweds.

Among other things, Alison addresses the common thought that the first year of marriage is bound to be a hard one.

Here are Alison's reflections from her post: 8 Months: A Learning.

Remember the Chant?

Mrs. Beaver:

I remember jumping rope to this ditty as a little girl:

First comes love...

 ...then comes marriage...

Bet you've guessed it by now--

...then comes B.A.B.Y. in a baby carriage!

We're thrilled to announce that Lissie's is expecting! Eric and Lissie's first child is due September 27, Lord willing, right around their first anniversary. The baby's gender is as of yet unknown.

Lissie is in week 12 and, by God's grace, doing great. Both Eric and Lissie love babies and are filled with joy that the Lord has blessed them with this pregnancy!

Eric and Lissie's Wedding: The Bride and Groom

These photos were taken by professional photographer Lauren La Plante before the wedding just after Eric got his first glimpse of Lissie.

Eric and Lissie's Wedding: The Groom's First Glance

Photo credit: Lauren LaPlante of Lauren LaPlante Photography

The Bride Adorned

In October our second oldest daughter, Lissie, was married. I'm just now getting to posting the photos following some recent surgery.

In case you missed it, Eric and Lissie's love story can be found on her blog.

(Credit for all these photos goes to Lauren LaPlante of Lauren LaPlante Photography )

Lissie and her bridesmaids got ready in the basement of the church.

Her makeup artist was her sister, Daria, who had joined the family through adoption three years earlier. Daria learned her skill in her Russian orphanage when the director brought in a makeup artist to teach the motherless teenage girls how to beautify themselves.

The bride had her hair done professionally. However, all the other girls involved in the day's celebration had their tresses coiffed by family friends Bethany (below) and Sarah (not pictured). There was so much hair to be done that sometimes multitasking was required!

While one bride, five bridesmaids (including one sister) and seven additional sisters busily prepared themselves, 16-month-old Brielle, daughter of the matron of honor, patiently paced the floor.

Lissie's sisters, Jaynie and Sarah, laced the intricate corset of her gown.

When the lacing was complete it was time for a bride sandwich...also know as a sister hug.

I had been watching the hubbub from the side of the room...

...but now I stepped in to complete Lissie's adornment by placing the veil in her hair, just as I'd been blessed to do for her older sister, Anna, 2-1/2 years earlier.

And thus the bride was made ready for her groom!

The First Man in Her Life

Getting Lissie ready for her wedding day took a great deal of preparation. But that period of preparation can't be measured in months. Getting Lissie ready to be a bride took years ~ 21 years to be exact.

Long before there was Eric, there was Dad. Throughout her growing up years, Lissie's daddy stayed close to his baby girl. He spent time with her...just her. He listened to her. He cared about the things that mattered to her. He cheered her on when things went well and he held when she hurt. As a result, he had her heart.

Her dad taught her about God. Her dad taught her to read her Bible daily by reading his every morning. Her dad lead her to the cross and knelt there beside her.

By the time Lissie was old enough to approach the wedding altar, she'd been treasured so deeply that she only had eyes for a man who will cherish her and treat her right. She wouldn't settle for a man who didn't love Jesus. The bar was set high as a result of her dad's input into her life--throughout her life. And God answered her daddy's prayers of 21 years for just the right man to stroll into her life at just the right time.

I'm certain the first man in her life thinks his 21-year investment has paid off richly.

Joy...and Pain...for Our Twins

Twins John and Lissie, friends since conception, prepare for change

While our photographers were preparing their equipment to take pictures on the church's second floor, the Lord granted our twins, John and Lissie, a moment alone. In the hush of the cavernous sanctuary, our twins embraced and silently braced themselves for what the day’s “leaving and cleaving” would have to mean for the two of them. This brother and sister had been conjoined at the heart in a fiercely loyal friendship since sharing the womb. But the day had arrived when their friendship had to be remolded as Lissie became Eric’s wife. My heart ached as I looked on even though I knew that Lissie's marriage to Eric was God's perfect plan for her life. So I prayed. I prayed for God's grace to cover them both as they faced such profound change. I thanked the Lord that our twins’ hearts were so closely intertwined as they grew up. I asked God to provide the perfect wife for John. I look forward to the joyous day when it will be his turn to stand at the altar and pledge a lifetime of friendship and faithfulness to his soul mate. Both John and Lissie have learned much about living the kind of self-denying love that a great marriage takes through God's great gift of being twins.

Eric and Lissie's Wedding: Private Moments

Before I post the pictures taken by our wedding photographer, I want to share a few I was able to capture on Eric and Lissie's wedding day.

Each of these is a candid photograph, taken when the couple was unaware of anything but each other.

After the photographer had taken photos of the bride and groom on the church's main floor, she suggested we go upstairs and make use of some empty classrooms. I went up one staircase crossed the balcony, and met Eric and Lissie as they ascended a narrow back staircase. I readied my camera immediately because the couple had unwittingly created a perfect photo op...and I was the only photographer nearby! Eric had swooped Lissie into his arms and carried her up the stairs. The church's hundred-year-old arched door frame made a perfect backdrop for recording this unplanned act of pure romance.

To God be the glory!

Coming SOON...Wedding Photos!

A sample of what's to come...

Lissie with flower girls Aiyana (age 6--sister of the groom) and Lilly (age 3--friend of the bride)

Unposed

On Eric and Lissie's wedding day, I had the joy of being allowed to follow the photographers around as they took the couple's pictures following the Eric's "First Sight" of his bride before the wedding.

At one point we were all up on the church's second level that overlooks the beautiful sanctuary. Both  photographers were turned away making adjustments to their equipment. I looked up from changing a setting on my camera and caught sight of Eric kneeling before his bride. Does romance get any sweeter than this? Ahhh...the overflowing kindness of the Lord on our lives!