Just Meant to Be

Some things are just meant to be. You can’t explain them, they defy logic and reason. They might not make sense to an outsider but when you’re the one in the middle of it, nothing seems more wonderfully fantastically normal and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I met Robert, I figured he’d be someone to watch a ballgame with, or catch a movie, or eat the other half of the spaghetti when I made too much. I didn’t expect that within six months of meeting him, I’d be head over heels in love, engaged, married, and just back from a fantastic honeymoon in Key West. But looking back on it, nothing seems more natural and there’s no one else in the entire world I’d rather spend my time and share my life with.

As I look back on the wedding planning, and I try to pretend I didn’t stress out and fret and worry and shed a tear or two, it occurs to me that as much as God was watching over each of us, steering us on sometimes challenging roads to eventually bring us to paths that crossed, He was also guiding each step of the wedding planning process.

Here are just a few examples of what I mean:

No sooner than I posted on facebook that we were engaged, a photographer friend offered to capture our special day. The venue (that I’d never heard of until that same photographer recommended it) was booked solid EXCEPT for the one weekend we had our eyes on. The dress spoke to me as soon as I walked into the bridal boutique and the make-up professional offered (without me even thinking to be bold enough to ask) to come in on a day the store was closed to get me ready for the wedding. It might be slightly unusual that ONE of those things happened; it’s miraculous that they ALL happened. That’s not coincidence, it’s not happenstance. It’s meant to be.

It seems like every bump that we hit along the planning path was easily circumvented with a phone call or a slight adjustment. When it looked like the take-home favors were about to be a shipping nightmare, a wonderful store manager stepped in and worked some magic. When I’d given up on finding the perfect shoes and settled for boring beige, a fabulous friend called with “I have purple shoes!” and all was right with the world. When too many decisions clouded our ability to think wedding and honeymoon, a travel agent friend popped up and took over coordinating our post-wedding vacation. These fabulous people weren’t put in our lives for no reason; He knew we’d need them and there they were.

In the days before the wedding, the threat of rain loomed but it held off until after the reception, and brought with it double rainbows which we took as personal signs that our marriage was part of His plan all along. It was just meant to be.

In the moments before the ceremony, when a panic of “is this dream really happening to me?” struck the blushing bride, I looked out my staging area window and saw Robert (And yes, I know that’s probably against the rules) but in that moment, I just simply knew there was nothing to be nervous about and that everyone was right where they were meant to be. As I walked down the aisle on the arm of my dad, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was walking toward the place I’ve always belonged, the place I’ve been searching for, the place where everything is just as it’s meant to be.