Passing the Torch

With wedding planning, just as with the Olympics, there's an end to the festivities and there's a time to pass the torch on.

Wedding planning and errands ended in August and I wondered what sort of hobby I would have to pick up to keep myself busy (and sound interesting on the blog). I had made a mental commitment to not take on additional Bible studies, church committee duties, or other similar things for the first year of our marriage, so finding something to occupy my time would have to be creative.

With John returning to cycling and making me a Cycling Widow in the process, I really felt the need to take something up - besides the feather duster. Since our wedding, two couples I know have gotten engaged. One couple are friends of my brother's and the other is John's sister.

Sharon and Jim got engaged last week and of course everyone is over the moon with excitement. I've spent the last few days happily focused on trying to recall all of the great advice, ideas, and websites that I could pass along to her. I've even started checking out websites that cater to wedding planning in her area. I think I may just turn into sister-in-law-zilla (Siszilla??) that I need to restrain myself with the e-mails, calls, and excitement. I think John is too afraid to let me know the truth, but I can't help it. I feel like my own sibling is getting married. Since they live out of town, their wedding can't be my hobby (and shouldn't be since it's not my wedding), but doing online research for it just might keep me busy enough in the coming weeks.

Her engagement, of course, has brought up a lot of feelings about my own engagement and just the amoung of joy that it brought me. When John and I got engaged, there was the immense feeling of security in our relationship. I didn't ever worry that John would leave, but somehow the engagement brought this inner peace about our future. A friend of mine told me she experienced the same kind of feeling and that it was much more heightened when she got married.

Sharon has an exciting future awaiting her.