Confessions of a Bride, Part I

Though my engagement was only 4 1/2 months, I was still rattled by the amount of change that happened leading up to marriage.

As a single woman, I think I was a very healthy version of independent. I took care of my own car maintenance, finances, moved across the country, actively involved in overseas missions, traveled, purchased my own small kitchen appliances (didn't wait to get married to do so), and proactively found my identity and value as a single woman.

This was difficult at times (single times). I remember hours long conversations with my best girlfriends about world missions, and where did we fit in as single, confident, Christian women? What was our role in the church? How do we explain to our hopeful relatives that we're actually HAPPY single? How do we admit to each other that we simultaneously desire to be married?

I liked being single. The independence, freedom, opportunity, and open future did me well. So, what happens to an independent, saucy, and God-fearing single woman when she gets engaged? Answer: all kinds of things she didn't expect.