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{"id":11055,"date":"2024-06-13T11:10:23","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=11055"},"modified":"2024-06-13T11:10:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:10:23","slug":"rejoicing-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2024\/06\/rejoicing-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoicing Ahead!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight!<\/p>\n

Marriage has been much on my mind, and I\u2019m hoping to write more on interrelated topics soon, but meanwhile let me say that the past several months have been the most work* I\u2019ve ever put into preparing for a single sacrament.<\/p>\n

Usually<\/em> my advice to young couples is to keep the wedding small and hold onto as much of your savings as possible for getting your marriage off on solid financial footing. I stand by this generally. I remain absolutely firm on avoiding all wedding-induced debt, and likewise leaving the emergency savings untouched, even if it means just a tiny wedding with only the very closest family.<\/p>\n

And yet sometimes parenting takes us to new places.\u00a0 Unexpected plot twists that have come to us thus far in the journey:<\/p>\n

\nWe became rabbit lovers!<\/li>\nWe became sports parents!!<\/li>\nWe became big-wedding people???!!!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

These things happen. Your vocation should lead you to new places, and here we are.<\/p>\n

\n

In prayerfully discerning whether to accept the very generous contributions of some loved ones to basically double our budget so this wedding could be a much more elaborate affair than previously planned, what I found myself coming back to in prayer was The Wedding at Cana.<\/p>\n

Here is this young couple embarking wholeheartedly on a marriage that is exactly what our world needs \u2014 cherishing each other, centering their lives around Jesus, eager to embark on their lifelong mission together as husband and wife for certain, and as father and mother when the time comes.<\/p>\n

Our other children and their peers can attest that it can be very hard<\/em> to find a future spouse<\/a>, even when you are both intentional in your dating and open to letting God surprise you.<\/p>\n

There are no guarantees in life, but if ever I had confidence that an engaged couple had chosen well and were likely to succeed, with the Lord\u2019s help, at the long and challenging vocation ahead of them, this is that moment.<\/p>\n

So yes, this is indeed something to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\n*
** Well, you don\u2019t go big and<\/em> stay within even generously-loosened financial constraints unless you put a load of work into it. At every turn my daughter has been finding the most frugal way to get the thing done, putting hours of work into researching, handcrafting, and carefully selecting where to outsource help and what to do in-house.<\/p>\n
** I\u2019ve been the co-conspirator all along, letting her lead but putting in the manpower when there is something I\u2019m uniquely suited to either by talent or dint of free time.<\/p>\n
** It\u2019s going to be good. So beautifully good.<\/p>\n
** But I don\u2019t anticipate any serious writing happening through the rest of June, because I\u2019ll be deep in extended family time before and after.<\/p>\n
** \n
** In good news: Come August our youngest goes off to college, and the SuperHusband and I will be empty nesters!\u00a0 So after a summer that will stay pretty busy even after the last of the wedding guests heads home, it is our plan that I\u2019ll focus in the year head on more writing stuff.<\/p>\n
** We all know how plans tend to go, but my hope is to pick back up with a novel project that, while entirely, 100%, heavens to Betsy this is fiction fiction fiction<\/em>, will certainly having me doing a lot of thinking about the kinds of topics I write about here and at the \u2018stack.<\/p>\n
** That\u2019s the hope.<\/p>\n
** *Anyway, rejoice with me as my daughter and future son-in-law prepare for the biggest moment in their young lives, and thanks for being here.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Artwork: Wedding at Cana, public domain, click through for details and a full-resolution image<\/a>.\u00a0 Yes, this is basically what my life feels like right now, but in a good way!<\/em><\/p>\n

*Okay if we count gestating and delivering the recipient, then I\u2019ve put waaaay more work into four baptism preps. Although, then we think about two decades and change spent rearing the Fitz-half of the couple, and there we are.<\/p>\n

\n

PS: 100% I got my daughter a copy of\u00a0The Sinner\u2019s Guide to NFP<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>You know it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight! Marriage has been much on my mind, and I\u2019m hoping to write more on interrelated topics soon, but meanwhile let me say that the past several months have been the most work* I\u2019ve ever put into preparing for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":11058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[482,216,86,248],"tags":[999,993,996,990],"class_list":["post-11055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-good-things","category-its-all-catholic","category-marriage","category-writing-stuff","tag-blessed","tag-in-laws","tag-marriage-prep","tag-wedding-planning"],"yoast_head":"\nRejoicing Ahead!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight! 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