Girls Who Get Distracted By Shiny Things

**Author's Note:  My Mama has been running around like a chicken with her head cut off.  She had been running all weekend and didn't have a chance to write Mama Says Monday...but she hopes to have it for tomorrow.  I am sharing one of my Facebooks writings from January with y'all because it's still very relevant.**

Girls Who Get Distracted By Shiny Things

I am writing this as one of those girls. 

When I first got my emerald and diamond ring, I was driving down the road admiring how it glimmered in the sunlight…and I drove off of the road and nearly wrecked my car. No lie. I am easily distracted by sparkly, shiny things.

Now, I have sat on this post for about a week. Trying to gather my thoughts and words…So…here goes.

You see…I was having a conversation with a girl recently, and she was telling me about the things going on in her life. She told me that she had been seeing someone and that she felt an engagement was on the horizon. What has stuck with me, though, has been how flippant her attitude was about the guy…and how she seemed more infatuated with the idea of the engagement and wedding. 

Please realize, this blog post is from a single, never-married, possible future cat-loving spinster. BUT... I was blessed with parents who gave me great insight into a wonderful, sustaining marriage.

Had you asked me at 13, I would have wanted a princess-like wedding, with all of the pomp and circumstance, alongside my 15 bridesmaids, marrying prince charming. If you ask me at 30…well, the picture I would paint would be drastically different. I would much rather have Courthouse nuptials without all of the hoopla…and save that money for a downpayment on a house, or put it towards a nice honeymoon and a good savings account. Romantic, I know. (Disclaimer: Even if I were to get married at the Courthouse, or elope, I WOULD spend money on three things: a pretty dress, photos, and a honeymoon. I am not completely void of romantic notions).

In all fairness, I have been to some beautiful weddings. But so frequently, more focus gets put on entertaining the guests, and is taken off of the celebration of love, the seriousness of the vows, and two people wanting to share a life together. 

So many times girls can’t see past the big, flashy ring; their 47,000 pinterest wedding ideas; or the cupcakey-Cinderella dress with 45 layers of tulle that has been calling their name since the age of 17…and they fail to realize that a wedding leads to marriage. 

After the bouquet has been tossed, the garter has been caught, and the jingle of the cans tied to the back of the car are just a faint sound in the distance…The wedding-goers that you sought so hard to entertain are gone…and it is ultimately just you and him.

The priority does not need to be checking off “engaged” and “married” as you would check off items on a grocery list. The priority should be making sure that your husband is the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with…that you can work through problems together…that you’re both in it for the long haul.

Again, written from a single girl’s perspective, marriage has the potential to be one of the most rewarding gifts in this life. But it isn’t something to be taken so lightly.