A Letter To My Future Daughter-In-Law

Dear Megan,

July 4th was wonderful, wasn’t it? Home movies in which you got to see your betrothed in all his 13-year old glory, pulled BBQ pork sandwiches and deviled eggs that went all too fast, and watching Steven teach James how to set the neighbor’s house on fire with errant bottle rockets. The stuff of which memories are made.

And of course, the dominoes game that never quite got off the ground because Dad began lecturing (I mean teaching) about your and Steven’s upcoming wedding plans. I didn’t really get to add my own thoughts, so I thought I would do that here.

There will be times when Steven will drive you nuts. He did me. The truth is, those very things about your future husband’s personality which you think are so cute and endearing now, will be the very things that irk you the most in about five years or so. There’s only one thing you can do to get around those potential rift-making annoyances…

…love Jesus more than you love Steven.

The world will do its best to interfere with the happiness you and Steven seek in each other. Friends may betray you, your jobs may push you to the limit, the entertainment and news media may entice you to reevaluate your marriage, and businesses may look at every opportunity to take your money. The world will try its best to rob you of your marital blessings in an effort to stay on top. There’s only one thing you can do to get around those potential wedges in your relationship with Steven…

… find joy in the Lord more than you find joy in your husband.

Trials and challenges will come your way through no fault of your own. Bad things happen sometimes. We get sick. Loved ones get hurt or die. A tornado takes everything we own. Or sometimes the furnace just stops working or the romantic dinner we had planned burns in spite of the hours we put into the effort. There’s only one thing you can do to get around those painful moments…

… draw strength from God more than you draw strength from Steven.

Most brides envision their marriage to be the fairy tale they’ve always dreamed of. Within just a few years, reality will set in when you question how many princesses have to air out the bathroom after their prince comes home from a grueling day on the job and belches his thanks for the hearty feast of discount brand mac and cheese and corndogs (it is, after all, Tuesday). There’s only one thing you can do to get around married life becoming drivel…

… put your hope in Jesus more than you put hope in Steven.

Dad is right. You are going to make a beautiful bride. It is going to be with great pride that I sit on the front row and watch you come down the aisle to join my son at the altar. And know this. I will love you, and teach you, like the daughter you are to me already.

A benediction for you. May the Lord bless you and keep you as you seek to be the wife He wills for you to be. May your heart be surrendered in His Word, and may your submitting to my son’s leadership show you for the woman of strength and grace that you are.