Usually

Today I'm going to share a very fun story with you about....

How I got my wedding dress!

This story is special to me and showcases just how much the Lord delights in - and loves to provide for - His children, which I myself need reminded of constantly. So sit back and enjoy!

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Planning a wedding is expensive. Let me rephrase that. Planning a wedding is free. Dreaming is free. Writing down things is free. Obtaining those dreams is expensive. Usually.

I entered into the wedding planning world seriously. I knew we couldn't afford frivolous things and that it would have to be quite simple (you know how some people do DIY projects for their weddings to be hipster and rustic? I'm doing it because we're just downright poor. Forget being trendy). Little did I know how much even my practical dreaming would be cut down....

I had been looking at thrift stores for my wedding dress for a while, driving to and fro, even wondering if a white prom dress could work. The only one that could be found was this beauty.....

(Funny story: I excitedly texted my fiance a picture of it, saying I had found "the one", just as a joke. He replied: That's great hun! You will look so pretty....but it looks like a prom dress?". Ladies, I found a keeper.)

Having no luck, my mom and I decided to make a day of dress shopping! We would go to lunch on Wednesday and visit shops and we would bond and it would be such a great day. Not.

At lunch, we spoke of all I wanted to do. And then realized most of it was too expensive for our budget. Good start to a day, right? It gets better. First, we went to David's Bridal and told them our budget (they probably thought we were out of our minds). They showed us the very small selection of dresses. Like, three dresses. Which were all ugly. We left and as we sat in the car, we both cried. Reality finally hit us; obtaining those dreams is expensive. All I wanted was to look beautiful on my wedding day and feel like a princess; I had thought that was a given. I then realized I wasn't entitled to that dream. My mom prayed and told me that God would provide. I wondered if He cared at all about my wedding dress. It's not important in the scheme of eternity and there are kids dying on the streets of Uganda (I met them). So I didn't believe her.

She didn't want to give up so fast. After visiting many places that day and finding no luck, we stopped at Ida's Bridal where one of my friends works. She had talked to Ida and she agreed to sell me a dress  for $400 with no alterations, which is an extremely generous offer. And so I got the bridal experience of standing in front of a mirror and feeling beautiful. Here is one I tried on, which wasn't my style but pretty nonetheless:

And here is the other I liked a lot.

I stood there in the lace dress, contemplating what to do. It was a beautiful dress and I would be fine with getting married in it. But I knew the expense. My mom said, "We can make it work", but I knew it was still too much and needed a lot of alteration. They agreed to hold it for us until Saturday.

The next night, my friend came over. I poured out my story to her, feeling so hopeless. Suddenly, thoughtful excitement filled her eyes, "WAIT A SECOND. I just saw this thing on the news for like three seconds....let me think!" And so she used her amazing photographic memory skills, "AHA!". She Googled as fast as her fingers would allow and found what she had seen: Upcycled Weddings, a company to which brides sell their dresses and decorations and Upcycled auctions them off. "Their event is this Saturday!", said me friend (note that this was the last day Ida's could hold my dress).

The night before, I prayed, God, obtaining these dreams is expensive. Yet I know you know the dress for me and that you will provide. But please, please don't let me get my hopes up for nothing....

So on Saturday, my two friends and I drove to the shadiest part of Kansas City, MO to an abandoned-looking building. We rushed to the fourth floor, afraid for our safety. When we entered the room, everything was set up stylishly and professionally. We signed in and went right to the dresses.We found two or three and went to try them on. It was then that I found it. A gorgeous dress which worked perfectly with my (sometimes annoyingly) petite figure. It didn't. Even. Need. Taken. In. Miracle of miracles.

The whole room gushed excitedly about the dress and I checked the price. $230 buy-it-now price. $100 starting bid. In an unusual moment of trusting God, I decided to risk it and only bid, even though someone else could come along and buy-it-now and I had to stay for the whole duration of the event (four hours).

As we waited, we looked at decorations they were selling. Close to my dress. Ready to trip anyone going near it. Every so often, the lady running it would come and make sure we didn't want to just buy-it-now. "No," I said, "we are going to risk it. That's all we can afford to do" and we continued "shopping".

After an hour, she came a final time to make sure and we assured her of our answer. Then she said, "What if I told you I could sell it to you now for $130?".

WHAT.

"YES!"

And so we walked out with a gorgeous dress, worth thousands, perfect for me, for $130. Obtaining dreams is expensive. Usually.

That day, I learned that God truly delights in giving His children good gifts. Even if sometimes, they won't make an eternal difference. He wants to show us that He is giving and very involved in our decisions, whether big or small. A few weeks ago, I was at church and out of the blue, I felt Him whisper, "I loved giving you that dress".

My friend, don't ever say to yourself, "God doesn't care about my situation". He wants to prove Himself to you and He delights in doing so.

If you have a situation right now that seems impossible, remember how much He loves His children.