BRIDAL BOUQUETS

I could not let June go by without talking about bridal bouquets! When I was a child, Mario Lanza would sing a song from “The Student Prince”, about ‘taking your girl for a honeymoon in June, June’s the month for honeymoon’. There are numerous songs written on this theme, and it seems that June has been singled out for marriage, perhaps resulting from the romance of Valentine’s day earlier in the year with the red roses!

When I walk down the street and peek into people’s gardens at this time of the year I am amazed at the variety of beautiful white blossoms, many of which remind me of a bridal bouquet with long trailing stems or lovely compact posies of tightly packed florets. (If you see me stopped outside your house one day just gazing at your flowers, I am merely appreciating God’s beautiful creations and not just being a crazy woman! )

We were talking about not worrying about our temporal needs last week.  Our provision which once was God’s natural provision for families through marriage has been removed, by divorce, widowhood or loss. After a time of grieving and learning to manage on our own and rejoicing in the provision we have had for several seasons in our lives, there may come a time when God wants to provide for you again through the institution of marriage.

Once you have learned any lessons you needed to, in maintaining healthy relationships, settling family of origin issues or forgiveness and you feel that this where God is providing for you, you are ready to enter the dating world again.

The Song of Solomon is filled with love songs, poetry and flowers “My beloved is a bouquet of flowers in the gardens of Engedi”. This time of courting should be filled with the enjoyment of each other’s company and growing together spiritually, emotionally and mentally so you can establish a strong foundation for the relationship.

Romance is fostered by the bringing of flowers and bouquets “My beloved is mine and I am his. He is feeding among the lilies! His cheeks are like sweetly scented beds of spices. His lips are perfumed lilies, his breath like myrrh. He has gone down to his garden, to his spice beds, to pasture his flock and to gather the lilies.” This is a time to value one another, who you are and what each contributes to the relationship.

It is well worth your time to read all the wonderful descriptions this pair of lovers have for each other in the Song of Solomon, it is an example of how lovers need to appreciate one another. Many of the herbs and spices were expensive at that time, by comparing your lover to something that is precious and to be cherished will help establish how valuable a good loving relationship is, “You are like a lovely orchard bearing precious fruit, with the rarest of perfumes; nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, and perfume from every other incense tree, as well as myrrh and aloes, and every other lovely spice.” Do we get caught up in the daily routines of life and not make time to really connect on this deeper level of appreciation with prospective mates? When the heady time of love blossoming is over just like the  bouquet fades, and you have decided to make that permanent commitment – Celebrate the goodness of God and His provision for you both, and having grown together at a new and deeper level, with lessons learned from your past, you will travel the next part of your journey through life togeth