Just Keep Swimming...

Some roads have speed bumps to help slow people down. I have learned in my life that sometimes God gives you speed bumps, and they aren't always to slow you down. They help you learn lessons, grow patience, overcome adversity, and you never know what it is until you hit the brakes, ride on over it, and continue to your final destination. Well, Kel and I hit a speed bump in wedding planning, and we are slowing down to overcome it...

As most people know (in fact everyone except his grandma knows) this is not going to be Kel's first marriage. When he was in the navy (i am posting this with his permission btw) Kel married a girl (i promise to be polite about my feelings toward her, so i will just call her girl instead of names i really think about her) after dating for two month. They were married so that if he died she would get all of his money. The were married for 6 month before getting divorced and in this time she cheated on him with 7 guys (that he knows of) and even got pregnant by another guy (as the paternity test showed) while married to Kel. So the divorce was finalized and less than a year later he was baptized as a Christian, turned to God and that's when he met me. The rest is history, we fell in love fast, got engaged and have spent a year planning the wedding while i finished school. We decided to get rolling on wedding plans so that if I had an out of town internship this summer we would not be stressed for time close to the wedding. Glad we started early!

Yesterday we went in to talk to the priest about wedding materials. We found out that his divorce must be approved/annulled/taken care of by the Catholic church in order for both of us to be married in the Catholic Church. It gets especially complicated because Kel is not catholic and I am. There has been conversations about Kel joining the catholic church, and he is currently studying this option. This whole matter makes life more complicated and the ability for us to get married in the church that i grew up is under debate.

Now for all the other wedding details we are set. We have the DJ, the Florist, the reception hall, meal, place settings, car rides, dress, bridesmaids dresses, tuxes, cake, invitations, registry, guest list, hair appointments, rehearsal dinner and finances all solved. We are intending to send out save the dates soon, and because of this we have to reevaluate everything. October 22nd is not as far away as it used to be and time is ticking as i type this. I WILL be getting married on October 22nd, but things have to be settled, prayed about, taken care of and reset for this to happen. Questions about Catholicism, marriage, counseling, and all other aspects have to be answered and approval has to be gotten in order for me to have my traditional, catholic dream wedding. It would truly break my heart to not be married in the Catholic church, but it would kill me to not be married at all. So I ask for prayers and understanding as Kel and I embark on the journey of undoing his mistakes.

In no way is there blame or distrust or any negative feeling towards Kel (the navy-yes, GIRL-yes, Kel-no). We have all done stupid things and he has paid for his, literally. I have known about his previous marriage since before we were dating and I have accepted it and we have grown because of it. However, we are dealing with it now as a couple. This is just proof of how much Kel and I are willing to go through to be with each other. God is a part of our life and we are literally fighting to have Kel and Myself be married before God and the Church. Just because we are having technical problems with being married in the Church does not mean we are having problems with our Faiths or with God. We are as faithful as we have ever been, constantly growing in God's Love, and following the path he has set up for us, individually and together.

This is a speed hump, and some day I will look back and know the reason God has put this in our life.