Wedding mess...

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pumpkinbeast

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As you may have noticed from my ticker, I’m a bride-to-be, and naturally starting to get stressed about the wedding, but not for the reasons you might think…

My fiance and I were originally planning to get married in May 2010, after I graduated from my BSc in Biology. He would finish his degree a few months later as a Computer Engineer, and we would move to where ever he could get a good job, and then I would find one there, too.

But as I’ve learned over the past month, life never goes the way you expected it to go. I discovered I had a chipped bone in my leg, on the bottom of my femur, in Nov. 07, and was on crutches until the end of June 08. The pain in my leg came back at the end of August, so now I’m back on crutches. It seems there is a secondary problem with the way the bones in my leg are formed that is also causing me pain. I’m currently waiting to hear from my doctor as to what the game plan will be, and I’m fairly sure it will be another surgery. I couldn’t face going back to university(this would have been my third year) on crutches and trying to live independently, so I decided to not go back. I was also able to do some thinking about my life in general, and decided to switch education paths to nursing. The nearest nursing program is at the same university my fiance is at, whereas before we were at different ones, and with all my extra science credits, I am going to be able to do the nursing program in 2 years rather than 4. And best of all, we would be able to get married sooner, because we wouldn’t be living in different cities anymore! So we decided to push the wedding date ahead to August 09.

We knew if we got married then we would have to use NFP (I know Creighton already) in order to postpone pregnancy just until I could complete my degree, and then we would leave it in God’s hands. My fiance would be going back and forth in between work and school terms, in a co-op program, so we would have money to live on. He also had the great idea of taking out a student loan, even though he doesn’t need one, and just putting it in the bank, to save it in case we had any emergencies. I was getting excited and getting all set to start making invitations.

But then I talked to him last night… and he’s worried about a few things. Getting married with still 4 more terms of his education to go (2 work terms, 2 school terms) puts stress on him to make sure that he does not fail even a single course, because if he did, he would have to drop out of the co-op program, and either graduate without it, or wait an entire year to get back into it. He’s also unsure as to whether it’s moral to use NFP to avoid right off the bat.

My arguments were that we don’t know what life is going to throw at us, so it’s no use worrying about the what-ifs of failing courses. Look at me, I didn’t do anything, and my education is STILL being pushed back because of a random freak of nature. I think it is moral to use NFP to avoid in our situation, because we just would not have the money for a baby until he graduated, and I would NOT be able to finish a nursing degree with a baby. A nursing degree will give us more job security(if something happens to him, I could work), and it seems like something very useful for a mother to have, if I was a SAHM, which I would like to be. And if we get pregnant while using NFP, well, that’s what being open to life is about, right? Sometimes God’s will over-rides our own. And we’re not avoiding just because ‘we want some time to ourselves’ or anything selfish like that. We want to be able to provide simple things like food and clothing for any children, and we wouldn’t be able to do that on a student budget.

So, why get married when we have to use NFP right off the bat? Because we both know that we want to be married to each other, prayerfully, emotionally, logically, everything between us works. And temptation is beginning to become more of an issue for us, as we’ve been together 3 years now. I am VERY TIRED of waiting to get married to the man I KNOW I want to marry, and I’m starting to worry about our souls. I told him, if the wedding date is pushed back any further, we are going a) visit MUCH less often, and b) when we do, never spend ANY time alone. Maybe that’s the way it should be for everyone, I dunno… But the other purpose to marriage, besides having children, is to help the other person get to heaven, right? So wouldn’t it be better to become sources of grace to each other, rather than remain tempters?

This is probably a HUGE wall of text, but I am so confused right now, and I want to do the right thing, and I also don’t want to spend another 2 or 3 YEARS waiting around for something we BOTH want to do tomorrow!

I’m going CRAZY!!! :banghead: :whacky:
 
You are both over-analyzing.

Take it into prayer, make a decision, and then be at peace.
 
You are both over-analyzing.

Take it into prayer, make a decision, and then be at peace.
I agree…

I do sympathize because I over-analyze everything as well… all the pros and cons on both sides and it just gets so difficult and overwhelming.
Pray, pray, pray… and simply ask God to guide you to where HE wants you to be. That’s always the BEST answer. And He WILL guide you… unexpected doors will open, and others will close… and His plan will open up in ways you didn’t expect.

On the morality of using NFP right away in your marriage… talk to your priest.
We made that same decision as well - I got married during college… DH actually lived 2 hours away from me for the first 5 months of our marriage… I’d go home on the weekends! - and waiting to have children was best for us… since then we have been blessed with 3 beautiful children!

God will guide you if you ask Him. His way is always the best.
 
Man, life does get in the way. I’d say get married, and what happens happens. If God led y’all to get married He is not going to hang you out. Make him the prioriity in y’all’s relationship and He will provide.

Sounds like you’ve been thinking too much sweetie, which in my experience is harder than the doing. Just put this in God’s in- basket and it will work out. Will it be easy? Prolly not, but it won’t boring!
 
**Get married if you are sure that this is the man you want to be joined forever with and he is sure you are the woman for him! God will help you work out the details.

As for using NFP for the first little while…it can be a good, moral choice. You need to decide that between you and hubby to be (with the help of prayer and a good priest).

Do your best to reassure your future hubby that you will not put any extra pressure on him. If he happen to fail a course or whatever, show him that you will be his rock. That the two of you working as a team can get through anything. If being married is important to both of you then you can (and will) make it work.

Stressful things happen in all marriages. You need to know that he will be able to deal with that. You can’t prepare for or avoid all surprises…**
 
If you don’t have the money, are busy with school, and aren’t ready for children I can see how you consider that maybe it is too soon to be married. This used to be a primary reason for couples to wait to be married. Brings to mind the old movies where the father of the young woman grills the beloved on how he plans to support the family…

NFP is supposed to be used only for very, very serious reasons. Our priest gave us very good advice. We thought NFP might be a route for us, but he told us our premise was wrong. Thus we did as he directed and everything worked out.

Consider getting married * and being open to children. Consider the option of not finishing your schooling while supporting your husband’s efforts and nurturing a child. Many women do this although in this day and age, this is not considered wise when women are expected to have a degree and work outside the home.

Most of the time it is impossible to “hear” God speaking to you and telling you what to do. God expects us to use the ordinary route which is our reason, supported by prayer, to identify a path. That is my suggestion.

It is very hard to separate the logic from the emotion and I sympathize.

You must decide first what is THE priority. Right now I think you are distracted by having too many “number 1s” at the top of your list. No, you can’t do everything. Focus on what is the most important and work down from there.

God bless and good luck to you both.*
 
You know I had to laugh when I read your thread because it reminded me of my fiance right before he finally proposed. By the time he got down on BOTH knees we had already picked the month, the colors, and I knew which dress I wanted. Sometimes men tend to analyze things (and some women - sorry if I am overgeneralyzing) in a very left-brained scientific way. My df and I have a lot of these laughs too as I am a complete Math and Science nerd and do these things coupled with the emotions of a woman. You did say your df was an engineering major didn’t you :rolleyes: . It could just be the typical case of cold feet - but you should look at it positively that he feels comfortable including you in his thinking process - some peoples minds are very private roads that they don’t tend to let too many people travel down and those people do not tend to make good life partners.

God Bless,
 
Wow, thank you all so much, I feel much better now… I thought for sure you would all tell me we were nuts for trying to get married in university, that we were going to screw up our lives, or bring up some other points we hadn’t considered yet, etc… I really was over thinking and over analyzing, wasn’t I? ^^;;

I will talk to my DF as soon as he gets home today, and we will DEFINITELY pray about this. God tends to get lost in the details sometimes, and I think that might be what has happened to us. Time to put the Big Guy back where He belongs, in the center!
 
Right now I think you are distracted by having too many “number 1s” at the top of your list.
i agree.

you and your fella really seem to be committed to holiness-- you both want to please God. if you make that your number one goal, all else will be well. “Seek ye first…” you know? i suspect many good people fail/ fall because they mistake strategy for sanctity.

so… sacraments are good.

if marriage to each other is your path to holiness, be married. the graces of the sacramant WILL lead you to the right NFP answers–because you’ll be praying for the graces together, within the awesome mystery of the sacrament.
 
Wow, thank you all so much, I feel much better now… I thought for sure you would all tell me we were nuts for trying to get married in university, that we were going to screw up our lives, or bring up some other points we hadn’t considered yet, etc… I really was over thinking and over analyzing, wasn’t I? ^^;;

I will talk to my DF as soon as he gets home today, and we will DEFINITELY pray about this. God tends to get lost in the details sometimes, and I think that might be what has happened to us. Time to put the Big Guy back where He belongs, in the center!
Pumpkin,

You remind me so much of myself a couple of years ago. And ya know where I am now? Sitting on the couch next to my husband, while he writes a paper for class and I collect notes for mine. 1 month and counting!

We did all that crazy planning…the what-if scenarios, the questions, the “where are we going to be in 1, 3, 5 years?” Have you ever heard the joke “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”?..It’s important to have those conversations, but it’s also important not to get lost in the details. Pray about it and talk about it, but most importantly, TRUST that God will lead you where you need to be. It’s really all about trust.

It sounds like you guys are on the right track with prayer and trusting and understanding what you’ll be getting yourselves into. Talk to a priest…but if I were in your shoes, it seems like God’s wanting you to get the wedding plans a-rollin’! 😃

Kind of as a sidenote…if you ever want to talk to a married undergrad about discernment (or using NFP to avoid initially), feel free to PM me here or over on OLB. Sometimes it’s good to talk to someone in a really similar situation.

God bless you both!
 
I’ve had these thoughts, too…

My boyfriend and I (still boyfriend because we’re only 16 and 18) have talked of marriage… .but, nothing definite, of course…

It would be very nice to be able to plan a wedding and not have to wait for three or four (or more) years… It’ll all work out alright, though.

Remember to put God first. He’ll tell you where to go from here. And, if it’s time for you to be married, you should know. 🙂

As for NFP, is it really wrong to partake in it for the sake of finishing college? If I get married in college, I will have to do so, as I’m to get an athletic scholarship (for pole vault) and if I’m expecting a child, I definitely cannot pole vault…
 
I think it’s very wise to wait to have children until you finish your nursing degree. That way, you will have a way to support your children should anything happen to their father. (God forbid!)

As for when to marry, I can see pros and cons to both sides. (I tend to over-analyze, too.) So I say, leave it up to the Big Guy - He won’t steer you wrong.

Praying for you,

Ruthie
 
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