Mark's Cosy Corner

I can understand now why couples are so busy preparing for their marriage. For starters there's the wedding preparations - drawing up the guest list, booking the church and dinner locations, choosing a bridal studio and going for the photoshoot, finalising the helper list, meeting the wedding coordinators, drawing up the actual day wedding schedule, deciding on the folral decorations, the list goes on...

Besides that, many couples are also tied down with the other physical preparations - such as deciding where to live after the wedding; and if they decide to live on their own, they would then need to buy an apartment and renovate the new home. 

I'm thankful that for us, this process has been simplified somewhat. We're indeed very blessed that there's no need to look for a new home, as I'm already living in an apartment which I call my own. What's however important is that when Sue moves in, for the place to be "ours" and not only "mine". Hence the need for renovations so that the apartment can be shaped by both our personalities. And since my flat will conveniently also go through upgrading, it makes sense to take advantage of the situation and concurrently renovate the apartment.

We've therefore been spending much of our time together seeking out items for our place. A very enjoyable experience overall as both of us enjoy beautiful things and it's been quite fun choosing lovely things that we both know we'll enjoy - like the delicate Thai silk which we bought during our recent trip to Bangkok (featured in the photo above and which will be used to make curtains), the lovely maroon-coloured bed linen at 70% off (thanks to the Great Singapore Sale), and our latest acquistion - a comfy King Coil mattress and bed frame set... 

We know there're many more things that we'll need to purchase together - like a new dining room set, toilet sinks, a desk for the study room etc; but so far we're happy with all our purchases. I think the main reason why this is so is because we've both learnt to consider what each other likes - and to accommodate each other every time we make a decision. In many ways this is representative of the marriage life, during which we know we'll have to make many decisions together. It's not merely the humourous view of marriage that depicts the husband as the head of the house and the wife as the neck that turns him around; rather it's more that both husband and wife share joint responsibility of the household and that all decisions are made in mutual agreement. It's truly a high calling for the husband to be the head of the household, and this is a position that is only tenable if he is under the authority of God.

Truly marriage preparation means more than just preparing for the wedding - it's preparing for a whole life to be lived together under the authority of God.