Guest Blog by Adelee Russell Tinajero

So I got married. A plot twist not many people were expecting. But what I did for the bouquet toss at my wedding perhaps--to the ones who know me most--was not necessarily surprising.

You see God changed my life about four or five years ago. He changed the way I saw myself. The way I saw singleness. The way I saw the future. The way I saw Him. He restored my worth. He gave me something I'd never had much of before: confidence in Him. He gave me a hope not grounded in my circumstances but in Him; His presence in my life; my relationship with Him.

For once I truly believed that whether or not I ever got married I could live a life rich in purpose, and joy, and worth, and adventure because of the God who made me. The God who fills me. The God who satisfies me. The God who leads me and guides me and performs miracles on my behalf.

God used books like "Thrive" by Lina Abujamra to encourage my heart and radically change my perspective. His truth sunk into my soul and with it came freedom. It changed the way I thought about things... the way I thought about Christian culture and the things we do and say without realizing the weight of our words or the perspective they perpetuate.

So I started to not like certain cliches... like bouquet tosses. Although I know it's purely meant for fun I don't like the original purpose or the way it makes women look (a bit desperate in my opinion).

I wasn't gonna do one for my wedding but then a good friend of mine was like "No, PLEASE do a bouquet toss. It's the only time I get to play football in a dress."

So I did it.

But I refused to do it the normal way. My bouquet toss came with a physical prize: Two books. One of those books was "Microwave Cooking for One" which makes me laugh to this day and when I was single it reminded me to not take things too seriously. To not let people's perceptions of my singleness bother me and to "live life to the fullest" unashamedly in my singleness.

The other book was "Thrive." Because, if I could, I'd have every single person read it (and honestly every married person too). Because it stands for truth in areas many Christian resources conform to the culture. It sticks out. It encourages. It bolsters. It is a conduit for God's truth that strengthens the heart of the Christian.

The book and the author are fantastic but, most of all, I'm passionate about sharing the perspective; the one found repeatedly in the Bible itself. I'm passionate about the truths themselves, breathed into existence by God and shaped by His character.

I'm passionate about it because those truths changed my life. And even now, as a married woman, I remain passionate about them. Because though the circumstances change the truth does not.

And the truth is this: I am fully known and fully loved by God. My worth is in Him. My confidence comes from Him. My contentment and fulfillment come from my relationship with Him alone, and that will never change.