Sunday, 04 January 2009

Lessons Learned from the Weddings

I've spent a lot of time at weddings in the past three weeks. Recently, I haven't been to that many in a year, let alone a month. But, I guess that's what happens when all of my friends schedule their weddings at almost the same time and I grow slightly afraid that I'll miss one because they're all so close together.

One thing that I always think about a little bit is seeing how the couples have grown together as one to reach the altar, when they either recite their vows (or listen to them from the pastor), and then how they say "I do." I saw three very different moods. Three very different approaches to the wedding that each have merit in their own right and show how each couple has its own personality, sense of style, and approach to life, including marriage.

I really admired how Brandon and Stephanie each wrote their own vows, completely independent of one another. What was so remarkable, though, was how similar they were. These vows were a reflection of how they saw their marriage-my two friends had grown through each other, grown into better people since knowing one another, and they wanted to be better people and better Christians and wanted to have a God-centered marriage. It's clear that they wanted their marriage to be help maybe bring someone closer to Christ. And when the time for them to say, "I do," to take each other as husband and wife, it was incredibly sincere. They meant it. Completely.

Then there was Mark and Becky. I didn't recall specially written vows, so that part sounded a little more familiar. What sticks out in my mind from this wedding is the incredibly joyous approach to marriage. When Pastor Carlson asked Mark if he took Becky to be his wife, he practically shouted, "I DO!!!!" Becky wasn't quite as exuberant with her response to if she took Mark, but to be honest a little hard to top her husband-Mark is one of the happiest guys you'll ever meet. What I admired is Mark and Becky kept a perspective on their wedding day that even though it IS serious... it's a celebration, too! And they were excited. Rightfully so-they got married and were surrounded by all their best friends in their home church. How much better can it get on that their "someday," as Becky called it.

Finally, there was Leo and Angela. I really appreciated the symbolism in this particular wedding of the couple's first act as a couple of kneeling together in prayer together after the pronouncement, even before the husband was told to kiss the bride. It shows, in my opinion, like Brandon and Stephanie's wedding, how I think Leo and Angela want to grow closer to God in the process of growing closer to each other. Pastor Carlson mentioned the lesson from Ecclesiastes about how three threads are not easily and how in marriage, that third thread, in addition to the husband and wife, is God holding them together. That was well-represented by the prayer. I really liked it.

All the best in your new lives together, my friends. I hope everyone who sees you looks at your marriages and sees them as examples of how love should look in a world where too often, love shatters. But I hope everyone sees them as even more than that. I hope your marriages are seen as a symbol of Christ's love for His people.