MARRIAGE AND OTHER WEEKEND THOUGHTS

I have received a distinct honor. My cousin Kelly contacted me by Facebook earlier this week to ask me to perform her wedding ceremony this coming Labor Day Weekend. I had already booked that stretch of time for vacation so I could attend an annual gathering with my adult kids and their families at my daughter's house in Florence KY. Now I'll drive fours further into the Midwest to Ft Wayne IN to help Mike and Kelly start their life together with the blessing of God.

This will be a summer of weddings. Right now I am preparing two members of our Worship Band, Rich and Gail for a June wedding in our Prayer Garden at the church. In late July, Dianne and I will be parents of the groom, when our youngest son Christopher marries Megan Parrott in Columbus IN. BJ, the son of my Associate Pastor Barry and his wife Lori, will be wed the next weekend back in Landisville. So far no more weddings on my calendar either as officiant or guest.
It's a far cry from the year when I had six weddings to perform in seven weeks; but I am sure it will be a high time of celebration.

In my experience as a pastor, weddings are a time of great joy and high stress. People want the perfect wedding--read, a wedding that has no problems or tensions. Yet we are imperfect people and the wedding is a live performance. Trust me, there will be memorable mistakes and/or surprises. In most cases the mistakes will only be apparent to the wedding party. The surprises will make for snapshots ans stories for years to come. I still remember a groom who inexplicably left the altar after being asked "Will you take this woman to be your wedded wife," only to discover that he wasn't having second thoughts, he was in the throes of an ulcer attack. Or the father of the bride, after giving his daughter to be married, proceeded to knock over a set of aisle candles when he stumbled returning to his seat. Then there was the young man who played a drum solo prelude for his wife called "Ode to Joy." The place was rocking even before the strains "Here comes the bride" were heard.

In our country now, more than half of the marriages (including those among Christians) end in divorce. This is a sad and tragic fact. Yet it is not a reason to stop being married. It is just a realization that, as Andy Stanley puts it, "Without Christ in your life I cannot begin to offer you the hope of a healthy marriage that lasts."

So my counsel to all being married this summer, "Except the Lord build your house, you WILL labor in vain. But with the Lord at the foundation you will have the love that never fails. And that love, when we cooperate with it, can insure a happy marriage until death do us part."