Today we had a wedding at our church. Nothing very unusual about that but this wedding was a little bit different. The bride and groom both work but at low paying jobs and they already have children to take care of, some hers, some his, so money is very tight. They have been a part of our church family for a couple of years now and we know that they don't have much (any?)support from their biological families so when they said that they wanted to get married we hatched a plan! We would give them a wedding and so we did. They asked if it could be on Sunday morning. We said, "Well, we've never done that before, but why not?" Now, we are a little church but we know how to get a job done. Responsibilities were quickly allocated : M to do the flowers, K to supervise food (we all contribute), J &J to decorate church and hall, G to play wonderful music, R and B to snap lots of pictures, and, of course, Pastor to officiate. With only two weeks to plan, we pulled off a beautiful ceremony and reception. And, best of all, the church was packed full of well-wishers - generous with their pocket books, too, when a plate was passed around.
I've been at this church for a long time. Long enough to see the good, the bad and the ugly, but today I think we were a little light in a couple of lives that maybe haven't seen a whole lot of light. I'm thankful I was able to be a part of it.
As part of the ceremony, someone read St. Paul's definition of love:
"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres."
(NIV version)
If only we could learn to love like that.
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