In the midst of our very busy summer, a beautiful event took place in the lives of 10 couples, Scotty and myself included. On July 15, at the end of our 6-week study on marriage, (For Men Only/For Women Only book study) we called our very active and thriving SS class to action by inviting them to participate in a Wedding Vow Renewal Service…where they had the opportunity to re-commit their lives and marriages to each other and before God. What started out as a small event turned into a full-fledged “wedding” of sorts, with a three-tiered cake, punch, music and an ordained minister in the form of my handsome hubby, Scott!
It was a sweet and intimate affair, with family and friends in attendance. One by one each couple was called to stand under a tulle-draped arch and look into the eyes of the one they had taken as their spouse years earlier. The couples that participated represented marriages from 7 to 14 years old, but the age of the marriage was not of greatest relevance that night.
As I sat and listened to the others who went before me that night, I thought about how much more the words “for better or for worse”…“for richer or for poorer”…”in sickness and in health” meant to the couples saying them now than on their original wedding day. Though special and amazing and completely meaningful, their wedding day words (like mine) held hopes and promises they intended to keep but knew basically nothing about. Now 7-14 years later, those words were accompanied by life experiences of both good times and bad times…sick days, sleepless nights, addictions, infidelities, job losses, near bankruptcies, growing families, interrupted dreams and reality checks. The 10 marriages represented were those of regular people with regular problems with regular marriages. What separated them from others was not a lack of problems in their marriage, but the desire to keep connecting with each other despite all of those issues. After all, after years of marriage and a couple of babies, taking the time to stop and look at each other in the eyes, let alone say tender and personal words of re-commitment, can be challenging and even difficult.
One of the best comments we had after the service was over was not about the beautiful decorations or the glowing “brides” and “grooms.” It came from a woman in our SS class, who was present at the service to deliver a delicious wedding cake that she had so graciously donated to the event. Needing an extra hand to serve the cake, she brought her 10-year-old daughter along with her. She shared with us the following Sunday that the service was especially meaningful to her because it gave her daughter the opportunity to see some Christian marriages…moms and dads…not only stay together but stay strong by the power of God. Though no such thing exists as a perfect marriage, marriage is still a beautiful institution ordained by God. Since most of this young girl’s friend’s parents were either divorced or splitting up, the picture represented for her that night gave her a renewed sense of hope that it WAS, in fact, possible to stay together. Despite all the “odds” that are against us!
It is no secret to any of us that Satan is attacking marriages big time. And Christian marriages are certainly NOT immune. We hear the statistics and know that infidelity on the rise. We are no longer surprised when couples split up, but rather, when they stay together until “death do we part.” But on July 15, 2007, on a rainy night in North Carolina, 10 regular couples recommitted their marriages to Christ. And it ate Satan’s lunch big time.
So…turn up the volume on your computer…watch the video clip…and praise God with me as I acknowledge again today how He is the God who makes all things new and beautiful -- no matter how much, in our humanness, we mess them up!
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the thone, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever. And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making all things new!’” (Rev. 21:1-5)
Lisa
It was a sweet and intimate affair, with family and friends in attendance. One by one each couple was called to stand under a tulle-draped arch and look into the eyes of the one they had taken as their spouse years earlier. The couples that participated represented marriages from 7 to 14 years old, but the age of the marriage was not of greatest relevance that night.
As I sat and listened to the others who went before me that night, I thought about how much more the words “for better or for worse”…“for richer or for poorer”…”in sickness and in health” meant to the couples saying them now than on their original wedding day. Though special and amazing and completely meaningful, their wedding day words (like mine) held hopes and promises they intended to keep but knew basically nothing about. Now 7-14 years later, those words were accompanied by life experiences of both good times and bad times…sick days, sleepless nights, addictions, infidelities, job losses, near bankruptcies, growing families, interrupted dreams and reality checks. The 10 marriages represented were those of regular people with regular problems with regular marriages. What separated them from others was not a lack of problems in their marriage, but the desire to keep connecting with each other despite all of those issues. After all, after years of marriage and a couple of babies, taking the time to stop and look at each other in the eyes, let alone say tender and personal words of re-commitment, can be challenging and even difficult.
One of the best comments we had after the service was over was not about the beautiful decorations or the glowing “brides” and “grooms.” It came from a woman in our SS class, who was present at the service to deliver a delicious wedding cake that she had so graciously donated to the event. Needing an extra hand to serve the cake, she brought her 10-year-old daughter along with her. She shared with us the following Sunday that the service was especially meaningful to her because it gave her daughter the opportunity to see some Christian marriages…moms and dads…not only stay together but stay strong by the power of God. Though no such thing exists as a perfect marriage, marriage is still a beautiful institution ordained by God. Since most of this young girl’s friend’s parents were either divorced or splitting up, the picture represented for her that night gave her a renewed sense of hope that it WAS, in fact, possible to stay together. Despite all the “odds” that are against us!
It is no secret to any of us that Satan is attacking marriages big time. And Christian marriages are certainly NOT immune. We hear the statistics and know that infidelity on the rise. We are no longer surprised when couples split up, but rather, when they stay together until “death do we part.” But on July 15, 2007, on a rainy night in North Carolina, 10 regular couples recommitted their marriages to Christ. And it ate Satan’s lunch big time.
So…turn up the volume on your computer…watch the video clip…and praise God with me as I acknowledge again today how He is the God who makes all things new and beautiful -- no matter how much, in our humanness, we mess them up!
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the thone, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever. And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making all things new!’” (Rev. 21:1-5)
Lisa
P.S. A big thank-you to Blake Hobbs for such an awesome video! Talented guy. :)
