Why I Love Weddings

               My friends Trevor and Brittany got married last week. I know everyone says this but their wedding was beautiful. We are all part of a small house church and everyone from our church showed up. The food was great, there was wine and dancing, and there were lots of friends. By the way, aren't they a cute couple?

                Trevor and I have a funny story of how we became close friends. We both knew each other when we were younger. I'm not exacty sure when we met but we we must have been around middle school. Maybe even earlier. We were never close friends but we knew who the other was. Later, we went to the same highschool but again we were never close even though Trevor was good friends with one of my best friendsand now brother-in-law, David. Then college and I moved away.

                When I moved back to Pensacola, Trevor and I would find each other at the same church. Seeing as we knew each other there was always "hey" and "what's up?" It wasn't until about a year later when Trevor wandered into one of my cigar Socials that we would become the good friends we are today.

                 Recounting this story with each other, Trevor told me that he thought I hated him when we reconnected at church. I thought Trevor was way too cool for school to hang out with a guyl ike me (I suppose he still is). Yet, here we are.

                I like to tell this story because Trevor and Brittany have a story that is somewhat similar, albiet much more romantic. Ok, maybe just a tiny bit similar. He tells this story better than I do so I'll only give you the highlights:

1. Trevor goes on a date with Brittany. Date goes poorly. Brittany declines date #2. Trevor is sad.
    
2. God tells Trevor to pursue Brittany. Trevor tells God that He is crazy. Trevor is rejected by Brittany many times. Trevor is sad.
   
3. Many years go by. Trevor and Brittany share a magical kiss. They fall in love. Trevor is happy.

                I hope I didn't screw that up too bad, guys.

                My wife and I have a similar story, too. A story in which I sought after her for a long time before we were finally brought together. I finally got my girl just like he did.

                 We love these stories, don't we? Hollywood has made a lot of money selling us these stories. Maybe I need to sell this story?

                As you may have guessed, this narrative also shows up in the Bible. Tell me if it sounds familiar. God and man are together in a garden. Man rejects God. God and man spend many years trying to reconnect. Thousands of years. Maybe millions. Then, one fateful day God is reunited with man as a man, Jesus. Finally, Jesus is murdered so that man can once again know God. It is the greatest love story.

                Weddings always remind me of this. I can't help it but I'm a true romantic at heart. There is a reason Jesus refers to his people as the Bride of Christ. And there is a reason that Jesus tells so many stories about weddings, brides, and bridegrooms. God is pursuing us and no amount of us running away is going to change His mind.

                I'm happy for my friends and I am happy that I could attend their wedding. I very easily could have written off Trevor as a friend just as easily as he could have given up on the love of his life. In the same way, a perfect God could have easily said, "Screw these people. I'm out of here." Thankfully, this is not the way God operates. He doesn't give up on us no matter how many times we mess up. Like the story of the prodigal son, He is always waiting for us to come back home. And when we do, there will be a wedding.


*I wish I could take credit for these amazing photographs. However, they were take by the crew at Cook Images. Check out their site:
www.cookimages.com