Thoughts on Weddings and God's Love For Us...

My family loaded up our truck and drove four hours to celebrate the wedding of our niece.  Squeezing all of us into a vehicle is always an adventure.   The last major trip we took to Yellowstone and several famous National Parks resulted in my invention of the box of shame.  Imagine a super-sized box of day old pizza, several moody teenagers, and being squeezed into your spot so that you can't move by the old pizza box.  I even drew a sad face and wrote "box of shame" on it for good measure.  Whoever whined the most held the box.  It only took one hour of shifting the box from one cranky teenager to another before everyone was in the chipper traveling mood.  This short trip did not require a box of shame.  We were missing our oldest, so there was more leg-room and less moodiness.  After rerouting due to unexpected flooding in Western Arkansas, we made it to the wedding with time to spare.  Since it was an outdoor ceremony, we were able to enjoy the very hot sunshine.  In case you haven't noticed, I've reproduced extremely pale offspring.  Because of this, we were the only family at the wedding passing a bottle of SPF 50 sunblock around right before the wedding party marched down the aisle.  One of us still got a sunburn.  We may need to up it to SPF 70 (if they make that).  Watching the bride stand on a grassy knoll staring lovingly in her sweetheart's eyes was beautiful and moving.  The minister misspoke once and announced that the wedding would be sodomized.  He meant solemnized, but the sun was hot, and we all were feeling a little affected by the sun.  Apart from that, the ceremony made me think of how Jesus loved us.  Ephesians 5:25 asked husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  It mentions He gave up His life for the church.  As a bride, you stare in your future husband's eyes.  You don't think about the melting cake, the wilting flowers, or the sweaty attendants.  You think about the love of your life and your future together.  As Christ died on the cross, He asked God to forgive those who persecuted Him because they didn't know what they were doing.  He thought of us with forgiveness with his last breath before His resurrection.  He thought of His future with us.  It's hard to forgive simple things.  My husband and I still argue about who forgets more.  I'm not sure who has won that argument.  I forget. (Sorry, I had to say that.) Seriously though, we get caught up in the small things and stock-pile unforgiveness to the point that instead of laying down our lives for others, we would like to lay down their life.  Imagine the devotion Jesus had for us.  He loved us so much that in spite of knowing how much we would betray Him, He still walked the road to Calvary thinking about His future with those who would accept His love.  So as I watched the vows, I felt thankful for the vows I made with Jesus, and I look forward to my future with Him one day.

I wanted to thank all the faithful men and women who serve in the military.  John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (NIV)  On Memorial Day, we honor those who took this scripture to heart and willingly laid down their lives for our freedom.  Thank you!

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!