To Two Dear Friends on Your Wedding Day

Well, today’s the day. Today in the sight of God and many witnesses, you will be united in marriage. What a wonderful moment in your lives! It is a culminating moment for your relationship, and it is worth the time to reflect on what has brought you to this moment.

God has obviously played the largest role in bringing the two of you together. God led you both to the Institute because you were each seeking God’s direction for your lives. Here, God placed instructors in your lives to help and guide you further. God used them to guide you, and you let them. So, you have not only followed His lead, but honored His plan. You learned what God wanted and sought to do that. In following His plan, you have walked a beautiful path to this moment.

What a beautiful path it has been! You have grown in your friendship, learning more and more about each other along the way. This growing friendship developed so naturally, so unforced, that it only made sense to let it keep growing. You have enjoyed (and longed for) each other’s company and fellowship. You have shared and opened your hearts to one another in ways you’ve never done with anyone else before. You have developed a sense of security, and safety with each other. You have discovered that this person is incredibly special to you; so special, in fact, that you’d rather spend countless hours with them—talking, sharing, hanging out, doing whatever—than you would with almost anyone else that you know (family excluded, of course). Today, you make the decision to not only spend countless hours with one another, but to spend your lives with and for one another.

Cherish this moment. Cherish this culminating moment so dearly that it changes you into the person you have longed to be for the other. Cherish this moment so that you never forget the butterflies of excitement and anticipation, the heart-surging happiness, and the overwhelming gratitude that you feel to the other for making this commitment with you. Cherish it, hold onto it, because—though it may be hard to imagine now—there will be forces at work to undo all the beauty that has made your relationship what it is right now.

Those negative forces highlight something else about this moment in your lives. Today is not only a culmination; it is also an initiation. Your relationship so far has led you to this moment, but now it is leading you to something new and even more wonderful (if you can even imagine that). This new and wonderful relationship called marriage will thrive for the same reasons your friendship did. So, as you step into this new phase, don’t let your friendship die at the altar; let it live more fully, more vibrantly. Keep learning the other (Trust me: there’s still a lot to learn!), and learn to love what you learn. Keep sharing and opening your hearts to one another. Keep enjoying (and longing for) the other’s company. Keep the other as the most special person in your life. You have both invested to make the relationship what it is today: keep investing so it will get better and better as time goes on.

I am sorry that I will not be there to observe this momentous occasion in your lives. My prayers are with you for a beautiful ceremony; but, more importantly, my prayers are with you for a beautiful marriage. I look forward to hearing about and seeing how you cherish this moment in the days ahead.

All the best to you two!

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash