A Wedding Story

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

The Guest List. 

Any bride knows the importance of those three words. Whether the list be long or short, it is painstakingly created. It's the one chance we have to make a list of people we believe love us enough to spend the better part of a day - or in my case, a weekend - celebrating us.

That's right. My wedding was an out of town, weekend affair. Our guests were invited not to spend just a few hours with us, but a few days in the Happiest Place on Earth. Back then, I thought of it as a treat for them - who wouldn't want to spend a weekend celebrating us at Disney?

Now, eleven years later and with a family of my own, I am almost embarrassed at what a burden that would seem for us - regardless of our relationship with the bride and groom! To block out a weekend and go to the expense of a family vacation ... just to go to a wedding? Yikes.

But I am so grateful that every single one of those special people carried that burden and gifted us with their presence that weekend.

While thinking about my wedding for this week's post in Giving Up on Perfect's Remarkable Faith series, I couldn't stop thinking of the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12.

We've watched our wedding video many times, so often that we have our "favorite parts." There's the part where the latecomers are caught sneaking in before my entrance. And the part where one of my bridesmaids winks at the camera during the ceremony. And the impromptu dance and lip sync performances to Backstreet Boys and Ice Ice Baby. Our videographer did a fantastic job of taking the focus off of us and spreading it around, making sure that our friends and family were well-represented on camera. There are tons of (pretty funny) interviews, crowd shots, sweeping views of the audience (congregation?) ...all of which serve to remind us of the people who loved both of us enough to serve as witnesses on the day we became one. 

I think of my youth pastor, who traveled from Atlanta to perform the ceremony, and how special it was for him to be there with us. And of the old high school friends and newer college friends and roommates who partied all weekend with us. There were family members who'd driven and flown long distances - reuniting with us on the happiest of occasions. The children of my extended "family" toddled around, dancing with Mickey...in the video they were younger than my kids are now...now they have their driver's licenses.

Sometimes, I think that if we were doing it again, we'd be tempted to elope and save the money...until I think about that great cloud of witnesses who watched as my husband and I promised to run with perseverance the race set out before us. I used to think that we did those guests a favor, that they were on some privileged list that "got" to attend our soiree. Then I realized that this marriage "race" can be really hard, and those wonderful people believed in us enough to give their time to sit in the stands as we started running. They listened as we made those promises and set off with every intent to fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith. What a tremendous responsibility to be a faithful representation of Christ's love for the Church - with all of those people on our wedding video and an ever-growing live audience...still watching.

Keeping in mind the strength we draw from the memories of that great cloud of witnesses on that Sunday eleven years ago, we don't miss a wedding if we can help it. And it never feels like a burden.

(If you were there, thank you - your presence was noticed, and treasured, and you are probably on our video!)

What do you remember most about your wedding?