Our love story (part 10): Full circle

To go back to the beginning of this love story, click here. 


Introduction
This last installment of our love story series will end where it began.  It seems appropriate to conclude the series at the wedding altar with the exchanging of wedding rings, each of which form a full circle.  Circular wedding bands have no endpoint just as the love of God is lavished upon us without end.  Similarly, through earthly marriage, we are to illustrate God's love and commitment toward His people by living out our marriage vows faithfully and unconditionally without end while we remain on earth.

Engagement
We spent our engagement period preparing for the wedding and most importantly, preparing for marriage.  I am so thankful for the 14 week marriage training class offered by our church.  Americans typically spend 2-10 years in college preparing for careers that will probably change at least five times during a lifetime. Yet, most Americans spend no time preparing for the lifelong commitment of marriage. Those 14 weeks pale in comparison to each of our 6+ years of career preparation, but we certainly did learn a lot about one another during that time.  We were shocked at how completely different we are in so many areas.  We did not score high on the compatibility test at all, so we used that time to work through those differences and to learn how those differences can make our marriage stronger if we are willing to celebrate them instead of letting them tear us apart.  After the marriage preparation class, we were paired up with a mentor couple who had similar personalities and compatibility profiles as our own. They met with us regularly during our first year of marriage to help us begin our life together on the best footing possible.  We are so grateful for their investment into our marriage.

After working through the difficult parts of that marriage preparation course, I did begin to have some doubts.  A lifetime commitment to one person must be taken very seriously, so I wrestled in my heart to make sure I was ready for such a permanent commitment.  We both spent much time on our knees during that preparation period. I highly recommend in-depth marriage preparation training for all engaged couples!  One short meeting with the pastor who will be conducting the ceremony is not enough.

When the day of the wedding came, all doubts had been vanquished.  DC's parents did a fabulous job planning our rehearsal dinner party which included a professionally produced nostalgic video that conjured up so many emotions.  I have struggled with insomnia my entire life and especially have trouble sleeping when I get excited over big events. Yet, the night before the wedding, I slept soundly because my heart was at peace.

DC's submarine cake at the rehearsal dinner

Wedding Day
On the day of the wedding, I enjoyed a relaxing morning with a nice easy run followed by some leisurely shopping at the mall.  I loved giggling with my dear bridesmaids as we all got dressed.

Checking off the last "to-do" items on my Palm Pilot.  PDA's were large and bulky back then.

"Thanks for the dress, Mom.  You won't be sending me the bill for this wedding, will you?"

DC and I had planned to pray together right before the wedding.  Since we couldn't see one another before the wedding, he called me on my cell phone while I was in the bridal room.  I was in my dress by that point, but I still knelt down on the floor (without concern over whether or not my dress would get dirty) so we could pray to God asking that He would be glorified during our wedding.  Too often, weddings are all about the couple getting married with little attention given to the Creator of marriage.  God had worked miraculously in our lives to bring us together.  We knew our marriage was intended to point people to Christ, so we prayed for His glory to shine throughout the wedding and our marriage.

³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  (Ephesians 5:31-33)

The wedding went smoothly, and my home church pastor went to great lengths to make our wedding a worship service as we had requested.  He could not have delivered a more perfect message.  My favorite musicians played. A gifted soloist and long time family friend sang, and over 300 people in attendance stood to sing songs of worship with us.  It was glorious!

An especially tender moment during the wedding occurred after I had walked up to the altar but before we said our vows and exchanged our rings.  The pastor reminded the crowd that DC had sung with the USNA Glee club in that same spot up near the altar over nine years ago during the weekend we first met (as described in part 1 of this series).  Then he gave DC the microphone, and DC sweetly sang the song, If You Could See What I See, by Geoff Moore and the Distance.  He held it together quite well during the song until I whispered the words, "I Love You" near the end of the song. Oops!

Photo and Video of DC Singing at Our Wedding

DC sings to me at our wedding at the same place he sang when we first met.

With that song, we have come full circle.

 

 

I am now at the end of this blog series, but it only marks the beginning of our life long love story.

To go back to the beginning of this love story, click here.