This past week I was at my sister’s house chatting with my eight and nine year old nephew and niece about their weekend plans. Ashlyn announced, "I am so excited for this weekend. We are going on a trip." Evan, her younger brother, without looking up sarcastically chimed in, "What – to go to a wedding?" Without missing a beat, Ashlyn retorted with emphasis, "Evan! Did you forget the cake?" To which both sets of their eyes widened with smiles stretching across both of their faces in anticipation. Sweet. Innocent. Envied. I want that type of simple excitement; to look forward to a four hour drive in the car with a slice of cake on the other end as the great reward.
I sang for an outdoor wedding on Friday night. It was quaint and whimsical. The bride looked like she had stepped out of the movie, "The Princess Bride". She carried a genuine beauty. Afterward a couple from Indiana complimented my singing saying they were in a band and wished I would move to their state to sing with them. The notion of this make-believe idea charmed me. Before the wedding began, my friend asked me if I would ever consider remarrying. "If I could find love again or if real love could find me, that would be my wish," I offered in reply.
Jordan cried for daddy last night and asked if he could sleep with daddy’s pillow. I held him as he called out for his father, something that occurs regularly. I branched out with a new question for him. "Jordan, if your daddy could come back and you could tell him anything you wanted, what would you like to say?" It almost seemed as if he has thought about this question. He whimpered, "I would say, ‘daddy – I miss you. Please come back and take me up to heaven. I want to go to heaven with you.’"
Love is woven into our hearts. We desire to love and be loved. It is in our nature. It is in our make-up. Single and profound. Quiet and complicated. Real and fairytale.
I pray today for God to fill us with his constant, unfailing love. One that meets the depths of our needs and allows us to see the love surrounding us in our relatives, strangers from out of town, our precious children and ultimately in ourselves. Our Creator’s love connects the chasm between heaven and earth. He fills the void we long for. He challenges us to see beauty in the simple moment. This is the best wedding love after all.
