Wedding Wows
Is there anything better than a wedding celebration? Especially a wedding celebration post-Covid?
This past Saturday, I had the privilege and honor of conducting the wedding of my son, Stephen, and his fiancé, Abby. After the wedding ceremony, so much of the talk focused on how you could tell this bride and groom really loved each other. You could tell it in their eyes, in the gestures they made, and in the tender words they spoke. There was no question; this couple was ready to be married and share their lives together.
As I reflected on all the comments, I realized weddings can be a great time for vow renewal and love rekindling. Rather than just watching the ceremony quickly go by, pay attention to the authentic expressions of love shared between the bride and groom, listen to the words they say to one another, and capture their excitement to begin this new chapter of life.
In the ceremony, I charge the bride and groom with three points.
1. Married life is a journey. Learn to make adjustments when you hit bumps in the road.
2. Practice Forgiveness. Learn to say I’m sorry. Learn to say I forgive you.
3. Love Intentionally. After a wedding, so much of the focus moves to careers, financial planning, and having a family, that too often we fail to nurture the love relationship. Be intentional to show and grow your love.
Leigh Anne and I celebrate 35 years of marriage this June 14. That’s 35 years since we first looked into one another’s eyes and expressed our love for one another at our wedding and began our first steps of married life. That’s many years of maneuvering around bumps in the road, hitting a few potholes and even landing in a few ditches, thanks to me.
Along the way we’ve learned better how to forgive. But what I want to get better at is loving intentionally. It’s easy at this part of the journey to leave the relationship on cruise control and only focus on it when something negative happens. But when I think back to the love that Stephen and Abby showed for one another, it was so much more than a cruise-coasting love.
I want the next 35 years of my life with Leigh Anne to be filled with moments of love, laughter, and life lived with fullness.
If you attend a wedding this summer, make sure you observe how the bride and groom look into each other’s eyes and capture that intense love they have for one another. Then renew your love for that special person in your life.