New Beginnings

September 13, 2008

It’s a two ‘wedding’ weekend for me. In a couple hours I have the opportunity to do the wedding for a couple of West Ridgers (Ronda and William) who have been through a lot in life. They have each been married before and are blending families. This time something is different. They have done the hard work of premarital counseling and soul searching and are starting again putting Christ at the center of this relationship. It’s a new beginning.

Last night I had the opportunity to co-preside over a renewal of vows service (a kind of wedding ceremony) for my friends David and Tara. My friend Matt Willmington helped oversee this one with a pre-recorded reading and prayer. He gets honorable mention for that. David and Tara have walked a road in their marriage that no one would choose in advance, but God has given them victory over the rough road and has created a ‘highway in the wilderness’ (See Isaiah 35).

This ceremony had a couple of themes to it that David and Tara had chosen. One of the most memorable pictures they painted was with the use of color. White was punctuated with the use of the Calla Lilly. Red was punctuated with the use of Red Roses. The Calla Lilly is a symbol of Death. The Rose, a symbol of love and life. For a follower of Jesus, life always follows death.

When you are around David and Tara it becomes very clear that they have put to death old circumstances, and as a result have had new life breathed into them by God himself.

For me both of these couples become living, spectacular reminders that when God is involved the ‘old’ has gone away and a ‘new’ beginning has come.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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