The Marriage Dance
~A Wedding Picture

Posted by Rebecca Marchbanks on August 18th, 2010 in Blog | 7 Comments

Summer seems to be the season for weddings. There’s something about the smell of sunshine and wildflowers coupled with the ease of vacation time that lends itself to family gatherings. And then there’s the old adage about June being a lucky month to get married.

This summer we had the privilege of being part of a very special family wedding, and to make the time even more sweet, my daughter was one of the flower girls and my husband had the honor of officiating. There’s something so lovely about seeing your family join together and be a part of a couple’s commitment to one another. The ceremony was captivating, and I couldn’t help but smile as I reminisced of my own wedding almost twelve years ago: We were much too young and thought we knew all. Marriage would be a breeze, I was sure of it. Life was just going to fall into place for us. On that day, my wedding day, I was full of hope for the future.

Since that time, life has thrown a few curve balls. Some of those balls we’ve knocked out of the park and others… well, others we have fouled out. Babies came, death visited, ministry called and in all of the everyday-ness of life, for a while, we forgot about the wonder of the wedding day, of the hope that it stands for.

One of my favorite pictures of Christ is that of the Bridegroom. To have the Savior of the world waiting to claim His bride, makes my romantic heart shiver. He is our ultimate hope for the future.

And so I sat in that sultry Texas sunset, at the wedding of a beloved couple and remembered. I remembered what God had promised my husband and me as a couple. When we made a covenant before Him, He promised help. In the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verse 12b, it says “…a threefold chord is not easily broken” (ESV). He reminded me of the hope that I felt on my own wedding day. The hope of a new beginning, a shared destiny with this man that God gave me. I can look back over the past eleven years and be thankful that God knew, with His sovereign timing, that we would need each other.

Our journey together is not over. We have (God willing) a lot of life left together and I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to what’s coming. I know it won’t be easy but I can rest in the fact that He holds our future.

So, ladies, my question to you is:
What has God used lately to remind you of His hope in your marriage?

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, ESV