Musings on Marriage

I can’t really think about a wedding without picturing the scene from The Princess Bride – can you?

I’ve been in ministry long enough to occasionally perform weddings for former students who are now entering into that stage of life.  Last weekend I performed the wedding of a young lady who was in junior high when I moved here.  This week I have two appointments with two different couples to plan their weddings.

There is something unique about performing a wedding.  You meet with the couple, talk about plans and ideas, what they both want to be a part of the ceremony.  The rehearsal happens and you smooth out whatever wrinkles might exist in the proceedings.  When you arrive on the wedding day, everyone is transformed by tuxes and dresses and flowers and candles and decorations.  You can feel the nervousness in the air as the hour approaches.  The prelude music begins and people settle in.

Then it happens.  The bride appears in the back of the church.  She sees the groom.  He sees her.  She is beaming.  You can tell he is a little emotional.  In that moment, you get a picture of the magnitude of what is about to take place.  It is more than just pretty dresses and lovely flowers and rented tuxedos on the groomsmen.  It is not just a magical moment, it is a weighty moment where this man and women are going to pledge themselves to this relationship…for life.

It is a good reminder to all – both married and unmarried alike – of what God’s design for marriage is.  More than just a romantic moment of two people in love, it is the entering into a covenant relationship that will require much of both man and wife.  It is a battle.  It will be hard.  But it is good.  God designed it that way.