On August 25, 1979, Cindi and I were united in marriage at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in San Antonio, Texas. It was a late wedding, as the church hosted a Roman Catholic Mass every Saturday at 6pm. It was also typically hot and dry for a Texas August. If you look carefully at our wedding pictures, you can even see the grasshoppers who hitched a ride on Cindi’s wedding dress! Other than that, it was the perfect wedding: the florist brought the wrong flowers; the car caught fire in the parking lot; the car later broke down on the way to the honeymoon; and the honeymoon featured a tropical storm. Perfect!
On June 15, 2013, Forrest and Mercedes were united in marriage at the Wildflower Barn outside of Driftwood, Texas. It was typically hot for a Texas June and, if you look carefully, you’ll see the sweat soaking through the clothes of everyone but Mercedes. (She ducked in and out of the only AC on the property!) We had to cut the cake early because the heat was melting the icing and the top layer began to slide off of the cake! When the newlyweds entered the reception, they passed under an arch of toy light-sabers – a Star Wars touch courtesy of Mercedes. Perfect!
On December 27, 2019, Aislinn and Matthew were united in marriage at Bethany UMC. Thirty minutes before the wedding, my stepfather was taken to the ER of St. David’s Round Rock (on 620) with a heart event. We didn’t tell Aislinn and Matthew until after the wedding. Later, when the reception closed, Aislinn and Matthew went to see him in the hospital – still dressed in full wedding regalia. Perfect!
On our twenty-fifth anniversary, I talked Cindi into sharing the pulpit with me. That day, she made the profound statement that God calls us in marriage to, “Choose the one you love and love the one you choose.” How much heartache could we avoid if we all did that? In that simple statement, she captured much of the blessing of our marriage. God brought us together in love. God undergirds and strengthens the love between us. We have all the normal struggles of any married couple. But over and over, God blesses the love we honor in each other. And that makes our life all the richer.
After forty-two years of marriage, we know it is not the perfect wedding that makes the marriage perfect. What makes a marriage perfect is inviting God to bless the love we honor in each other as we “choose the one you love and love the one you choose.” We continue to pray blessing over Forrest and Mercedes as well as Aislinn and Matthew. And we encourage all of you who are married, or thinking about getting married, to “choose the one you love and love the one you choose” as an invitation for God to bless the love you honor in each other. That is perfect!
Be Blessed,
Tom
