This weekend I was privileged to officiate at the wedding of a close friend of mine at the Mirasol Club in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.   The wedding ceremony was beautiful and I am proud to say that Andrew and Jennifer are married and probably enjoying a beach in Jamaica right now.  The setting for the wedding was beautiful, although we were not able to hold the ceremony outside due to the weather.  The wedding coordinator and I had a small disagreement in planning where the wedding party should be standing during the service.  Doesn’t that seem silly?  While a detail like this may seem small, I realized that our argument was not really about what is most visually appealing to those in attendance (and the photographer) but we had a fundamental difference in what the service was all about.    She thought that the wedding ceremony was more like a civil union.  To her this was a formal ceremony in which the couple becomes officially married according to the state.  While that is part of the purpose for the ceremony, it is far from the real purpose.  The central theme in any wedding is not some romantic notion about the love that is shared between the bride and the groom, but rather it is a celebration of the love of God that has brought them together and to seek God’s blessing for the life together as husband and wife.  The wedding coordinator, while very professional and good at what she does, wanted to cut God out of the service as much as possible.  She seemed to disregard the fact that this was a religious ceremony and that it would not only be for the couple, but for the gathered community.  I am thankful that Andrew and Jennifer choose to have a religious wedding instead of a civil union.  They were very deliberate in choosing the scriptures for the service and they even added the element of unity sand, which was the first time I had come across this tradition.  The symbolism of the unity sand is like a unity candle, except that it more accurately shows the blending of two families.  Also, it can be used for a longer period of time unlike the unity candle which you can only use until it burns out.

Congratulations Andrew and Jen, may God bless you all the days of your marriage!

Posted: June 23rd, 2008 under Family.
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“But Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinner. — Matthew 9:13

I have a confession to make: I have watched more reality contest TV shows recently than I care to admit. It doesn’t matter if the contestants are singing, dancing, or performing some rare talent to follow their dreams or win big prize money, the shows seem to draw me in by their interesting characters. In the early rounds of the competition there is a great divide in the level of skill of the contestants. Some people have great talent and they are able to amaze the judges by their innovation and creativity. Others seem to be grossly misled TV. by family and friends to believe that they have what it takes to be a star. Some contestants have been working for decades to hone and perfect their talent, preparing for the moment to perform in front of talent scouts. Others have been putting their routine together for a few hours with the hopes of just making it onto
Regardless of the talent of the contestants, I would never want to be a judge. Read more »

Posted: June 5th, 2008 under Church.
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We have started a new family tradition of a Memorial Day-Weekend Home Improvement Project. Last year, we finished the garage by hanging drywall, installing a peg board, and painting. One year later, the garage is still organized and I love it. With one project under our belt, we decided to go for a project that was a little bit bigger this year: A paver patio. After many months of planning and picking the right paver for the project, the gravel and sand showed up. The picture does not do it justice, because the mounds are bigger than they seemed. Bob and Barb came over again to help with the project, but we needed even more help than just they could provide. Some great friends of ours, Mark and Linda Seifert, Greg and Kristin Marshall, Gordon and Martha Helms, and Chris Renner spent the day digging, hauling, and leveling the dirt. After a little over a day of work, the patio was finished! We found some nice patio furniture at Home Dept and a fire pit at Target. We are ready to host a backyard party for our friends now. Last night we grilled out for the first time and enjoyed a nice meal on the patio. There are many more pictures of this project in our gallery. We are very fortunate to have the help and support of so many people during this project. It would have taken so long with the help of our family and friends.

Posted: June 3rd, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1