A Wedding Story: Family, Love, and the Gospel

1. SPACE: the physical place or places - A home near the Kansas/Missouri state lines.  Nestled on a hill with mature trees, sits a sprawling ranch home.  You can tell the house has grown with the families who have lived in it.  Parts being added as the people inside increased in number.  Lovely landscaping.  Tiki torches line the driveway that curves invitingly toward the front of the house.  An welcoming archway entwined in white lights invites the guests to the backyard which falls away from the house with a slight slope toward a beautifully tiled pool with soft curves in keeping with the gentle roll of the landscape that surrounds it. Beyond the pool is a poolhouse with more of the twinkling lights.  Tables surround the pool with flickering candles perched on rounds of wood that look like they were just cut down today, rustic and bark-covered.  An assortment of flowers on each table look like they were cut fresh from the garden that morning. Bushes surrounding the pool adorned with more of the white lights cause a magical glow as the sun sets.  
2. ACTOR: the people involved - The McGregor clan are the hosts.  Mom, Linda and Dad, Bruce.  Sisters Amber, Heather, Megan, and Kathryn.  Amber's husband Andrew.  Brother Roy.  Ian and Bre, the groom and bride.  Bre's family. Her Mom, Sabrina,  Her Dad and his wife.  Her three brothers:  Zak, Eli, and Josh (not sure about those names). Friends at whose house the wedding will be hosted.  Friends of Ian and Bre.  Three Wheaton College boys we know:  Adam, Erik, and Bobby.  Older relatives including Linda's Mom who still speaks with her Scottish accent.  Uncle Scott and his wife, Laura.  Our family, the outsiders whose presence nobody really understands.  
3. ACTIVITY: a set of related acts people do - Rehearsal dinner.  Eating.  Talking.  Meeting.  Listening to stories about Ian and Bre.  
4. OBJECT: the physical things that are present - Round and rectangular tables.  Uncomfortable folding chairs.  White table cloths.  Lots of white lights.  Beautiful old trees, many with spotlights shining up at them.  A table with three large dispensers of lemonade, strawberry water, and iced tea.  A sliding board that points right to the swimming pool.  A microphone and speaker.  Candles on the tables.  Flowers on the tables.  Table numbers so guests know where to sit.  
5. ACT: single actions that people do - Lots of kisses and affection between Ian and Bre.  The sisters sneaking off to plot what they will say about their brother.  Bobby taking pictures. The women in the McGregor clan inviting Bre into the family by pinning the McGregor tartan on her.  The parents presenting them with the McGregor coat of arms.  Young men help put tables and chairs away.  
6. EVENT: a set of related activities that people carry out - The eating of dinner to celebrate the wedding of Bre and Ian to follow the next day.  
7. TIME: the sequencing that takes place over time - We arrive.  Park in the grass.  Walk to the back after being greeted by Grandma.  Meet lots of people.  Find our table.  Mingle with guests.  Talk with Adam and Erik.  Catch up with Erik about life in Florida.  Sit.  Pray.  Visit with our table mates.  Get our food when dismissed to do so.  Eat.  Get some dessert. Listen to beautiful stories about Ian and Bre and the Christ-centered marriage everyone predicts they will have.  Mingle some more.  Talk with Bre after she beckons us across the pool.  Say long farewells to Ian's parents.  Drive home.  
8. GOAL: the things people are trying to accomplish - Celebrate the marriage of Ian and Bre.  
9. FEELING: the emotions felt and expressed - See below...

• Uncertainty.  As we arrived I think we were all nervous.  The boy Catharine had liked all summer would be here.  It would be the first time they had seen each other since she left for college, and the week preceeding had been difficult.  She had finally had to realize it probably wasn't going to happen.  And now to see him...  As her parents we were focused on her heart...her feelings.  
• Honored.  We also knew that being invited to this event was a big deal.  We weren't family.  We weren't even lifelong friends.  We were simply a family Ian knows in Wheaton...and we've only known him for a couple of years.  Everyone else had so much history with him.  We were a bit overwhelmed by that knowledge.  
• Anxious. Even about what we were wearing.  Would we be overdressed?  Underdressed?  Just didn't know what was expected at a backyard rehearsal dinner.  Turns out we were just fine and there was relief as we saw guests arrive and realized we had hit the right balance. 
• Excitement.  Such a beautiful setting couldn't help but make you feel a little magical and excited about the evening and being included in it.  
• Loved.  The family was over the top kind to us.  Linda came and greeted me and gave me a big hug when she found out who I was.  At first I didn't know who she was and when I figured that out, there was another big hug. Such a wonderful woman who raised an amazing young man of God.  She made us feel so welcome and appreciated.  This sentiment was reinforced over and over as we met others who knew Ian and had heard something about our interaction with him.   
• Joy.  This is truly a couple who have been surrounded by Godly community.  They have seen the Gospel in action in their lives and in turn have tried to live lives of redemption, love, encouragement, and support.  For each other and all those whose lives they touch.  There was such consistency in the stories people told about them.  Consistency amongst the storytellers, but also with my own observations about the people I know them to be.  
• Hope.  As I watched this young man love his bride-to-be I was overwhelmed by his affection and care of her.  The way he wants to make her feel pursued, adored, loved, protected, and cared for.  He so wants to see Jesus in her and because of that love her in a way that is commensurate with that vision of her.  This gives me hope because I have two daughters.  Daughters who deserve that same kind of love.  And this evening gave me hope that they too can experience that kind of love from a man.  It gave me hope that those men are out there.  And they are worth waiting for.  
• Awe.  There was just a sense of awe by most present at how perfectly Ian and Bre fit together.  They were described as best friends.  So many of the adjectives used to describe Ian by one person were used by someone else to describe Bre.  There was encouragement for them and the way they will live out their marriage and ministry.  Look out world, here comes a couple pursuing Jesus and doing life in a way that shows it!  
• Relief.  For many present, this had been a hard week.  Any time there is a broken family, broken relationships, a wedding can be a tough time, a time of anticipation of what will be lost, or what might happen at the event itself.  Sadly, Bre and Ian experienced some of that this week.  The enemy was doing his best to steal some of their joy.  To bring old family wounds to the surface instead of focusing on the joy of the day to come.  But this evening, all those voices and hurts seemed to calm for a time.  And peace reigned.  Everyone smiled.  Said kind things.  They acted like adults and allowed Bre and Ian to experience the joy they deserve.  For those who knew what was happening,  there was a big sigh of relief.  
• Anticipation.   As we left last night, we knew the hard work had been done. The field was ready.  The intimate evening with family had gone well.  The festivities were under way.  And the Lord had shown up.  He was present and would be...in the wedding activities and in the lives of these two amazing young people!