My Beloved

My Beloved is Mine, and I am His. Song of Solomon 2:16

These were the words on our wedding invitation 29 years ago. I’m not always known for being head strong, although I have my moments, but in planning our wedding I had some definite ideas. Part of my theory was that if people came to share in the celebration, then the ceremony needed to be longer than five minutes, so there was extra music, extra readings, and extra candles (even in the bridesmaid’s flowers)! We weren’t quite as extravagant with finances, the traditional seventies wedding in the southern suburbs was a simple cake and mints affair. I wore my dear friend’s wedding dress, asked a co-worker to take the photos, and had the plainest bridesmaid’s dresses ever. (Sorry girls, my biggest regret for the day). In some ways I was extremely lenient in expectations, and in other areas I had my own maverick standards which weren’t found in any bride’s magazine. Where was Dennis in all of this? Where any groom wants to be, out of the way! His one criteria was that it had to be late enough in the day that his groomsmen could finish their work at the golf course. After that he was content to show up the day of the wedding and let me have the reins. “The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together.” Robert C. Dodds. We definitely have some different ideas and approaches, and I believe we have always given each other the freedom to keep our individual perspectives, yet we can come together easily, trusting each other’s decisions and respecting each other’s views. “Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.” Amy Bloom. A few years ago I reached the point where I had spent more of my life married than not married, and then came the raw realization that we are only about half-way to where we hope to be. One of the songs at our wedding was “What are you doing the rest of your life?” We are still finding out.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, One of your greatest creations is companionship! How wisely you realized that we need others to help support, to corroborate, to plan, to mend, and with whom we can share our joys and sorrows. Let our congregation hold sacred the marriages that begin in our church, doing our part to provide a nurturing environment for their growth and endurance. May we keep a sense of their excitement and devotion and reclaim that for our own lives, finding the joy of placing another person’s welfare above our own. It is a miracle! In Jesus’ name and as Christ followers, Amen.

What are you doing the rest of your life?
North and South and East and West of your life
I have only one request of your life
That you spend it all with me

All the seasons and the times of your days
All the nickels and the dimes of your days
Let the reasons and the rhymes of your days
All begin and end with me

I want to see your face in every kind of light
In the fields of dawn and the forests of the night
And when you stand before the candles on a cake
Oh, let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make

Those tomorrows waiting deep in your eyes
In the world of love that you keep in your eyes
I'll awaken what's asleep in your eyes
It may take a kiss or two

Through all of my life
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall of my life
All I ever will recall of my life
Is all of my life with you