New Facets

Today was a long day. Not a bad one by any means, but definitely long. And yet, here I sit, at 2 in the morning, blogging about it. Go figure.

My husband’s band, Day of Grace, played for a wedding today. The bride and groom rented a quaint little beach house in Sandbridge for the band’s use, and I (and the other band wives) got to tag along. How excellent is that? After a late night of Uno, Apples to Apples, and Reese’s eggs, it was a task to get up early to get ready for the wedding. Worth it though. Really.

The ceremony was small. So small, in fact, that at first I pitied the couple. I thought their friends must have forgotten about their wedding. The bridal party and the band easily outnumbered the guests. But let me just tell you. After the first five minutes, I knew it didn't matter. I have never, ever seen a couple so extravagantly in love. I've never seen two people MEAN it so much. It was beautiful. Inspiring. After I watched them together, all pity vanished. In its place were happy tears, and joy. I watched the groom burst into tears the moment his bride appeared in the doorway. I watched him exuberantly hug her- not a gentle embrace. I mean full out, veil crushing bear hug. The OCD in me winced every time I saw him squeeze her, pat her head (under the veil), pull her head down onto his shoulder, crumple her dress... but the woman in me smiled. When the minister pronounced them husband and wife, the bride literally jumped up and down, squealing. Her husband picked her up, twirled her around, and carried her out the door of the church.

Later at the reception on the beach, when she crammed cake in his face, he chased her around, finally capturing her, rolling on the ground, and began covering her with sand. She just laid there and laughed. If JT tried to cover me in sand, I would’ve punched him in the nose.

I spent all afternoon watching them watch each other. Watching them love each other. Jeremy and I talked about it on the way home. He said, “Seeing that kind of love... it’s inspiring, isn’t it?” It is. But it’s not so unattainable, is it? I said to him, “Here’s the thing. It’s a circle. I watched it. The more he loves on her, the more she loves on him. The happier he makes her, the happier he is. And the happier she is, the more she wants to make him happy.”

I think what I’m trying to say about my day is that I feel like, for the first time, I witnessed Christ and His Bride in this couple. I can’t describe it. They didn’t do anything extreme. They didn’t line up and wash their guests’ feet. They didn’t evangelize to the tourists walking the beach. They simply loved.

They loved.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

That’s it. I saw Christ loving the Church today. I saw Him woo Her. I saw Him watch Her every move, memorizing Her face, gazing into Her eyes every chance He got. In every expression on His face, every smile on Hers, every tear of joy they wiped away from each others’ cheeks, I saw Christ giving Himself up.

I saw Christ loving ME. Believe it or not, today, attending the wedding of perfect strangers to me, I somehow saw and understood a new facet in my Groom, that 27 years of churchgoing couldn’t show me.

I was wooed today.