Weddings...

"There are moments you wonder if you'll ever forget. Events that sear themselves on your conscience. That moment was one of those for me." -Rob Bell, Sex God

"Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh." -Genesis 2:24

This blog is about a smile.

I love weddings. For those who know me, this should not come as a surprise. I'm a romantic kind of guy and love dancing. What's not to love?

Two weekends ago I flew back to celebrate the wedding of my Texas big sister Casey. Working for Casey for two years, I'd gotten to see a few guys come and go and disappointments arrive on occasion. And then a year and a half ago, we were having lunch at Chimy's and she told me about a guy from Nashville she's reconnected with. Sixteen months later, that was the guy waiting for her at the end of the aisle.

You should know, Casey is known to occasionally be a crier. By occasionally, I mean on many occasions.

On her wedding day, I expected her to be crying the whole way through. But that was not what I found.

There was a smile on her face from ear to ear. People often smile on their wedding days. In fact, if they don't, that's probably not a good sign.

But Casey's smile was different. From the moment the doors opened and her dad started to walk her down the aisle, there was something more in her smile. And it didn't go away.

From that moment until the moment she and Michael ran through a line of maraca-shaking friends and family on the way to their hotel, that smile never left. It never diminished. It never faded. That smile was on her face for every second of her wedding and her reception.

It was a picture of pure joy. In all honesty, I'm not sure I've ever seen a person happier than Casey was that day. I wanted to tell her about it the whole week she was gone, because she needed to know how happy she looked. It never occurred to me that she might know how happy she was. After all, she was the one smiling.

It was the smile of someone who was starting a new chapter, a new life, together with the person she loved more than anyone else. There wasn't a glimpse of hesitation or fear in it. It was the smile of someone who was in exactly the right place with exactly the right person. It was the smile of pure and perfect love.

It was the type of smile that others notice and forget whatever else may be going on in their lives.

Life isn't always perfect. In fact, it is often times quite hard. And many times, the weight of all of the bad seems overwhelming. The news is full of reports of ISIS and pain. There are moments of disappointment and tragedy. Our lives can be burdened with pressures and loss. Things are not always as we'd hope they'd be.

But Casey's smile was a reminder that hope always remains and love is always the source of that hope. Not in a hokey romantic sense. But deep, abiding love. Rob Bell puts it this way, "Maybe this is why we always notice great marriages. When their love is growing, it inspires us. Their life together gives us life."

This is why I love weddings. This is why I loved Casey's wedding, and why I had to tell her about her smile. They provide us with hope. They remind us that there are always great things that are being made new every day. They remind us that God is always writing new stories in our midst.

But it also taught me that this hope isn't something for us to share alone. Casey is like me, having moved to Texas not knowing anyone. We could be self-sufficient. We didn't need someone else to get along.

I've trained myself to be independent. To follow the wind wherever it may lead, whether from California to Tennessee to South Carolina to Texas. To be able to do it all myself. But Casey's smile taught me something, something I didn't realize how deeply I wanted: even if we can do it alone, even if we're capable of getting along just fine, it's always better to have a partner. It's better to have someone to share the biggest moments of our lives with.

I feel like Adam a lot. After all, Adam didn't think he needed a helper. He was able to name the animals and tend the garden alone. I'm sure he and God walked along and had fine chats. I'm sure he and the dogs in the garden played great fetch. He assumed he was doing just fine by himself.

But something was missing, even if he didn't know what it was, even if he didn't know how to describe it. He was lonely. He didn't have a companion. And God looked down and must've said something like, "This is close, but not quite right." So God put Adam to sleep and made Eve. And I imagine when Adam woke up and saw his partner, his smile looked something like Casey's. I imagine his face was beaming from ear to ear.

I love weddings. They give me hope in the midst of whatever may be going on in the world that faith, hope, and love are never overshadowed. They give me hope that we can believe that the future will be bright. They give me hope that God is still making things new in our midst, writing new stories.

That's what I loved about Casey's wedding. That's what I loved about her smile. That's why I stopped in her office the morning she got back to tell her how happy she was. Her smile reminded me exactly what pure joy looked like. And it taught me that no matter how capable we are, it's always better to share that joy with a companion. Because then you'll see your smile staring back at you.

Congratulations Casey and Michael! May your love continue to bloom and be made new every day. May you grow through challenges and celebrations. And may your love remind the world that God's love is transforming us every day.

forever unfinished...