I’ve been to many hundreds of weddings – officiated at most of them! 

Most of the time the bride’s dress is white and the groom’s tux or suit is black.  Which reminds me – A young girl was attending her first wedding.  As the bride and groom were exchanging vows, she whispered to her mother, “How come the bride’s dress is white?” 

“Because,” answered her mother, “White is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day in the bride’s life.”

“How come then,” the astute girl asked, “is the groom’s suit black?”

Last Saturday, January 19, was a very happy day for my nephew, Brad Leach and his fiancée, Leah Edwards.

After waiting patiently for God to provide the perfect “help-mate” for each of them, Brad and Leah tied the knot with hundreds of family and friends supporting them.

Everything about the wedding was stunning. The energy was high. Laughter abounded.  The preachers connected with the couple and the guests. The food was exquisitely delicious. The high point for me was when Brad and Leah shared their vows with each other.  With their permission I share them with you.

Brad to Leah:  You look so amazing!  I don’t know if I can remember to say anything else.  I feel so grateful to be able to choose you today and I want you to know that I am going to do my best to make you laugh as often as I can, to hold you when you cry.  I want to work to create memories for our family, to plan and embrace the kinds of moments that will allow us in our lives to live an adventurous and memorable life together.  I want to bless you to pursue your dreams.  I believe in you.  I recognize the outstanding gifts that are in your life and my goal is to make sacrifices to make room for your gifts to continue to blossom.

 I commit to do my best to choose my words carefully.  I want to speak into your life words that are affirming, words that are sensitive, words that are inspiring and life-giving and I want to work to love you unconditionally, to make our marriage a safe one so that you will never have to perform to earn my love.  You will have it, when you are tired, when you are sick, when you are celebrating, when you are at your best and most importantly when you are not.  Most of all I want to love you best by loving Jesus first and serving you as he serves me.  I am so happy that He helped me to wait for you…every minute was worth it…all 15 million of them!

Leah to Brad:  Brad, I have been praying for you long before I ever knew your name and to see the man that God brought here today you are so much more than I could ever have asked or imagined.  And my prayer is that God would teach me how to be your wife, the woman that He has created me to be and by His grace.

 I promise to love you as Jesus loves you.  I promise to put your needs and your desires before my own.  I promise to honor you, to respect you and to be your biggest champion.  I promise to take care of you when you are sick, physically, or mentally, or emotionally.  I promise to hold your arms up when you are too tired to stand.  I promise to support your passions and to submit to your leadership in our family.  I promise to dream big dreams with you even if it’s thinking that this might be the big year for the Lions.  I promise to choose to love you when I feel like it and even when I don’t, and I promise to give my whole self to you completely with reckless abandon knowing that you are going to love me just as our Father does.  These things I promise to you Brad Leach for as long as we both shall live.  I love you more than words can express and I think this is going to be so much fun!

What great promises they’ve made!  What maturity and insight! What a great start for a life-long marriage!  I’m confident that through the grace of God, Brad and Leah will finish strong, just as they have begun.

Congratulations, Brad and Leah!  We love you!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Encouragement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.