Remarkable Faith: A Wedding!

Today, I'm participating in Mary from Giving Up On Perfect's Remarkable Faith journey! This week is actually funeral week, but if you will remember, I got that off my chest last week! Now, I get to share a much happier tale of marriage and faith. :)

You have to love weddings, right? Well, no. 

Let me explain. I guess you could call be a very opinionated child. I had my opinions, and I didn't hold back. Emotions on my shirt sleeve.  

Or, in other terms, I was obnoxious! I was very passionate about things and I always stood up for what I thought was right. Not so surprisingly, my right wasn't always right.

My dad has a huge family, (27 grandchildren, 62 great-grandchildren, all from 5 children!) so someone was always getting married. My mom always made a big deal about what we would wear, and I always went off on this huge tangent about how outfits don't matter, the bride and groom won't even remember what we wear, It's not like they will kick us out of the wedding if we are wearing an ugly skirt, etc.

So yes. Not a huge fan.

When I was almost 14, we went to my cousin Bethany's wedding. I did all the grumbling about it, put on a dress, and went. At least it wasn't in a church! (Back then I absolutely hated church, compared to now when I probably love it too much!) It was in a hotel.

We sat down on chairs in this "ball" room, which was way too small for all the people. Bethany is a little eccentric. Always has been! Today though, she looked gorgeous. So elegant in her one shoulder cream dress!

The ceremony wasn't long at all. But it's not the length that matters. It's the authenticity. And let me assure you, out of 15+ weddings in my life, this was the most authentic of all.

I mean, it was like someone had sprayed a bottle of love in there! I don't know how else to describe it. There love for each other was so obvious and real. You could tell it would last a lifetime {It has, so far! 5 years and counting.}.

The thing is, Bethany wasn't a bit religious. It wasn't a religious thing. It was a realization. 

During the entire ceremony, Bethany was laughing. That's her. She wasn't trying to be a formal, "model" bride. She was just trying to be Bethany. To add to the sweetness, Bethany and Andrew wrote their own vows!

And they both cried. Yes, even the guy cried. He barely got through the vows he was crying so hard. Before, I would have seen this as annoying and dramatic {I'm being truthful here!}, but for some reason, I didn't. I just saw it as possibly the sweetest thing ever!

Live. Laugh. Love.

You see, that wedding was perfect to me. Not because everything went flawlessly {Space was a big issue.}, but because it was so real. They were living in that moment, not acting.

So what have I learned from those 2 lovebirds? Well, maybe the little things aren't what matters. It's all in the big picture. Embrace it! So what if their aren't enough tables? Stand up! Dance! LIVE!

For me, I learned that I don't need to point out everyones flaws, and campaign so hard for my own ideas. Sometimes, it's just not necessary. Sometimes, everything just *magically* works out.

With LOVE!!!

Blessings!