The archivist in me wants to get it all down here and not let any more time pass, so I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Rhode Island trying to finish the story before we start our annual week of youth camp. I should be working on the Bible study I will be leading all next week, but I’m not the best at taking time to look back, at processing and remembering, and I know it’s so important. This life is so fast-paced that I’m always on to the next thing neglecting reflection and often missing all that God did. I don’t want that to happen this time.

In the days and weeks leading up to the wedding, Robert and I both expressed a desire to savor the moments and not miss anything in the accomplishing of wedding-related tasks – and we were only the parents of the groom. I can’t even imagine the whirlwind that Rebecca’s parents were in as the wedding day approached. One thing is certain – we all knew the Lord was granting much grace to our families. It was said over and over again. That He had brought our children together as future husband and wife was an obvious gift to everyone.

Robert performed the wedding ceremony (a huge honor!) and chose a text that he had never used in a wedding before – Proverbs 3: 11-12:

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,
For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

It was not the discipline and reproof part that he highlighted, but rather the delight part. He talked about how much we delighted in Kory – grieving when he left for college, because we had delighted in him as a son growing up at home for so long, and we truly missed him. He read some comments that Rebecca’s dad wrote about his delight in her as his daughter, having reached out to him about this prior to the wedding. It was clear that both of these grown kids had people who delighted in them as unique individuals, but not as much as God had, and not as much as He would as they navigate married life.

Robert encouraged them to rest and root themselves in that delight.

I prayed over and over that God would glorify Himself all throughout the wedding festivities, and I don’t know if everyone noticed it, but I sure did.

To be very honest, things were going so wonderfully, that I spent one day gripped in fear over how God might glorify Himself. He is often glorified in tragedy and trial, and I didn’t want Him to answer my prayer that way. It took my own prayers and Robert’s to stop the fearful, anxious tears that overcame me one day.

But He didn’t do that. Instead, His glory was perfectly evident – in the way most of us hope it will be.

It was evident in the friendships among the bridesmaids and groomsmen.

In the hymn-singing and the sincere and obvious worship.

In the the sacrificial service and cooperation between friends and family. (Errands were run, Airbnbs were cleaned, gluten free communion bread was bought – thank you, Paul – phone calls were made, deliveries happened)

In the prayers offered by the wedding party for the bride and groom. (Somehow, I got to witness both of these prayer times ~ so powerful and beautiful.)

In the prevailing joy…and lack of drama.

In the guests from near and far who were there to celebrate with us. (Massachusetts, Virginia, California, Tennessee, Colorado, Bermuda…to name just a few)

In the laughter.

In the delicious food.

In the gorgeous venue, decor, and flowers – all arranged by Rebecca’s mom and a few helpers.

In the toasts to the bride and groom by their siblings. (Great job, Coop and Rachel!)

In the fun music (a fabulous live band!) and the dancing.

In the generous gift giving.

I could go on.

Even the premarital counseling Kory and Rebecca received (and will continue to receive) through their church, Austin Stone, was beyond anything we’ve ever seen.

Maybe I’m just a mom who has interpreted all of this through very biased, rose/glitter/unicorn-colored glasses (though if you know me at all, that is never my tendency – to a fault sometimes) but it just couldn’t have been more glorious, and I thank God for that. It was all such a gift, and the tears are beginning to fall as I type.

He was so good to us. We could not help but feel His delight in us as His children.

He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we could ask or think, and He did.

He does store up His goodness for those who fear Him, and He poured it out abundantly.

And I know that His abundance and goodness are mostly to be seen in the salvation He accomplished for us – that if the wedding weekend had been a disaster we would have still rejoiced over our names being written in the Book of Life – but He does also give good, tangible, earthly gifts to His children, and this was certainly one of those occasions.

Have I gushed enough?

1000 glittery gushing words about God’s goodness.

What’s that the kids say these days?

Sorry, not sorry.

Yep.

(Though if you’ve read this far, I know that you don’t mind anyone gushing over the glory of God on display at a wedding!)

And now I at least have some of the glorious memories down on digital paper, because I want to be able to come back and rehearse His goodness over and over.

Thank you for rejoicing with me, friends.