Love is... bigger than that...

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

-excerpt from 1 Corinthians 13 (the Message)

This past weekend our son Joshua married Kristen… the love of his life. 

They are now Mr. & Mrs. Joshua Pelkey. 

As I began the weekend, I vowed to do something I never do. This self professed ‘Mamarazzi’,  committed to live in the moment & left my camera in my hotel room the day of the wedding. Instead I soaked in each precious moment & allowed others to flit around taking photos of the day. I’m so thankful I did. 

The whole weekend was beautiful. From the relaxed atmosphere of the rehearsal dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack, to the excitement of seeing our friends & family arrive… from the delight of donning our fancy wedding clothes, to the joyful anticipation found in the pre-wedding moments… from the powerful emotion of seeing our grown up boys coming up the aisle & our little girl in a formal, to watching our son’s eyes fill with tears as he saw his beautiful bride for the first time… from the beauty & sacredness of the ceremony to the fabulous celebration afterwards…

There are hardly words to describe how I am feeling about all of it & knowing me, I am sure I will be processing each exciting moment for weeks… 

There is however, one thing that I am certain about... 

Amidst the excitement & celebration it was the way in which Josh & Kristen interact together. It is very obvious to me that this relationship is God ordained & not only do these two ‘kids’ recognize that, but they have placed their relationship at the feet of the cross. As I listened to their vows I saw something deeper than infatuation… they love each other bigger than that… deeper than that. There is no doubt in my mind that they, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will confront everything life will throw at them with passion, grace & humor…. I can hardly wait to see what God will do in & through them.  

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,’ then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense — love as distinct from ‘being in love’ — is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. it is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it." - C.S. Lewis

http://youtu.be/rwK73QbNPKo