me, Aida, Ralph, Chuck
What a blessing to witness the wedding of our dear friend Ralph, and now our dear friend Aida who we just met Friday! What a beautiful couple. They were married on Saturday and the body of Christ came together for them by setting up the church for the wedding and reception and then breaking everything back down after the reception so church services could be held on Sunday morning! Food was donated, services were offered – photography, video, singing, serving dinner and MC’ing the event (Iris you did a great job!) It was truly a wonderful experience to see everyone loving on their pastor and helping him and Aida before, during and after the wedding.
Ralph told us their first invitation was for Jesus to be present…and He was! You could feel His love surrounding the church as non-churched people said they didn’t realize being in love with Jesus could be so exciting. The pastor spoke about ways for Ralph to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and for Aida to respect (submit to) Ralph. He said keeping communication open, being patient and spending time together are a few practical ways to live out your married life.
Although we met Aida under stressful times and didn’t have much opportunity to really sit down and talk, I saw her love for the Lord and how very much they both wanted God to be glorified at their wedding and into their married life together.
My prayer is the Lord will continue to be the center and focus of their marriage and we could all begin to understand the “profound mystery” Paul refers to in Ephesians (“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband).