Stephen sees his bride enter the room and loses it. So much love! Awesome.
Here is my wedding speech/charge to my son and now daughter-in-God. I had to write it out in full because I didn't think I could get through it otherwise; good decision.
Stephen & Launa wedding 1/17/15
I am glad we are here and past all
the teen drama of relationships and how we joke about things not to say to a
girl like: “I like your nose; it’s not too big for your face.” Or “I love your
eyebrow.” Now you need to learn other things not to say like: “Thanks for
making that overcooked, dried-out chicken dinner.” Or “What are all these tubs,
bottles, creams, lotions, curlers and dryers all over and under the counters?
Does it really take that much for you to be beautiful?” Or “What possible sane
reason could anyone have for needing six bathrobes? Six!” That’s just a few
things not to say. There is a bigger list that people can share with you later.
But now, we are gathered here to
participate in a wedding ceremony that unites these two as husband and wife
while mirroring and pointing prophetically toward the reason for all of
creation: the wedding between Jesus Christ and His body, the church. Follow me
on these amazing biblical metaphors that point us to the awesomeness and
complexity of God. I, as the father, am exceedingly well pleased with you, my
son. I could not be more proud of you. I could not love you more. You are an
amazing son and a wonderful lover of your bride. Your heart was created soft so
it could be broken for the wounded and to love them to wholeness. You were
named Stephen James so you could be a witness to the world of the truth that
The Father loves the world and sent The Son to rescue all who want the light
and truth. Your bride has been made ready and she is beautiful and wonderful.
Launa, you are a fantastic woman who
has learned through many trials and tribulations to love the son. I see how you
treat him with great respect, honor and admiration. I appreciate you and am so
proud of you. We are privileged to bring you into the family through your being
united to the son. Because the son loves you, I am glad to receive you as my
daughter. Darla is beyond excited too. You
do not have to work, toil or strive to be accepted or affirmed. You are the beloved. You are the beloved. Grace
and forgiveness have been poured over and into you to make you the shining rose
of holiness that needs to simply rest where planted and bloom because you are
loved as a Princess of The King.
Today you two become one before these
witnesses and God.
Today you become husband and wife and
will be a witness to the world of how God loves humanity. Your lives will
display the proper way for a husband to love his wife and a wife to respect her
husband. You will succeed. You will have a great marriage. Simply by doing life
the right way with God as your primary lover, the world will get to see God in
action. Your lives point to something so much greater than just hooking up so
you can attempt to get your own needs met from a self-focused relationship. You
know marriage is not about you and your roller coaster feelings but about
serving your spouse to meet their love and respect needs as you serve Jesus as
Lord above all. You get the honor, joy and pleasure of loving your spouse in
the way they need because of what God
has done for you.
Because Jesus died for your sin and
killed the old selfish you at the cross; both of you are alive in Him with
resurrection power flowing in and through you as the Holy Spirit empowers you
to live in Christ as God lives and loves through you. Jesus is The Life. Real
life is about giving and not about getting. Every aspect of your relationship
is to glorify God. Be careful with your words. Never joke in a way that can
wound or needs to be apologized for. Don’t fight in a way that is harsh or
damaging. Fight for, not with! Resolve issues like the trinity does knowing
each other are never the problem, but the issue is; even though, God doesn't have problems. Flee family lineage
flaws. Become whom He is making you. Speak prophetically to one another calling
each other into a future that God sees for them. Believe more in your partner
than they believe in themselves. Build, support, encourage, dream and
strengthen each other. Freak the world out with your extravagant grace and
forgiveness. The world does not know how to love and forgive. Heal hearts,
souls and bodies.
“We must develop and maintain
the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of
the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the
best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr.
Be forgivers. Be vicious forgivers. Remind people of their future in Christ, not
their past. Forgive repeatedly. Love courageously and extravagantly.
Shine heaven into and through each
other. Worship God in all you do with and for each other. Recognize the
invisible eternal heavenly clothing that your partner wears as a shining,
glorious child of the Lord of lords and King of kings. You are clothed in
holiness and righteousness that far outshines these dazzling temporary outfits
of clothes and skin.
Children complete the heavenly
metaphor with the trinity: husband, wife and children are an earthly parallel
to the family community relationship between The Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
Allow the children to become prophetic warriors of truth. Love them more than any
other humans can. Do not enable, spoil, condescend or be tough. Often tough love
is a misnomer and merely an excuse for being cruel, rough or mean. The world
will be tough enough; wounding and punishing them needlessly. Counteract the
work of the accuser by being affirmers. Be so loving and grace-filled that they
know you are safe places and violent protectors of their souls a midst the
wolves that seek to devour faith and the fruit of the Spirit. Continue, as you
have been, to show them holy love and tenderness. Darkness abuses and hides.
Light reveals and restores. You are children of The Light. Always hold before
them the hands that reconcile them to The Father.
“A successful marriage is not a gift; it is an achievement,” Ann Landers, a pseudonym for a
newspaper advice columnist. But as believers we know this is a gift that we get
to make the most of and continue to unwrap, open and celebrate as long as you
both are alive.
Win at love. Win at life. Win at
marriage. Win at family.
Know this: Your marriage will shine brightly well past your days on earth.
Let’s pray...
my youngest son Jordan, Stephen & bride Launa with her daughter Raegan on the floor playing
