At the beginning and the end

Today I am officiating a wedding and also speaking at a funeral. I love officiating weddings because they are beautiful opportunities to be a part of the beginning of something so special between a man and a woman. Being able to speak God's truth into the lives of a couple as they say "I do" is a powerful thing. Plus, there is the benefit of enjoying all of the food at the reception - definitely a plus.

Funerals, on the other hand, are not so high on my list. It's not that a funeral isn't important - it certainly is - but the reality is that a majority of the time they are somber and incredibly sad events. Even when the one who has passed has lived a great life and is now in eternity with Jesus, those left behind still feel the sting of their lost presence.

But regardless of my feelings towards funerals, I have the honor of speaking at the service today of a woman named Cheryl who passed from this earth on Monday at the young age of 38. Let me tell you about Cheryl. I met her last year at my church and was immediately struck by her warmth and grace towards others. Cheryl was pretty much on her own - not much family in her life - yet she found herself surrounded by a community of friends and faith that loved and supported her and became her true family.

About the time I met Cheryl she informed me one Sunday that she had been diagnosed with cancer of the liver. She told me that she was going to fight it with everything she had. Once the treatments began she shaved her head as an act of defiance against the inevitable effects of chemotherapy and not once did she gripe or complain about the process.

As the months and treatments went by, Cheryl continued to fight but it became apparent that her cancer was fighting just as hard. Over the past several weeks she began to face complications and hospital visits became a part of her weekly routine. Last week, her best friend took her to the hospital one last time.

This past Sunday I received a text from Cheryl's friend asking if I could come see her at the hospital. I arrived at the ICU unit to find her hooked up to a respirator, dialysis, and all sorts of other tubes that were feeding medications into her failing body. She was resting peacefully, as if none of this cancer nonsense was all that big of a deal.

The next day I received another message - Cheryl was ready to go home. The decision had been made to terminate all of the artificial measures that were keeping her alive and I was asked to be there when the time came to turn them off. I'm not going to lie, I was conflicted. Watching as someone passes from this earth is incredibly difficult and is not something that I would naturally choose to do. Nevertheless, I drove to the hospital to be there with Cheryl and her friends when the time came.

As we were waiting in her room for others to arrive, I talked to Cheryl and read passages of Scripture to her - Psalm 19, Psalm 23, I Corinthians 15, and Revelation 21. These passages are beautiful reminders of God's love and purpose for us, not just here on earth but also for all eternity. Throughout the entire time she remained in a deep sleep, but I do believe she heard me. It is widely accepted that hearing is the last sense to leave prior to death and I firmly believe that she could hear and process my every word.

When the time came for the machines to be unplugged and the IV lines to be shut off, there was peace in the room. We all gathered around her bed and prayed over her, telling her that we would miss her but that it was okay to let go and go home to Jesus. As the minutes passed her vitals signs began to slow until she quietly took her last breath and the monitors fell silent. Without realizing I was even saying it, I exclaimed, "She's home!" and her friends gathered around her for one last goodbye.

Over the past sixteen years I have had the privilege of being in the room as all four of my children were born, assisting in the delivery of two of them. I've watched in awe and wonder as new life entered into the world, taking in that first lung-full of breath and crying out with the announcement that they have arrived.

I've also enjoyed the honor of officiating many weddings, celebrating with the bride and groom and their families as two lives merge together on a new and exciting journey. Their shared enthusiasm and giddiness during pre-marital counseling, the look on the groom's face when we first sees his bride, and the exhausted yet deeply in-love look they give to each other at the reception are memories that don't easily fade from the mind.

And then there is the end of life. Contemplating someone's years on this earth as you honor their memory is very sobering, yet it is also a wonderful opportunity to consider just how good and faithful God is. In the New Testament, James wrote that "life is a vapor," just a moment on earth in contrast to the continuum of eternity (James 4:14). During our time here, we live and breath because of a God who desperately loves us and wants us to know Him in a real and personal way through faith in Jesus Christ.

I am so very grateful that my friend Cheryl knew this and placed her faith in Jesus some time ago. As I speak on her behalf today, finding the right words won't be all that difficult. It's easy enough to speak about a life well lived. It's even easier to speak about a life well lived for Jesus.

Location:At the beginning and the end

LIfe as a "wedding guy"

Over the next two months I will be officiating nine separate weddings along with two beach vow renewals. Now I ain't complaining because beach weddings are a lot of fun and I usually get to wear shorts and flip flops when I do them. But performing this many weddings does mean that many of my weekends are going to be tied up with rehearsals, dinners, and really fun receptions with great food. Tough life, huh?

I didn't really set out to do this many weddings and there are times that I have to say no, but at the same time I consider it an honor to come alongside couples both young and old who are ready to walk that aisle and embrace life together as a unit instead of going at it solo. One of the coolest aspects of doing weddings for me comes during the premarital counseling portion, and that's because when at all possible my wife and I tag-team those sessions. After all, if she has survived me for almost 18 years then you know she's got mad wisdom to give to any nearly newlywed!

Since I have had the privilege of performing so many wedding ceremonies over the years, I thought it would be cool to compile a list of marital wisdom to pass along, things that I have discovered on my own but also many nuggets of goodness that have been passed down to me.

Successful marriages will be 100%/100%, not 50/50.  Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, taught my wife and I this principle as we sat down with other couples to receive counseling almost 20 years ago. On the surface it may sound like semantics but it is truly so much more. If men and women aren't willing to give their full effort in marriage, then they are opening themselves up to the greater opportunity for failure. In marriage, you shouldn't go half and half. You must go all in.

Communication is key. Approaching marriage from a biblical perspective (again, creds to Dr. Gary Chapman), there are two primary forms of communication styles for couples: The Dead Sea and The Babbling Brook. I believe that those terms adequately describe themselves. The key is to recognize which style you are and which style your spouse is and then work to accommodate so that both sides can be equally heard. If you are a talker, i.e. a babbling brook, then this will take some practice but it is so worth it. Just as no marriage will be fully healthy unless it is 100/100, most marriages will struggle to survive if the conversation is always one-sided.

Marriage gives birth to a whole new family. I love to see a couple exchange vows and then pronounce them husband and wife because it is at that moment that I get to witness the birth of a whole new family unit. When the two come together as one, they share more than just a common last name - they embrace a new identity. And let me tell you, this can be a tricky point for some! I encourage newlyweds to focus all of their energy in at least the first year of marriage on this new family that they have created. This means that if he does something to hurt her feelings, she resists the urge to call her mother or her girlfriends but instead goes to him to work it out. This means he gives up his weekly poker night with the guys in favor of taking his wife out on a date so that they can strengthen their relationship. Are you used to going to Sunday lunch every week at mama's house? Start your own family tradition and go with another young couple or even on your own. I have had some balk at this suggestion, claiming that they don't want to stop doing some of things that they have always done, and I tell them that is just fine. This doesn't mean that you cut all friends and family out of your life completely But if you want to grow your new family in a healthy and holy way, then focusing more - not less - attention on each other is an essential ingredient in that formula.

Make sure to plan ahead. Almost all the weddings I have played a part in have occurred during the spring and summer months, the bride and groom taking advantage of the beautiful weather and leaves on the trees. A June wedding date is perhaps the most popular choice and there is much competition for wedding venues during that brief window of time, but I leave that up to the bride and groom-to-be to determine the dates and the details. What I mean by planning ahead is that in just a few short months the holidays will be upon them and couples suddenly realize that they can't be in two places at one time. Whose house will they choose to go to for Thanksgiving dinner? Around whose family tree will they gather at Christmas time? These decisions are very important and they go back to my previous point about focusing on each other as new family unit. Bottom line is that you can't please everyone and therefore you should not try to do so. Divide and conquer may be the best alternative - his parents for Thanksgiving, hers for Christmas, or vice versa - but either way there is no need to kill yourself to accommodate all sides when there are only two of you. This is another one of those less-than-fun conversations for married couples to have, but it is far better to have it earlier on than before the seasons are almost upon you and promises have been made.

"Submit" is not a four-letter word. The ceremonies that I lead are usually fairly brief in nature, typically no more than twenty-five minutes. A big reason for that is because you didn't come to hear me preach - you came to celebrate seeing loved ones and good friends get married! My ceremonies are also completely based upon concepts of marriage as spelled out in the Bible, and I speak from passages from Genesis, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians. Inevitably, when I speak from Ephesians chapter 5, there will be some that balk over the word "submit," especially since the Bible says that women are called to submit to their husbands. I do my best to explain this concept not only to the bride and the groom, but also to all who are in attendance in an effort to not have tomatoes thrown at me (none yet to date). If you are at wedding or about to get married and you are worried about the word submit, let me break it down for you just like I do in the weddings that I perform:

• The word "submit" doesn't mean that the man cracks the whip and the wife does whatever he says. Rather, it carries with it the greater idea of respect, and in the Ephesians 5 passages mutual submission for the husband and wife is what we see first.
• So when a wife is asked to submit to her husband, she is being called to respect and follow his leadership...
• ...which in turn puts a huge responsibility on the husband to be the kind of leader that his wife wants to follow.
• In summary, the wife is not asked to submit because she is anyway inferior to her husband, but rather because God, in His creative order, set man to be head of the home.

There are still some that think this is too old fashioned, but in doing so they are missing the point. Having the wife remain barefoot and pregnant is not in mind here. Rather, God has established a healthy balance of leadership that both the husband and wife have an equally large role in which to play.

Marriage is a wonderful thing but it can also be incredibly difficult. It takes lots of work and constant attention. I have been blessed to be married to a women who for almost eighteen years has worked tirelessly to see that our marriage is successful. We both truly enjoy passing along our success (and sometimes not so success) stories to couples both young and old who are considering entering into this amazing covenant relationship with one another. Feel free to share any other words of wisdom that you have learned in the comments!