A Family Wedding (The Big Day)

Like any eventful experience, a wedding should communicate multiple layers of meaning. At the very least, a wedding almost universally reminds the participants of their own wedding, whether the success or failure, the hopeful expectation of what is to be or the bittersweet longing of what has not yet been. As believers in Christ, a wedding should ultimately symbolize the union that we are called into with Him; like the uniting of a bride and groom on the altar, so is the intimate, life-altering connection we are engaged in when we experience Jesus in a real way.

For us, this wedding was a reminder of our own wedding, our union with Christ, and even more, of the hope and promise we find in the continuing story of our lives. This was technically the first wedding we were in since Katherine's stroke.

My other sister, Sarah, married her husband Jeremiah in December of 2008. We were thankful to be able to attend that wedding, but Katherine was still so sick that we were not really able to participate. The folds of her pretty blue dress hid the feeding tube, and her big accomplishment at that time was being able to stand up by herself from a seated position on the church pew.

Fast forward four short years, and things have changed mightily. At this wedding, Katherine and I walked down the aisle, somewhat shakily but still secure, arm in arm, as James followed us proudly holding his ring bearer pillow. We mingled around the reception, even swayed a moment on the dance floor. And of course, we tasted any and every treat imaginable. The picture of wholeness, despite loss and brokenness and pain, was hard to deny. Especially reflecting on this months after, knowing what was to come as Katherine would break her leg just a few weeks after she walked down the aisle. That leg could have just as easily broken the night before the wedding, but God was so good to let us have that special day--a beautiful picture and a lasting reminder that we will not soon forget of the joyous life that we have in Him.

{All of the fantastic shots below were by Mandy Busby}