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| Our boys in their wedding best! |
We go to lots of weddings on Clove Island, and I can say from experience that all island weddings are pretty much the same. Sure the songs may change and the actors, the number of people,etc. But from a macro perspective, not a whole lot looks different. For the participants in the wedding, of course, it is a terribly exciting and unforgettable day. But for us, as outsiders, however, the weddings are pretty repetitive and can be kind of boring.
I was reflecting on this while I planned to write this blog, because in many ways American weddings are the same. The bride wears white, there’s a church and a reception afterwards, eating and dancing. This was true of my sister’s wedding and yet it was a really special and wonderful event. So how do we share about this exciting and unforgettable day to many of you who weren’t there (outsiders) without being boring? Not sure if we’ll pull it off, but it’s worth a try. We thought maybe a quick list of the personal and the unique might give you a taste of a great wedding:
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| Bride and Groom dressed for tea ceremony |
Things that made this wedding wonderful for us:
-This was the same sister and her fiancé who came to Clove Island to visit us back in July. The whole family knew both bride and groom and love both of them terribly. (When the kid’s saw their uncle-to-be again at the airport they gave him full on running hugs—it was so special that we got to know him before the wedding.)
-Seeing extended family and old friends. This is something that’s pretty universal for most weddings, but it doesn’t make it any less wonderful. Many of our extended family members hadn’t seen us in several years.
-The bride and groom both love Jesus. This was evident in their wedding, in the words spoken at the reception, and even the words spoken around the table. The love of Jesus shines in both of them and everyone there seemed to know it.
-Being there. It was pretty difficult for us to get there. It is hard, expensive travel. But we were so blessed to be able to come with the financial help of others and without greatly disrupting to our busy island schedule too.
Things that made this wedding wonderful in the unique sense:
-Costume change #1: Our new brother-in-law is Chinese-American. As a part of the wedding, during the reception, they did a traditional wedding tea ceremony. I am told that this is the essential part of a Chinese wedding. It was wonderful to see them include this in their wedding, and my sister looked amazing in her Chinese wedding dress.
-Who gets the bouquet: Maybe they didn’t make it up, but I’ve never seen it done at a wedding before. Instead of throwing the bouquet and causing a mini mosh pit, they played a song for couples to dance to and then asked couples who had been married for less than 5, 10, 15, 20 years respectively to leave the floor, until there was just one couple left. They had been married for 49 years. They gave the bouquet to them. What a beautiful way to celebrate marriage.
-Costume change #2: Our new brother-in-law is a drummer and he’s played in a bagpipe and drum band since he was old enough to hold a drum stick. So suddenly, in the midst of the festivities out comes three bag pipers and a drummer and our new brother in kilt and hose. The pipers piped. The drummers drummed. And our brother did a rockin’ drum solo.
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| All the cousins! Together for 1st time! |
PRAYERS ANSWERED
The wedding went really well, and the weather cooperated (despite being intensely cold, there was no snow storm). We had such a wonderful time seeing family—especially meeting some of our new cousins for the first time. All the kids played beautifully. Our daughter and cousin were wonderful flower girls. Thanks for all your prayers during our intense days of travel home (we’ll probably write about this in the next blog) though it was very difficult, it went very smoothly. We are glad to be back on the islands. All our teammates have made it safely back after all their time away!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for this new marriage, that it would blossom and grow for the rest of their lives.
We arrived home to the islands completely wiped out and with internal clocks fighting against us. Pray that we would start adjusting back to the time zone quickly. We will be gathering together with our entire team tomorrow after being apart for over a month! This gathering marks the beginning of our final two months together. In just two more months, our team will finish and many of our teammates will move on to new assignments. Pray for us as we push to finish well as a team.
