Engagement and Wedding
1.5 years after we started courting, we were engaged to be married. The preparations began and emotions ran high, at least for the bride-to-be. Amy desired to be married in the church her parents were married in and that her Grandmother Doris had been playing piano at for 60+ years. We asked Amy's close friend Jesse to preside over the wedding. Our groomsmen included Ernest's best friend Derek, and brothers Casey and Glenn. Bridesmaids were Amy's close friends Amy Katherine, Brandi, Erica, and sister Angie.
It was challenging to make everything work with the church. The pastor at the time was not easy to work with and often made unreasonable demands. However God was faithful in helping us through the time. Though some tears were spent by Amy (ah, the emotions of a young bride) over the difficulties of the pastor, flowers blooming early that year (we compensated by drying the early buds and using dried flowers) and perhaps other insignificant things that have long been forgotten, our day finally arrived on September 26th, 2004! The fall weather was beautiful with blue skies and puffy white clouds. Pictures were taken at prestine Zuanich Point Park with the bay in the background. Though the perfectly white dress rubbed against closed poppy flowers and parked cars leaving an occassional mark, the day was perfect in every way. When we arrived were at the church in the basement waiting for the ceremony to begin, we opened in prayer, inviting the God of wonders to be the guest of honor that day and acknowledging that none of what was happening was possible without the will of God. And if you were there with us in that basement you would have felt the presence of someone in that room, a new presence that brought tears and joy to all the hearts there. God's Spirit had entered that church and that was the greatest blessing either of us could have ever imagined!
Our siblings and friends walked down that aisle, then Amy's sister Angie with her daughter Sierra, clinging to her leg. The doors shut and the music faded as a transition took place. New music filled the air as the doors were opened and the bride stood crying with happy emotion with her Daddy. At the end of that church stood her future, the one that God had blessed her with, the one that God had created to love her and take care of her. They met, they made life-long vows, they sang and played praises to their God that had brought so much happiness to their lives. And at the end, they embraced in a passionate, long awaited kiss that still resignates in their hearts today.
It was challenging to make everything work with the church. The pastor at the time was not easy to work with and often made unreasonable demands. However God was faithful in helping us through the time. Though some tears were spent by Amy (ah, the emotions of a young bride) over the difficulties of the pastor, flowers blooming early that year (we compensated by drying the early buds and using dried flowers) and perhaps other insignificant things that have long been forgotten, our day finally arrived on September 26th, 2004! The fall weather was beautiful with blue skies and puffy white clouds. Pictures were taken at prestine Zuanich Point Park with the bay in the background. Though the perfectly white dress rubbed against closed poppy flowers and parked cars leaving an occassional mark, the day was perfect in every way. When we arrived were at the church in the basement waiting for the ceremony to begin, we opened in prayer, inviting the God of wonders to be the guest of honor that day and acknowledging that none of what was happening was possible without the will of God. And if you were there with us in that basement you would have felt the presence of someone in that room, a new presence that brought tears and joy to all the hearts there. God's Spirit had entered that church and that was the greatest blessing either of us could have ever imagined!
Our siblings and friends walked down that aisle, then Amy's sister Angie with her daughter Sierra, clinging to her leg. The doors shut and the music faded as a transition took place. New music filled the air as the doors were opened and the bride stood crying with happy emotion with her Daddy. At the end of that church stood her future, the one that God had blessed her with, the one that God had created to love her and take care of her. They met, they made life-long vows, they sang and played praises to their God that had brought so much happiness to their lives. And at the end, they embraced in a passionate, long awaited kiss that still resignates in their hearts today.
