Eight Hours, Two Couples, Two Pictures of Marriage

On one beautiful afternoon, I led a beautiful bride and her handsome groom through the vows and promises that began their life together. It was a simple ceremony, but filled with the holy--God's gift of the marriage covenant was being entered into once again by two of his children. The bride and groom were almost emphatic in their recitation of their vows. Their smiles and whispered words at the unity candle evidenced their joy. They had many hopes and dreams, and while they couldn’t know all the challenges they would face, they were excited to face them together and to embark on all that God's plan for them contains. With lives full of promise, they moved into life as one.

That same night, I led a wife of over 60 years to the hospital bedside of her husband where she struggled to reach his cheek for a final kiss. Unconscious, his occasional twitches were the evidence of the severe brain injury he had suffered that would take his life in the next few hours; a prayed for miracle did not happen, and he not awake on this earth again. His wife said quietly to us, "What will I do without him?" They had been partners in a life that knew all the expected joys and sorrows, endured separation during a world war, involved hard work for both, raised three sons and saw grand- and great-grandchildren. As long as his life had been, his impending departure at 89 was still unexpected. But she could still say with a twinkle in her eye, "He was sure a pretty good man to me." Their lives were a promise fulfilled, and now, years later, they have been reunited in the Lord’s presence and heard him say (certainly about their marriage), “Well done!”