Summer Weddings

Can attending weddings be my hobby???

The view at Mike & Jen's wedding. First wedding of the season! (My own image)

It's not that I just love a good dinner party. (Which I do!) And it's not just that it's like seeing Pinterest come to life. (But seriously, check out my Pinterest board here. It's fantastic, if I do say so myself.)

It's that weddings call to something deeper for me.

Umm, I'm crying a little bit that I was not invited to this one.

For one, it's impossible not to reminisce about my own wedding and just be flooded with romance and nostalgia. I have a moment that I always look for when I'm attending a wedding now that I might not have noticed before I got married. I try to catch a glimpse of the bride and groom right after the exit the ceremony--the couple is experiencing a rush of joy and relief and the Holy Spirit that is rare and truly beautiful. Oh, if I could only bottle the feeling of that moment and take a sip each day!

This is the EXACT moment. I know you can't see much in the photo, but try to feel it. (My own image.)

Another rush of that feeling right here. (My image via the amazingly talented Tyler Jones.)

And the dancing! I declare that we should have many more events and moments where public dancing is an acceptable activity. Being able to celebrate the love of your friends by shaking it just feels so dang good! And then getting a chance to press close to your own love and sway under the twinkly lights is even better. (Listen up DJs. We all love "All the Single Ladies," and "Uptown Funk," but please make some room for some old-fashioned slow dances. Replace the chicken dance with a classic like "At Last," and we will all be very grateful.)

So THIS is what I mean, people. (Image found here.)

Finally, attending a wedding has the ability to call up that longing without a name. That longing  for the home we haven't yet found, for all that is wrong in the world to be made right. I believe that one day we will be done with the brokenness, pain, tragedy, and hate of this era and all arrive at the full realization of the Kingdom of God. (Maybe we will be greeted with craft cocktails in mason jars. Or goblets. I don't know.)

I imagine that day will have all of the anticipation of attending the most incredibly gorgeous wedding (of all time) as well as all of the relief and comfort of finally coming home after a really long trip.

Yeah, it will be goblets.

And we will then see Jesus face to face. (1 Cor 13)
I can hardly wait.

Found via Pinterest,  original source lost. Bummer.

That longing for the Kingdom is intoxicating to me. I too often disconnect from that feeling in my day-to-day life, but at a wedding it is as present to me as all the pretty details. It reminds the soul that love is on the way.

A pretty detail from Mike & Jen's wedding. (My own image.)