I loved the trees in the church, they were amazing!
I know it may seem silly, but well.... I promise there is a little more substance coming, bare with me while I get my wedding giggles out!
I've always loved the royals, I mean let's just be honest here, I keep my stud earrings and rings in this little plate on my dresser.
And if life could be just as I want it, this would be one of my many hats.
So I'm sure you're thinking, "Oh gosh, Sarah has lost her marbles, I bet she ordered a William and Kate plate too!" Well, in fact, I did not. (not that I would mind if someone bought me one ... my 30th birthday is less than 2 months away!) I only started to follow the royal wedding about a week before it occurred and that only because my best friend asked me about it and I had nothing to say. I had to tell her that I hadn't been following it at all. She was surprised and then I realized I was too! (I mean come on, I own the man's parent's commemorative plate for crying out loud!)
But here's the deal, as I sat and watched it this morning, I was totally captivated, the whole thing was absolutely stunning! But really the thing that captured me the most was the service. Really, I'm not kidding. Did you actually watch and listen to the service? It was amazing! Okay, so of course I know for some the service was nothing more than a bunch of memorized lines that they repeat back every week when they go to mass... but that is just sad, because the words were rich and full of depth and beauty! (By the way, did you notice they had a song commissioned just for their wedding ?! That is also pretty rad! But not the most important thing of course!)
Aside from the prayers and reading and vows (not that I am down playing those at all, like I just said, I thought it was amazing) the Bishop of London kind of blew me away with what he had to say! Now of course, I have no insite into the personal nature of Kate and William's relationship with God but seriously, the Bishops words were so powerful! What an amazing charge to the couple as the start their married lives together! Now I know that marriage has been on my mind a lot lately as Adam and I just celebrated our anniversary but even still, I was challenged by the royal wedding and I was not expecting that at all! I expected the whimsy and beauty but conviction from the Holy Spirit through the words of the Bishop of London was not on my list of things to be expected! (I actually started jotting notes as I sat infront of my computer!!!)
(The message starts at 31:40 and go to 38:55, if you want to see it)
Here's some of the gems the Lord got me with as I watched this morning:
* Marriage is intended to help man and woman to become what God ment each one to be, their deepest and their truest selves.
* Spiritual life grows as love finds its center beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of the spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self the richer we become in soul. The more we go beyond ourselves in love the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully reviled. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.
*Marriage should transform as husband and wife make one another their work of art.
*There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow.
I was reminded just what a mystery marriage really is and how amazing it is that God lets us be involved in his picture of how Christ relates to the Church.
Christ is loving and wooing us on a daily basis and it is through those things that we really are becoming our truest and deepest selves. Christ is always ready and willing to bring us into a more fuller life. He is transforming us into His work of art so that the Holy Spirit can flow freely in our lives!
It really is so beautiful and so shocking and so humbling.
And I am so glad the whole world got to hear it!
Blessing be upon the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they step into a mystery far beyond themselves!
