And So The Real Journey Begins…
When we booked our venue, our contact person Katey, asked us who our wedding officiant is going to be. She proceeded to inform us that our wedding package includes the services of an officiant for free.
But Bernie and I declined the offer because we only had one person in mind.
So last week, Bernie and I reached out to The Rock Church here in Temecula (that’s the church we go to) to inquire if our head pastor, Pastor Henny, could officiate our wedding. I received a response saying that it’s actually Pastor David Archibeck who officiates weddings.
Bernie and I are happy just the same to have our church be a part of our wedding.
Pastor David was so gracious to also reach out personally via email. He sent his congratulations and expressed that he’d be happy to help us in any way he can. The only thing the church requires is for Bernie and me to go through four sessions of marriage counseling.
To tell you honestly, Bernie and I are so excited about it. We’ve talked about joining the Couple’s Bible Study Group once we’re already married. So starting our journey together as husband and wife by going through a Christian marriage counseling means making a commitment to let God be the foundation and the center of our marriage…
Because apart from Him, we really won’t accomplish anything—nothing that brings a true sense of joy and fulfillment anyway.
Our initial meeting with Pastor David will be next month, on April 30th at 1 PM. And then the first session of the counseling will be scheduled four months prior to our wedding date. Needless to say, we’re so excited!
We can’t thank God enough for this beautiful life we have together. Sure, there are plenty of ups and downs, but the ups certainly far outweigh the downs. And most importantly, in both the ups and the downs, God has always been there with us, showing us how to be more loving, more patient, more considerate, and more forgiving towards each other.
Because “to LOVE and to CHERISH” each other is not just a line we say at the altar but a choice that we make Every. Single. Day.
And Bernie and I—individually needs to make the daily commitment to follow Christ in order for us to genuinely love each other and successfully uphold our vows.
The way I see it, the wedding is just a formality. But the real journey is merging our lives together as one, dying to our ego and choosing to love the other person more than we love ourselves. That’s very tough to do, man!
But… we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
