our dear friend, mentor, area director, all of the above, justin ryder married us. what an honor it was to have him do that for us. it was his first wedding and it was absolutely beautiful. ran perfectly and so smoothly. i approached the alter and the music stopped. sniffles and tears came from everywhere- so many happy tears. ryder said the welcome and prayed. josh and i were able to craft the ceremony exactly as we wanted with the help of ryder. one of the things we wanted for the ceremony is to set apart ourselves and exalt God above all. in our ceremony programs it read on page one, one of our favorite verses that we also included on our invitations and a little message josh and i wrote together. it read:
"for this is how we know what love is:
jesus christ laid down his life for us." 1 John 3:18
dear guests- we recognize that our love for each other is rooted in the love of Jesus Christ. without Him, we would not know love at all. we feel very deeply for each other and yearn to know jesus more as we start our new life together. we ask that you pray that we never forget where our love comes from and that we would continue to give our lives to Jesus every day. our hope for our lives is that the love of Christ would compel us to love God, love each other, and to love people. thank you so much for joining us on our wedding day. we hope that this day will be a reflection of the marriage of God to his people.
in Christ,
j & a
josh and i knew we wanted the ceremony to be about us being joined together as one, but wanted that to be focused on the love of Christ as well. we know that marriage is a symbol of how God loved us and how Jesus gave himself for us. it is truly such a beautiful picture. we as the bride- holy and blameless because of what jesus did. thats why the bride wears white. how beautiful that we will one day be presented to God in a perfect way such as that. i think that is part of the reason why i was so emotional as i put on my dress. i knew it was the post perfect and clean thing i would ever wear.
so as the we worshipped and sang "in christ alone"- it was beautiful. simply and elegantly beautiful to come to the alter to the man i love and to sing to to the God i love. it set the tone and the mood for the entire ceremony. it wasnt about josh and i. it was about what God had done to put us together and how graceful he was to join us in those moments. so my dad gave me away and put my hands into joshs. a familiar place that i love. ryder read the decleration of intent- which in a nutshell was reading the meaning of marriage. libby read scripture that Josh and I picked out.
Philippians 2:1-11
1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of aservant,[b] being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
we wanted it to be a reminder to josh and i to humble ourselves before Christ and each other- to always remember that we put each other before ourselves. then ryder wrote some words to us which were absolutely beautiful and perfect. vows. rings. we're married. first act of marriage. prayer. benediction. smooches. mr & mrs josh & ally henderson.
it was all perfect. and i felt the Lord's presence more than i ever have in my life. jesus was all over that day and especially that hour. i will blog more about specific parts of the ceremony that meant so much to us. but for now i will end on this. marriage is beautiful. it is a covenant between two people and God. to love and honor and respect each other forever. it is binding. when i was little, one of the things i remember my dad specifically teaching me was to never break a promise. ever. i remember this distinctly. certain instances of him telling me this. i remember asking my mom who her best friend was and she said my dad. i told her that boys cant be best friends. not true. josh is my best friend. he knows me in and out. we made a promise that day to uphold that friendship (which on that day became a marriage) to the highest extent. i meant every second of that day and i will forever. i have never known jesus as intimately as i do now since marriage. what a blessing. i pray and i know that the learning will continue. that day was so full. full of love, laughter, tears, smiles, jesus. everything. it was perfect. i wouldn't change anything. and that is how it should be.
still thinking about the ceremony! it was awesome... can't wait to see you guys
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