The pastor’s son returned to his home church to get married. He’d grown up, gone to college and seminary, and moved away to become shepherd of his own Midwestern flock. He came home to marry a local girl, a daughter of the church. They’d grown up together, although several years apart, and when they announced their engagement the general response seemed to be, “Why, of course.”
The couple’s story echoed those of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, or of Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon. After years of praying for a godly wife, it seemed the groom’s eyes were opened to the beauty of his friend and he realized, “Why, there you are. You’ve been right here all along.” I guess the romantic in me sometimes blurs the line between fiction and reality.
The event felt like our church's own version of a royal wedding. There was beautiful music, there were stunning flowers; there was a radiant bride. And there was the groom’s father, doing his job. He preached the Word, exhorting the bride and groom to cling to their redeemer and to one another. He, by the authority vested in him, proclaimed that two had become one. He, as a happy father, embodied gratitude for God’s goodness and covenant faithfulness to his family.
During the course of a simple marriage ceremony, the lines blurred between the work of pastor, of a church and state official, and of a faithful, loving father. All the years of biblical study, all the hours of prayer, all the effort expended in paying the bills, supervising homework, and making sure the trash was taken out merged into one single duty: proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.
Jesus told his disciples to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:7, ESV) There is work to be done as we wait for the fulfillment of that proclamation, and some of the work is hard. There are bills to be paid, children to be raised, thorns and thistles to be raked from the ground. There is music to be made, beauty to be created; there are stories to be written. We wait, we pray. We long for the return of our bridegroom, sometimes growing weary in the waiting. Yet all the work we do during the waiting is holy, and at some point the lines begin to blur between our varied tasks. All our work is preparation for the one big marriage feast.
And on a day when beauty and celebration and joy were everywhere present, the lines blurred between the kingdom that is at hand and the kingdom that is yet to come.
And Michelle:


20 comments:
"Yet all the work we do during the waiting is holy" Amen. I love this story, your thoughts , your connections. Be a romantic my friend, this world needs more.
I also love the "all the work we do during the waiting is holy".
I love blurry days too. I get so many of them...
and i so look forward to that marriage feast!
I so love the blurry lines.... great post!
VERY neat...makes me want to go search for some more blurred lines in God's amazing character/attributes! Thank you for this post!!
Beautiful!
The lines are often blurred between our daily tasks and our heavenly tasks. I love how you brought that to my attention, Nancy. Just a beautiful post -- felt like I was attending the wedding!
I hope your Monday will be full of blessings.
Pamela
Nancy,
I love stories like this...so inspiring. You brought me right there with you at the wedding too.
I loved this story. I loved the connection with Jane Austen and Green Gables. So romantic. So inspiring. :)
There she was all the time! Loved your story of a godly family and how God placed these two together as one.
Things are especially blurry for me, these days, since my glasses are missing. Nah. I've got an old, crooked, and otherwise hootpy pair. Good thinkin', Ms. Ma'am. Sounds like a lovely ceremony! It must be wild to officiate the wedding ceremony of one's child; I would love to have been standing in the middle of that man's heart at the time.
I love your blurs, and you.
ah, gorgeous. we had a double blurring...my hubby's dad and mine (both pastors) married us. tears everwhere. (did i mention my husband's a pastor too? and his grandfather and his uncle? we joke with our kids to just go ahead and plan on seminary; they're bound to pop up there whether they plan on it or not.) :)
The holiness of the work we do while waiting....among so many other lovely bits, this one grabs me too.
Thanks, Nancy.
Wonderful beautifully told story. love the phrases you wrote and will remember them. Thank you for sharing this.
Nancy,
This is such good stuff! Just another example of our mission over at the High Calling. It's all holy, isn't it? Why do I lose sight of that so often? The folding of the laundry, the cooking for the family, cleaning toilets (can't leave that out...after all, I have three guys in my house)...it's hard to sometimes remember that the way I do these things matters. It really does.
I've been thinking of you, Nancy. I know that big birthday is coming! Love to you, lady.
oh, this made my heart sing, dear nancy... the kingdom is at hand. amen.
ps. happy big 5-0 next week! i'm afraid i'll be gone on vacation, but i want you to know how much i treasure you, friend. xo
"Yet all the work we do during the waiting is holy, and at some point the lines begin to blur between our varied tasks. All our work is preparation for the one big marriage feast" -- and yet why is it so easy for me to forget this, as I'm up to my elbows in holy grit?!
I needed the reminder, Nancy -- thank you for that.
beautiful!! and happy birthday a day early! 50 years of endurance is an accomplishment. plus, you're one year closer to seeing Jesus face to face. :) may your day be full of blessing and joy as you brighten the days of the random people who receive your gifts, too.
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