Joy

I just spent the last two hours sitting, talking, praying and eating with a great young couple who are getting married this fall.  I will have the privilege of officiating their marriage and of walking with them through the process. It brings me real and authentic joy to get to do what I do — something that I used to experience almost daily as a full time pastor, but now get tastes of every once in a while…

A couple of things struck me this morning as we ate and talked…

• For me, there is no greater privilege in the world than discipleship and getting to walk people through the process of their own spiritual growth and marriage (they go hand-in-hand).
• Watching what God is doing in their lives is so awesome! 
• This is the kind of ministry that really gets my heart pumping… always has, always will. My gifts aren’t really in pastoral care, but I think my gifts in discipleship and counseling really get used well in these settings.
• Marriage is a beautiful thing.  Every time I walk through this process with a couple, I am reminded of how beautiful and powerful it is when two people come together as one. It is very much a sacrament in that it is a grace unto itself!

As a pastor and someone who officiates weddings, I really believe that whether the marriage is successful for not counts against my “batting average” (or at least, slugging percentage… I always think in terms of the back of a baseball card, lol).  In other words, I take pretty seriously who I will perform a marriage for. I feel really good about this one!

I actually have four weddings that I am officiating on the books right now. One (and the soonest) is for my sister Sara and (future) brother-in-law Rick.  In addition to officiating, I will also be catering the event out on Martha’s Vineyard.  To say that it is a privilege is an understatement!  It is going to be a blast and it will be doubly so because Rick and Sara are so good together and so good for each other.

Then this fall I will be doing a wedding for the couple I just met with.  Then sometime later this fall (date hasn’t been set) I will be flying to Florida to officiate a wedding for a friend from culinary school.  And then finally I will be doing a wedding for a couple getting married next year — they are a great couple and great family.

It is interesting for me because it is in these moments that I have two distinct feelings: (1) I really miss getting to pastor full time; and (2) I really love that I still get to pastor… 

And for those wondering, brunch was: Italian Sweet Bread French Toast w/Granola, Maple Syrup & Orange-scented Chantilly Cream; Summer Vegetable Torte (swiss chard, asparagus, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, Gruyère cheese), fresh fruit salad, and a watermelon-lime chiller.