By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
My niece and her husband are about to welcome their first child into the world. Baby Margarida, named after her Portuguese grandmother, will one day hear the story of mommy and daddy’s wedding day. A day that didn’t turn out quite as they hoped.
Like many young couples, my niece and her husband were set to get married during the summer of 2020. All the plans were in place. The date was set, the dress was bought, and the church and reception hall were reserved. Even the flowers and cake had been ordered. It was going to be grand occasion, the kind of celebration of which fairytales are made.
But then it happened. COVID arrived on the scene, and the world entered a state of chaos. Businesses were forced to close down (including churches and reception halls) and international travel restrictions were enforced, both of which became problematic for Sami and Francisco. Not only did this mean they had to cancel their honeymoon plans, but it also meant Francisco’s family from Portugal couldn’t fly-in for the wedding. When the world didn’t look like it would recover in-time, the decision was made to postpone the big celebration until 2021. As you can imagine, this was a huge disappointment for my niece, but she handled it like a trooper.
Eager to begin life together, the couple chose to have a small backyard ceremony and reception on their original wedding date and celebrated with just a few close friends and family members. Francisco’s family attended the ceremony virtually. Thank goodness for Zoom!
I know it wasn’t the day my niece and her husband originally envisioned, but it was a beautiful day all the same, intimate and enchanting (a different kind of fairytale wedding).
Although my niece and her husband still haven’t had their big fancy celebration, they’ve come to realize what’s most important: being together as husband and wife and living life to the fullest, here and now. A lesson I’m sure they will pass along to their baby girl, Margarida.
Elaborate weddings come and go, but the celebration I look forward to most is the one I’ve been invited to attend in heaven. As the Bride of Christ, you and I will to get to stand before the throne of God and experience the most majestic wedding ever. Our fairytale weddings here and now will pale in comparison. Marriage here is merely the dress rehearsal for what’s to come.
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear” (Revelation 19:6-8).
As Believers, we will be joined together with our fetching Groom for all eternity, and praise-be-to-God, nothing, not even a worldwide pandemic, can stop what is coming. Our union with Jesus will be the grandest, most magnificent celebration ever. And here’s just a glimpse of what we will get to experience.
“You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God…
… for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:3, 4-5).
“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation” (Isaiah 25:6-9).
I don’t know about you… but I can’t wait!
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