a few months ago i wrote about how all my friends were getting married. i spent some blog time exploring how weird it was to watch as important people in my life were transitioning into such huge commitments. when i wrote that blog i was convinced that all these weddings would be uncomfortable. i'm not sure if i can explain it, but even if you are estatically happy for the couple getting married, weddings have a way to make single people feel like their life will never get jump-started. anyway, so my friends got engaged and i was entirely convinved that their weddings would bring out all sorts of ugly insecurities i don't like to see in myself. this made me completely sure that i wanted to avoid said weddings at all costs. but let's be honest there are some events you can't miss.
then God did something amazing. on september 26, 2009 tyler john hellinga married amy elizabeth maddox. as i got dressed for that wedding my mind was consumed with memories. i thought about the first time tyler asked amy out. i laughed as i remembered how amy and i pretended that tyler had given her a black eye at winter camp. i smiled as i contemplated how our Lord could lead two people down this path from friendship to love to hatred, then wind it all back to friendship and ultimately love again.
when i got to the wedding and gave tyler a hug i swear i have never seen him look so nervous. and tyler and i have been friends for 15 years. as the wedding started my eyes filled with tears because i was so incredibly peaceful. there was no place on earth that i would rather have been than in that chair on that particular beach. and as i watched my best friend's eyes fill with tears as he watched his bride walk towards him, i knew beyond any doubt that this was a marriage that would enrich the lives of the people it touched. amy and tyler love each other so completely. they trust each other. they're better people because of each other. but above all that they love God. they trust God. they let God mold them so that He might make them better.
it's no secret that i struggle with loneliness. in fact that's often a common theme of my blogs. but on this day- this day when i expected to feel sad and alone and hopeless; i felt only joy. i felt satisfied knowing that my beloved friends were together. and nothing could stop that. it was a wedding that made me reach out and hold the hand of my Savior. it was a couple that reminded me that real love is complicated and confusing and always steady. it was a perfect day.
