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hardly seems possible, that over 4 weeks have passed since Renee and I stood before our God, family, and friends and said our vows.  The days since have been some of the most alternately exhilarating, relaxing, and overall life-changing that I've ever lived.

I gave up my single life forever at high noon on July 9 at First Evangelical Free Church.  It's the church where I've attended since June of 2001.  Renee began attending there late in 2007.  I don't remember speaking to her until we met at a friend's Super Bowl party in early 2008.  We'd met briefly at a mutual friend's wedding in 1998, but never met again afterwards.  Over time, in God's time, actually, we became friends and then, best friends, and then, husband and wife.  Our Pastor Kevin Hughes performed the ceremony.  There was no one else who could've done it for us.  He pastors the "Quest" casual/contemporary worship service at FEFC that Renee and I attend.  We've grown to love him as a trusted pastor/teacher/counselor/all around good guy.  I wanted my former pastor Mike "if you boast, you roast" Goodwin to offer a welcome and opening prayer but he was unavailable the weekend of our ceremony.

Our wedding party came together nicely.  Renee chose her sister as her matron of honor and I chose my brother as best man.  My groomsmen were a couple of old friends and Renee's brother Rob.  She chose 3 of her closest friends as bridesmaids and her good friend Melody as her personal attendant.  We had a suitable contingent of adorable nieces and nephews to serve as flower girls and ring bearers.  Renee's college friend Paula provided piano music and our friends Kim and Luke were our singer/guitarist combo for the ceremony.   Our friend Ben is a video guru by trade so we asked him to film the ceremony, using what I thought would be my dinky Sony Handycam video camera.  To our surprise, he showed up with 2 professional-grade cameras and set one in the baptistry and one in the balcony.  To say we are grateful to him would be an understatement.

So, was I nervous?  I really wasn't, on the day of the ceremony.  A man's wedding day is obviously one of the most significant days of his life but I don't think I let that overwhelm me.  I was so confident in my heart that I had made the right decision to marry Renee that I honestly wasn't nervous.  At the rehearsal the night before, I did break down when I tried to introduce my groomsmen and again when I tried to thank some people at the dinner afterward.  I was initially embarrassed but was later encouraged by others' assertion that I was only expressing my true heart at those times.  The ceremony went off without a hitch.  There was the potential for significant hitch-age with the aforementioned flower girls and ring bearers.   Happily, they all proceeded down the aisle voluntarily and adorably.  I must also give a shout-out to our amazing wedding planner Kelli McGill who coordinated everything wonderfully.  I will always be grateful to her for going along with Renee's plan to give the church's gaudy brass candelabras a much-needed spray paint makeover so we could use them.

We included two songs, Phil Keaggy's beautiful wedding song "Here and Now" and the popular praise song "God Of Our Yesterdays."  The former I have known about for many years and knew it had to be in my wedding someday.  The latter is a favorite of Renee's that was played as we lit the unity candle.  We asked Pastor Kevin to speak from Ephesians 3:14-21, the prayer of the apostle Paul for the Ephesian church.  It's a favorite text of mine that I thought would clearly communicate our desire for our marriage and deliver the gospel message to our guests.  He delivered it beautifully.   I wore a lapel microphone for the first time in my life so our guests could hear Renee and I clearly.

And then, in a flash, it was over.  Pastor Kevin pronounced us husband and wife, then uttered his signature wedding phrase, "John, she's all yours, bro.  You can can kiss your bride"  I did so happily and that sealed the deal.  We were officially Mr. and Mrs. John Matlock!

from matlockjohn.blogspot.com