Reflections on the Eve of a Wedding
This evening, Julie and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding rehearsal dinner for our dear friends and Northside church members, Wayne May and Dorothy Woodall. This sweet senior couple have fallen in love after losing their respective spouses and tomorrow it will be my privilege to join Dr. David Jeremiah and Dorothy’s son, John who is a pastor at Northpoint Church in Atlanta in presiding over their nuptials. At the University Hilton tonight, their family and closest friends gathered for a nice dinner and a time of testimonials and reflections on the eve of their big day.
The room was filled with 4 generations of families. During the testimony time, many of the grandchildren and children rose to speak with great affection and wonderful eloquence about their grandparents. While they shared their hearts, two precious little great-grandaughters danced to music while watching themselves in a wall of mirrors and oblivious to what was going on around them. What deeply impressed me was the fact that so many spoke with personal passion about the spiritual impact that their grandparents had made on them. Some were newly married, others soon to get married, a couple were expecting children, one wonderful couple with whom we had the pleasure of sharing a table who had thetwo dancing daughters are adopting another child from the Honduras in a few months. Their stories were filled with examples of God’s providence, of their love for the Word of God, of the impact of their family on them.
I can’t imagine a prouder pair than Wayne and Dorothy as they sat and listened to the wonderful heritage that is theirs. Wayne was a faithful member of Shadow Mountain Church in El Cajon, CA for many years and served as the chairman of the board for Christian Heritage University. His daugher Cindy and her husband,John (Walker) arefaithful members of Northside as well. Dorothy was married to an evangelist/minister and their children have a mature walk with the Lord that would be a blessing to any parent. Now, at least in marriage, their families will merge and intermingle to some extent and new stories will be written.
All in all, it reminded me of the wonderful joy of Christian family — both earthly and eternal. The room was filled with tears and laughter and stories and even songs and poetry. Wayne and Dorothy spoke of their desire to use these special years together to be servants and ministers together.
Sometimes being a pastor has sad moments, frustrating times and even discouraging days. But it’s sweet hours of fellowship and encouragement that takes the edge off the difficult aspects of spiritual leadership and which reminds me that in terms of what God is doing in our lives — the best is still yet to come.
