This is where it all began.This small, interfaith chapel is where we said "I do" on a sunny Sunday morning in May, surrounded by family and friends. Today, 31 years later, we stop by.
We're on our way to another celebration, a friend's graduation open house, but we take a scenic detour just to have the privilege of visiting our wedding place. Can we find it again? Will we remember the way? We don't live around here: We haven't for years.
Yet we round a corner, curve down a hill, and turn right into the campgrounds. There, nestled along the scenic shoreline of Lake Koronis, we find the chapel ---unchanged, open, welcoming and serene.
We stroll in, hand in hand, not quite believing it's been 31 years since we walked through these doors. 31 years since David's sister rang the bell as the ceremony concluded and the party began. 31 years.
31 years and the trees are taller, yet in a surreal twist the chapel is exactly the same: same furnishings, same decor, same details. We walk in the door to see everything just as it was that day, except for the smiling faces.
That day a young couple stood here, recited their own vows, and began their new life together filled with hope for the future. They're more in love now than then, closer together now than during the ceremony, but who could have known what time would bring?
If we could talk to that couple today, what would we tell them? Would we reveal their future, or simply let them wait and find out? What would we whisper in their ears as they exit the chapel and begin the first day of their married lives?
Maybe we'd borrow from a song: "Don't worry. Be happy!"
Maybe we'd tell them that God is absolutely trustworthy. All the time.
Maybe we'd tell them their material dreams were probably not going to come true,
but their dreams in every other category would be not only met but exceeded.
Maybe we'd tell them....oh, never mind. They didn't know any of these things that spring morning. They just knew they loved God and they loved each other. They just knew their parents and family members and friends were cheering for them and praying for them.
Maybe we wouldn't tell them anything at all. Maybe we'd just let them discover life one day at a time, finding a God who can be trusted, a future that doesn't need worrying about, and dreams that become reality within God's perfect timing.
Maybe we wouldn't reveal their future to them at all.
Maybe we'd just breathe a prayer of thanks, smile at their youthful joy, and be glad that we're farther along by now, a little less ignorant and a little more hopeful. Maybe we'd just watch them walk by, admiring them from a distance. Maybe we'd laugh with joy and let it go at that.
Today, quiet in the embrace of the same chapel, we say a prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude.
It's been an amazing journey, and God has authored it every step of the way.
