Beck & Andres Got Married (and I helped!)

A few weeks ago I got to do something really cool. I got to preform the wedding ceremony for my sister and her now husband. It was a pretty exciting moment, and pretty surreal. It's a long story and not all that interesting explaining how I got the credentials to be able to do it, so I'll just skip that part. Several of the people who were there and some that weren't have asked me to email them my "sermon" from that day for Becki and Andres. I decided it would be easier to just post it here in the blog for you all to read. So here are my notes! Enjoy!

"It’s exciting for me today to get the chance to perform this ceremony, not only because Becki’s my sister, but also because Andres is my friend, and I think I have at least a little bit to do with Becki and Andres being together in the first place

Several years back, Telisha and I were playing music almost every weekend at a little Italian restaurant in Collinsville called the Capri Café. The Capri was actually owned by a couple from Venezuela, and we got to be friends with the owners. We also got to be friends with another native Venezuelan who spent some time there, Andres.

Of course, as it is with all our friends, Andres also got to know the rest of our family. Eventually, though, it seemed like Andres was spending more time with my sister than the rest of us. At the time Becki was living in Raleigh, so that was quite a feat. They both assured us for months and months that no, they weren’t dating, they were just friends- they just liked spending time together. But Love is patient, and sure enough, over time, it became obvious to us all that that they were indeed in the middle of a budding romance.

I wanted to just speak briefly about the verse we just heard from the bible, from 1^st Corinthians Chapter 13. I think no matter what your religious background is, that’s a pretty strong text. Not only that, but it gives us a fantastic definition of love, something that can otherwise be rather difficult to define.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”.

Becki and Andres, I’d be willing to bet that if you asked any truly happily married couple what the secret to their marriage was, they would respond with something that could in one way or another be paraphrased as the above scripture.

Always be patient with each other.
Always be kind to one another.
Don’t be jealous- be sure to trust each other with all of your heart.
Let go of little things- don’t be angry at each other for every little thing that comes up- just get out a new roll of toilet paper and forget it.

Work hard to be closer to each other on each tomorrow than you were on each today. It won’t always be easy- it’s just impossible to make it through with out hard times, but if you protect each other, trust each other, and persevere, you’ll make it. Listen to each other and support each other.

Now, perhaps the most important part of that scripture – Love never fails. If you both promise to follow the above advice, this is the reward- love NEVER fails.

As your brother and your friend, I hope both of you remember that long after today as you look back on years and years of wonderful memories.

Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

So there it is. It was a great day, and now I've got a new brother- in-law. Beck and Andres are back from their honeymoon now. Actually, right as I'm posting this, we're down at the coast with them and my parents for a long weekend. Looks like a nice sunny day. I think we're getting ready to head to the water, so I'll sign off for now since everyone else is ready to go. As usual, I'm last : )

Doug