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Could you wear the white dress?

Just attended a wedding. It was a beautiful and poignant event. The bride (we’ve known here since she was a little girl) and groom glowed with love and joy. The father of the bride made some of the best remarks I’ve ever heard about a couple—especially his new son-in-law–and presented the Gospel, simply and elegantly. Siblings played music and a brother made a toast to his sister that brought both laughter and tears to most eyes.

Oh, did I fail to mention that the bride is “showing”? Some might think she shouldn’t have worn white. Maybe they should have quietly gotten married. But, not this family. They celebrated the marriage just as they would if the couple weren’t in this circumstance. It reminded me of my wife’s lecture on a passage in Hosea. She talked about how our fairy tales usually revolve around the hero male fighting to get the virginal maiden (e.g., Prince Philip and Sleeping Beauty). But the tale of Hosea turns fairy tales on their heads. The perfect male comes and rescues his unfaithful wife, even buys her back from a slave owner. His sacrifice is for one who certainly does not deserve it. And he proceeds to be tender to her and to clean her up.

The thought that I had during the wedding, while looking at the bride’s white dress, is that none of us deserve to wear white—virginal or not. But that is exactly the wedding clothes that God gives us in His economy of Love. And last night as I watched family and friends toast the lovely couple I got to have a glimpse of that future wedding feast of the Lamb.

Rev. 7:13-17: Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes–who are they, and where did they come from?” 

I answered, “Sir, you know.”And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, 

“they are before the throne of Godand serve him day and night in his temple;and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  Never again will they hunger;never again will they thirst.The sun will not beat upon them,nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

16 years ago, a brutally hot day, I married my best friend, Kimberly Vinal. By the way, I highly recommend doing it that way. We met at Westminster, became friends and just enjoyed each other’s company without the sexual tension. It was only after I realized that I didn’t want to lose this relationship that I began to see her in a new light. Thankfully, she warmed up to the idea after saying no at first to dating the kid she had been hanging out with (I’m 12 years younger).

Its been a wonderful ride thus far. We’ve come a long ways as a couple. We’ve traveled over things like my immature 24 year old stupidity, infertility, 4 moves, my doctoral programs, 2 adoptions, and a host of other things. What do I love about my wife? She has a bad memory for my stupid behavior. She is usually game for adventures. She loves to talk about whatever with me. She has great insights. She works incredibly hard and selflessly so. She’s a great mother. She is a great communicator and bible teacher (better than me!). Oh, and she’s beautiful to boot.

Happy anniversary honey. 

Welcome to my blogsite. I plan to give my observations on the world of Christian psychology, the church, and various other things. While I’ll be playing with this site this summer, it will be more attended to in September when I am in the throes of teaching at Biblical Seminary (www.biblical.edu).