I Kid You Not

Irony. At church on Sunday a friend asked if I might be interested in planning the wedding of our mutual friends who just got engaged. Their names? Stacey and R. This may mean nothing to most of you reading this, but trust me when I tell you that God is terribly comical. Stacey and I used to swap relationship updates at the various bridal and baby showers over the years. And after many breakups, reunions, ultimatums, and counseling, he did it! I admit I was scared for her. She invested 6-7 years and I never thought he would make it through what he needed to in order to move forward. But he did! And I am glad for them. But really, God? Plan their wedding? My first reaction was "Getting stabbed in the face sounds better" as all the blood drained to my feet. Then, strangely, my heart began to turn after an awesome sermon I heard and I started to sense that this was maybe one of those things I was being called to do, as nutty as it may seem. So I decided to obey that knowing sense. I intended to step out in faith and trust that this wasn't just some cruel joke on me, a flaunting in my face of an experience that I perceived might make me feel craptastic. They are two people who I had a chance to serve and rejoice with. Broken people who worked hard, persevered, and found healing together. So my answer was yes and I emailed our mutual friend to follow up this morning.

You know what she said? They decided they didn't need a planner after all. I was relieved. It made me think of Abraham when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. As wacky of a plan as it seemed, Abraham listened and obeyed, even though it must have been horrifically painful, and at the last minute, God didn't make him do it at all. It was just a test of his faith and trust. Ah, trust. My old nemesis. But I's gots you beat this time, Sucka! Until we meet again..........