I walked my daughter down the aisle almost two weeks ago and trustingly placed her in the hands of her husband. A lot of friends have been asking me how I felt.
Was it hard?
Did I feel sadness?
Truthfully it was bliss!
Having walked with Diandra and Luke through 2 1/2 years of courtship, and Kim and I being integrally involved in their relationship – the highs and lows of their journey – made the meeting at the wedding altar a celebration of joy. We knew they were stepping into God’s perfect will and destiny in their lives.
When you know it’s right and you know it’s God there is no fear.
I was asked to give a toast at the reception:
“I’ve contemplated, and yes, even worried about what type of couple you will be.
What manner of lives you will lead.
You both are so alike that in one sense it seems there is not enough balance between you.
You both live life large.
You both sacrifice time for experiences.
You would pass off responsibility to enjoy the pleasure of a friend
You both measure your lives in relationships rather than accomplishments.
It doesn’t seem you have the balance of a couple that will keep life in check. In fact, I wonder if you are combustible rather than compatible. One of you purposes a wild adventure and instead of the other taming the moment, you leap at the uncertainty and possibility that the other proposes.
Yes, a father wonders ‘are these two safe for one another?’
Maybe they haven’t chosen with their head but their heart. Maybe they haven’t thought through the dangers of their emotional, kinetic attraction. But I for one am glad you have found one another.
One of my favorite writers James Joyce wrote, ‘We are living in a skeptical and, if I may use the phrase, a thought-tormented age; and sometimes I fear that this new generation, educated or hypereducated as it is, will lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality, of kindly humor which belonged to an older day.’
No, you are not normal, you are abnormal. The Bible would say you are a peculiar people – with an unusual love for each other and everyone you meet.
So, I want to toast this dangerously adventurous couple, prone to outrageous love and extravagant hospitality.
My toast to my daughter and her husband may be a good reminder to all of us in a world that has lost a lot of its humor, humanity and hospitality: let’s not give into it, let’s choose to abandon skepticism and fear and live the abundant lives God intended for us.
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Related:
Raise Kids that Stand Strong Against Negative Influences
Experiencing God’s Love
What we CAN do for Modern-Day Refugees
Congratulations Rob! Great Post. Love the Hoskins family. Chris B