I attended my young sister’s wedding
over the weekend which was very colorful and joyous
occasion. I always cherish such events because they bring family and friends
together which is so rare to have these days.
As I was already schooled from the last
wedding I attended; I was excited not only for the couple getting married but my own selfish interest-to be reminded of what I needed to do to keep my
marriage happy.
Perhaps the last speech of the day sums
up the circumstances leading up to the event. This was given from the
bride’s side of the family (my uncle) who said as he started his speech:
“As you may be aware, Kafwana and the
family have had a very difficult year. She lost her father, her 1st mother, and
her elder brother within a very short space of time (1 month). And in addition,
even I lost my wife of 36 years this year. It has indeed been a very dark year
for the family.” As he continued:
“But like they say every dark
cloud has a silver lining and today marks the silver lining in what has
been a dark year for us!”
Marriage Talk
3 bible readings were made and
interpreted by the priest as follows:
i. Genesis
2:18-24: “… It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him.”
God realized that it wasn’t good for man
to be alone and created a woman. After God presented the woman to the man, the
man became poetic and said;
“…. bone of my bones, flesh of my
flesh”. The man was very happy, and this is where the couple are, they
are on cloud 9 today and this should continue (what we want to see).
ii.
Romans 8:28-35- “If God is for us, who can be against us?…. “What
will separate us from the love of God?”
Problems, hardships, hunger, etc? This
is where they will say nothing will separate us from the love of God.
iii. Mathew
7:24-28- “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice
is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not
fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these
words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who
built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The priest went on to explain:
Similarly with marriage, don’t be
counselled but not apply the things you have been taught. This is where all the
preparations came from, and their godparent are celebrating 25 years today. If
they can stay this long, how about you who have started now, with all the
training and information readily available now than they had in their time.
God is calling them now that they will
be stuck with each other. Its time, they loosen up their ties with nuclear family
and create a new one. Time, they distance themselves from friends to be much
closer to each other. It’s no longer about your bestie but your partner where
you share everything with each other.
Build your marriage on the rock (God’s
word) so that even if the wind, rain or storm (problems, difficulties,
disagreements, etc) come your way, nothing will separate you from the love of
God.
What God has joined together let no man
put asunder!
In ending, there was one word which
was perhaps said more than any other at church as well as at the reception by
the family speakers (Father to the groom and uncle to the bride with more than 60 years in marriage between them).
Humility. The
couples were urged to show humility to each. Beauty, money, etc can come
and go but your attitude and respect for each other is what is important!
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