nuance

This past Sunday, June 29th, my brother Nick got married to a girl named Joy. And it was the best wedding I have ever been to.

That last sentence is a bit controversial because I didn’t say “besides my wedding”; but if we’re just talking about the event in itself (not the experience of getting married, but the ceremony and the party), even my wife agrees that this one was cooler than ours. And we’re OK with that. It was amazing - one of the best days of our lives (except, of course, for our wedding, which was THE best day).

I love my brother beyond words. And I love his new wife, my new sis. In the days leading up to Sunday, there were numerous friends and loved ones, including the entire nu.crew, who were praying for this amazing couple and their upcoming wedding day. We all wanted it to be incredible because Nick and Joy are incredible. And it is just fitting that the day completely lived up to the fervent prayers which preceded it.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect was the weather. Nick and Joy got married at the Monitor Barn in Richmond. The ceremony was set to be outside in the pasture (VT style baby) with the reception in the newly rebuilt barn (which is more like a rustic banquet hall). But the forecast did not look good. There was rain for three days leading up to Sunday. Lots of it. Thunderstorms, too. And the prognosticators pinpointed the exact time that gnarly weather would hit on Sunday - 2pm, a half hour before the ceremony. They said there’d be thunderstorms. They said there’d be a downpour. They said there’d be flooding. They said there’d be hail.

It was a scary thought, to say the least. But there were people, like my mom, who kept believing that things would turn out fine. My mom is, if nothing else, a woman of faith; she refuses to doubt in the absolute faithfulness and trustworthiness of our God. I am not nearly so strong. But there was a moment, right after we finished setting up chairs outside around 1pm on Sunday (an hour and a half before GO time) that I completely broke down. The sky was thick with clouds. It was the typical VT thunderstorm sky, the kind of sky that almost always comes before some kind of rain event. There were no breaks to be seen. I walked across the bridge towards the barn realizing that I did not believe it could clear up. And I thought about how hard it would be to suddenly change the setup to indoors, and how the experience of the ceremony would be diminished. I got a bit panicked. And then I prayed.

I remember my exact words: “Lord, PLEASE, please, do something here. Don’t do it for me - I know I don’t deserve anything from you. Just do it for Nick and Joy. Show your faithfulness to them as they have been faithful to you in their relationship; just come through for them. Please.”

I can’t say that I had any more confidence that things would change after that. We went back to my parents’ house to get ready.

I will never forget stepping outside the door after a furious half hour get-ready session and looking at the sky. IT WAS CLEAR. Perfectly clear! Bright sun! Bluebird! Incredible!

I yelled praises to God as I drove towards the barn.

And what followed was similarly perfect. My Dad officiated the ceremony and brought a wonderful message - straight from his heart - about the search for satisfaction and happiness that we all experience, about how only God can fill that void and bring happiness and fulfillment. He talked about how we must maintain our vertical connection with God at all costs; and that this will flood us with the love and grace necessary to do good in the horizontal plane - to love people and do works of obedience. It is only by grace that it is possible to obey God and love others. In marriage, this is magnified - and if we set our eyes on the love, grace, and mercy of God and pursue our relationship with him, then we will be able to truly love and cherish and sacrifice for our spouse.

My wife and I also got to participate by reading Scripture. (I even got to preach a little about God being a relational God, and that made me very happy!) Overall, there was a clear and beautiful gospel message that was presented to all in attendance, and I am overjoyed that so many of our nonChristian friends were there to hear it (and many were impacted).

The reception was so fun. There is no other word for it. It was just so FUN.

Best Woman Melody and I KILLED with our speeches. They laughed. They cried. They stood on their chairs in roaring applause. Ok, not the last one, but you get the idea.

And the single greatest part of the entire day was the mini punk rock concert put on by my bro Chris V. and his wedding band (Bobby and Adam). As they pumped out Gimme Gimme covers of old John Denver and a couple of showtunes, I danced like I have never danced before. Everyone got DOWN. I seriously think that people were probably having more fun than they’ve ever had. It was incredible. Nick sang I’ll Be There. I joined Nick and the band for Rockaway Beach. It was like a dream.

Thank you, Chris Varricchione.

And it was so awesome to see all of our closest friends there supporting my brother and his new wifey - to see Grant snapping photos all day long, to see Rachel starting to jam out to the band, to see Cassie fetching multiple waters (cuz the dog kept drinking them) and chasing Lizzie through the barn, to MOSH with my buddy Catia, and to have Buck keeping quiet watch over the day’s festivities in smiling approval. You guys are simply the best.

And it was also awesome to see so many of our old friends too, and to rekindle some of those friendships - my man Trevor and his amazing family, Dan and his super-cool wife, Evan and his perfectly timed jokes (girl couldn’t make it), Jenny and her new BF and ultra-cute-kiddie Lily Sno. It was awesome to hang with the Trudeau gang, to dance with little Claire, to see all the old CMC homies - Lydia, Elizabeth, Brad, Noelle, Christine, STEWINSKIS, Pastors, Thiels, et al. AND FL FAMILY, TOO - uncle Shawn, aunt Sallie, cousins Garrett and Destiny, and THE MAN ON THE LADDER Jonas Ponas King of Nonas (TM) (break the pickle, tickle tickle), and the coldwater swimmer Aliza. I seriously don’t know what else to say…it was overwhelmingly wonderful.

So I’ll leave it at this: Nick and Joy, congratulations, and thank you for one of the greatest days of my life. I love you both.

(Check out the Eternity Web blog post here.)