Sunday, June 29, 2008

A wedding and an expression of friendship.

I just returned from my friends’ wedding. Yes, this is the guy I called Justin in a previous post. It was an outdoor wedding in the backyard of the house of some friends from church. It featured the reliable San Diego sunshine and cloudless sky. Justin and his wife (I’ll call her “Megan”) are both very committed to a beautiful freedom from the slavery to money and possessions. Their material simplicity was clearly reflected in the wedding. When they shared their vows and they said “in sickness and in health”, I knew that Justin has been supportive and helpful to Megan in a recent illness. When they said “for richer or for poorer”, I knew that they have been trusting God while not knowing where they would live or where the next month’s rent would come from. God has provided beautifully in answer to their prayers. I cried joyful tears. That is real love.

At the reception afterwards in the same backyard Justin made it a point to talk to me. He wanted to express his friendship to me and then clear up a small misunderstanding that had hurt me greatly. Through a lack of communication I had been excluded from an event a few weeks earlier. I was trying to overlook the offensive action, but it had caused me much emotional pain. I was determined to wait until AFTER the wedding and honeymoon to bring it up, since I did not want to add any drama to the emotional overload that Justin and Megan were already dealing with. Well, Justin cared about me so much that he took time out from his own wedding to bring it up himself and to assure me that he did NOT want to exclude me and that I am one of his closest friends. I almost cried tears of joy again. I thank God for friends like Justin.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My friends and gay marriage in California

Pray for my good friend "Justin" and his fiancé "Megan". They are going to the courthouse tomorrow here in California to get their marriage license for their wedding, which is in a week and a half. As you probably know, tomorrow is only the 2nd day the state is issuing licenses for gay marriage, too. That means they will possibly be one heterosexual couple surrounded by a crowd of gays in the courthouse waiting for a license.

Pray that God will use them to show Christian love and understanding to the others in that situation. Ever since I have known him, Justin has been very caring and understanding toward us who deal with same sex attraction. Pray that others will see in Justin and Megan that all Christians don't fit the Phelps stereotype.