A Successful Marriage.

2 weeks ago (I know, I know, I'm way behind on blogging....) we jumped in our (new!) car & drove 6 hours west to Murphy, NC for the wedding of our college buddy, John, & his bride, Cara. The nuptials took place at a beautiful farm with gorgeous mountain views, & the Cregers couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Sunny, clear & unusually warm for March... especially considering we had freezing rain this week!

 

John -- affectionately "Creger" (last-name/nicknames seem to be a theme with many of our college friends) is not only a great friend & a fun guy, but also has an incredibly strong faith. I love a good wedding & certainly the tasty food (barbeque at this mountain wedding...yum-o), dancing (please scroll down to the bottom of this post for some video evidence of a fantastic dance performance by Creger & his mom), & mini-reunions are all part of the celebration, but sometimes, I think couples miss the heart of the day. Not the case with these 2.

Their pastor did an incredible job of celebrating their relationship in Christ, challenging them to keep their primary focus on their walk with God, all the while painting a picture to the family & friends who had come to celebrate with John & Cara of what a successful marriage should look like.

 

One particular statement stuck out to me (forgive me for paraphrasing his much more powerful words): Just because you "make it" 50 or 60s years doesn't mean your marriage is successful. A successful marriage is one that is centered on Christ & reflects His glory. Our marriages should be a testament to the grace & power of God in our lives. After all, the marital relationship is to mirror that of Christ & the Church.

Mr. & Mrs. Creger, it was such a joy to celebrate with you. Matt & I wish you many many years of love, joy & a relationship centered on the God who brought you together. As for everyone else we had the pleasure of seeing in Murphy, get busy. Someone else needs to get hitched so we can all get together again soon!

I took a bunch of photos (would you expect anything less?!?) & won't share all of them on the blog, but if you're interested in seeing more, click here to go to my smugmug album. Here are a few (okay more like 20) favorites from the day....

My gorgeous friend Liz. I'm a tad bit jealous my hair won't do that.

With my main man.

My main man, with another man. How dare you, Tim?! :)

Cbiz & the fellas (Brad & Tim). What lucky men.

(Mrs. Schroeder & Mrs. Miller) These 2 ladies also married their college sweethearts!
Andrea, Jackie & I (plus Cara!) all married Young Life boys... they're keepers!

My aisle seat proved awesome for getting ceremony shots. (Check out that view!)

Lammers fulfilling his groomsmen duties (& apparently enjoying it). I'm digging the peacock feather.

2 of my best girlfriends (sadly, we were minus Jenny).

Matt sandwich (with Brad in the middle).

Cake.

More cake. It was tasty.

Had to share because I did her hair.

Creger & his mom's rendition of Thriller. Please scroll down to watch!

Photobooth fun (this may be my favorite photo of the entire wedding).

Photobooth shenanigans continue. Loving Abby with long, blonde hair! Ha!

Bahahahaha...

Wish I could go back & add a photobooth to our wedding.

Court & I came back with props.

Matt got a talking to after I looked at all of our photos & in 99% of them he's goofing off.

That's more like it.

If Courtney & I had an album cover, I'm pretty sure we'd use this photo (we were both fond of our shoes).

Nah. We'd probably use this instead.

Matt + Matt  = BFFs 4ever.

I miss this girl.

Taking a break from dancing to smile for Jackie's camera.

The whole gang. Our U of I / Young Life family (Missing a few key people...). Gosh, I love these folks.

End of the night. Before the crazy-big-moon made its appearance.

To wrap this up, I have to leave you with this video. In lieu of a more "traditional" mother-son dance, Creger & his mom surprised the wedding guests (& maybe Cara...not sure if she was in on it) by doing the entire Thriller dance. It was both hilarious & awesome. It's no secret where Creger's smooth moves come from anymore.... Way to go, Momma Creger!