watching

... i can promise you, that by the time that we get through, the world will never, ever be the same...

~ tom higgenson

a few weeks ago it happened.  the plunge, the jump, the push as some might call it.  i stood at the point of a beautiful garden spotted with sunlight beaming through the branches of tall and colorful trees and watched.  nature seems to capture me, it takes me to a place of awe and holds me in tranquility, yet in this photographers' daydream, the trees and flowers, birds and sunlight held none of my attention.  a far more dazzling, more personally knitted, gorgeous of a being walked toward me.  and i watched.  molly was the very essence of a bride on what was certainly a perfect day.  after hours of laughter, dancing, and delicious cake, we left.  we exited not as drew or as molly, but as our pastor told us, we left as drew, of drew and molly, and molly, of drew and molly... and it began... our lives.

one the parts of the week long celebration of our marriage, known to those involved as "wedding week", was a dinner the night before our wedding, where our closest friends and family gathered together to celebrate what was soon to happen.  i once heard a pastor say that in weddings there are no mistakes, only memories, and oh, how the memories began to form.  as dinner was winding down, the clouds that had been hovering, almost in anticipation for the last bit of key lime pie, brought forth a mighty storm.  maybe not as mighty as the storm that caused the disciples to wake Jesus in the middle of the night, but for emphasis purposes we will stick with the strong language.   and we watched.  soon the power was lost and my groomsmen, who also could be considered mighty, began lighting candles, moving chairs, and creating a very special, intimate environment that will never escape my memory.  our friends and family, in this unplanned, magical backdrop, began to shower us with unmerited praises as they talked of memories, both humorous and sweet, and spoke on the impact they believed molly or i had in their lives. and we watched. we listened.  i do not mention these praising words to boost any image of me or my wife, but to show how very powerful the words were and still are.  we left the next day, affirmed as individuals trying to love as we have been loved but more importantly affirmed as a couple about to take on the world. together. drew AND molly.  my friend josh said it clearly by telling us that separate we are great, gifted people, but together we can change the world.  and we will.  not just us, but partly.  for some reason, actually there are too many to list, God has given me molly and he has given me to molly, and it would be so easy for us to continue to watch.  we are so blessed by our families, jobs, friends, apartment, tv, safety, and watching would be easier than changing.  watching molly walk down the aisle was one of the best moments of my entire life, however, i am so confident that, although that moment was life-changing and capturing- a picture of Christ and his love for us, that from now on i will not be watching her but going with her... where?  to the ends of the earth, to "all nations".  i am so blessed to have a wife that wants to change the world; through her voice, her actions, our resources, our lives, her love, and our love.  we have no idea how, where, and when the God who created the world we long to change in His name will use us, but in the mean time we get to learn to love each other, in a way that our God loves us, and hopefully love those who are around us in the same light.  in the midst of confusion on where life is taking, finding new community, searching for answer, and essentially living a world of unknown, we refuse to only watch.

may we all be unsatisfied with watching the world around us break. may we stand up and change the world.