Chapter 1:

There is a difference to being invited to a wedding or lack thereof. The headlights of my car could easily be seen reflecting off the fog in the parking lot as we waited for the okay to walk in. It was a warm February night in the town I had spent the last four years of my life in studying for an undergraduate degree in engineering. Those years were filled with many memorable moments, many ups and downs, many friendships, many celebrations, and many weddings of some I had met along the way.

The night was one of those wedding nights. The bride was a catholic missionary I had met on campus my freshman year of college. The groom was a former graduate at my alma mater. That afternoon they had just “tied the knot,” and by my calculations had only an hour previously started the wedding reception. I wasn’t close enough to the bride and groom to be invited to the wedding. However, I saw them just the day before and was given permission to show up anyway, celebrate their day, and “crash” the wedding reception. Their words not mine. “Invite whomever you’d like,” they said. So that is exactly what I did.

Instantly, I reached out to two men in the Bible study I was leading. As a guy I knew if you want to get a man thinking about their lives post college; about the husbands, fathers, and men they’ll be one day; you take them to a wedding. You don’t just take them to any wedding though, you take them to a wedding of a couple you know are worth imitating. It’s a great conversation starter, and a great way to win them over in the moment. While they had no clue who the bride and groom were. I figured, why not have them crash with me?

There we were, all three of us, waiting in the parking lot for “the okay” to walk into the reception. I knew at the time if you’re going to crash a wedding reception, wait till after the food is eaten, the toasts are given, and the dancing gets started. Draw as little attention to yourself as possible and respect the wishes of the bride and groom to spend time with the people they chose to invite. That’s why we were an hour late. That’s also why, upon pulling into the parking lot, the first thing I did was call an old college buddy at the reception to see if the moment was a good time to walk in.

“People are just talking, I think it’d be a good of time as any,” he said. “Perfect,” I thought. I told the guys in the car we had the unofficial okay to walk inside. Little did I factor in this fact: At most weddings, things don’t go according to plan. The ceremony runs later than expected, people talk and catch up with the wedding party afterwards, and pictures last longer than anticipated. I also failed to tell my college buddy on the phone why we were waiting so long outside. The wedding party was on their own schedule. They are the stars of the night after all. Therefore, all the people wait for them.

Wait they did, and late did I realize this fact until I opened the reception doors. There they were, the whole wedding party: bridesmaids, groomsmen still at the door. All lined up, about to be announced, yet to start dinner, yet to toast the night away, far from dancing.

The first person I saw, the person at the back of the line, and closest to the door, was the bride. She turned around and looked right at me. I still remember the confusion on her face. It was as if she was thinking, “Wait, why are you here right now and who are those guys behind you?”

I wanted to run; shame flushed down my face. I was preparing to turn around and back out of the door to save the situation before all was lost.

Before I could respond, the bride proceeded to turn to the side to let us through. Her face changed from confusion to carefreeness. She then raised her hand to give us high fives as we walked on by into the reception room.

Yes, the guys and I had to awkwardly find seats when we had no reservations. Yes, begrudgingly we were told to grab a plate of food to eat. Yes, we sat through the toasts, and the, “we are so happy all of you could make it tonight” speeches. Yes, we danced the night away. All in all, it was a fun night. I doubt my friends or I were remembered. No other scene was made. Just an awkward interaction with the bride, and a fun story to tell.

However, as I was sitting through that wedding crashed night, I couldn’t help but realize: There’s a difference between being invited to a wedding and a lack thereof. There was a reason I felt out of place. A reason I waited till the end of the line to grab food. A reason the shame hit me when I opened the door and saw the bride.

I could hear it in the toasts, in the conversations of the people in the room. Everyone had stories to tell about the bride and the groom. They all had journeys which brought them there that night. They all belonged, in a sense, because they all were invited.

It Began in a Garden

There is a longing in every human heart to be invited into love. We don’t have to go far in our culture to see it, and we celebrate it when others are able to live it. At the center of every marriage is a couple. On any wedding day they are our main focus. We celebrate them, talk about them. We watch them in amazement as they make vows of faithfulness to each other, promising to choose and honor each other for the rest of their lives.

We tell stories and become caught up in their lives. The longing is there because it is how we are made. We are made to be invited into love. If we were to take a step back, we’d realize: Written on our hearts, echoing from our beginnings, is a love story.

At the start of humanity, we find a different couple at the center of our attention; the first man, Adam; and the first woman, Eve. We find them in a garden, and we see that they too were made for each other. They too promise to choose and honor one another. In Genesis, we see how God gives them life . . . (To Be Continued)