Momma Behr: Sarah and Kyle Part 5- The Wedding

A page is turned in this life, he's making her his wife
And there is no secret to the source of this much life
When the grace that falls like rain is washing them again
Just a chance to somehow rise above this land

Where the God of second chance
Will pick them up and he'll let them dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, they're sharing with the one
That holds them up when they come undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And once again, here you stand
And once again, here you stand
Your day has come

Bebo Norman- "A Page is Turned"

I've been wondering all day how I was going to write this post. I cannot tell the story of my wedding like I did all the others. Some things are just so perfect that words cannot express them. A scent, a sound, a fluttering of emotion, a profound peace, overwhelming joy, love, light... when I remember my wedding day it doesn't come to me in the form of a story, it's more of a joyful melody that plays in my soul. What was two has now been made one. The heavens are telling the glory of God!

All my life I had dreamed of my wedding day and had tried to imagine what it would be like, what it would feel like, who would be my bridesmaids, what flowers I would carry, and how I would look in my dress and my veil. Same as any young girl I would try as well to picture the groom as well. I wondered who he was, where he was, and how we would find each other. What our story would be.

Since I did not know "our story" already, I would get on my family's computer and write one out, a fairy tale about a beautiful blonde princess and her handsome prince.

Before I got married I was packing up boxes in my parent's attic to take with me to Texas and I found one. The beautiful princess had been in distress, under attack, when the handsome prince swooped in and fell in love with her and married her. In this story I had written, way back when I was only twelve years old, the prince was named Kyle. In fact, in every story I had ever written, the prince was named Kyle.

You could probably say that I picked that name just because I liked it. I had heard it around my neighborhood and fell in love. I like to think that the God who knew me and loved me before time had written that name on my heart so I could know and love Kyle before I ever even knew he existed.

There are no dragons or evil witches in my tale for me to be saved from. Still Kyle saved me from a life of selfishness. His love for me inspires me to cast out sin from my life and love more ardently, selflessly, and completely. By choosing to marry him I was able to learn to put others before myself and to love until it hurts. As Mother Theresa says, "I have found the paradox. That if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." Opening yourself up completely to someone can be frightening, it can make you feel vulnerable, but when you find someone who loves you, respects you, would die for you, it only opens you up to more joy than you ever thought possible.

I am no helpless little princess, I am strong because I am able to open myself up to love. I could have a mediocre life on my own, I would be fine, but I instead have a great and wonderful life with my husband at my side.

And so on July 14th, 2007 I chose to spend the rest of my life with Kyle. When the bridesmaids had processed down the isle and the Ave Maria wafted down from the choir loft, I held the arm of my father and walked with the sunlight streaming in behind me towards a future that I was confident would bring me happiness and holiness... would bring me to God. At the end of the isle, my father placed my hand into the hand of my fiancee. It symbolized that he, my father, had brought me this close to God, but, as we would soon take the next steps towards the altar together, Kyle would bring me further, closer.

Standing behind us, filling the pews of the church that had held the wedding of my parents and where I had receive all of my Sacraments, were many of the people who had shaped us and formed us into the two, strong individuals we were right then. They had loved us and led us, held us in our suffering and rejoiced with us in our triumph. Now they were there to witness the beginning of our new life as one person. Before these people and before God we promised true to each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health and to love and honor each other all the days of our lives. Then we placed rings on each other in a sign of our love and fidelity, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And with those vows were were transformed, as Father Michael said in his homily, uniquely and completely, from two individuals into one union before Him, before the Church, and before the world. And then Kyle kissed his bride.

The celebration that followed was, in a word, epic... although I feel like most of us feel that was about the celebration following our weddings. After months of planning it was perfect to be able to kick back and dance and sing and rejoice. As our wedding song said, the God of second chance did indeed allow us to dance... boy did we dance. And life couldn't get any better.

Or so I thought...

And now a whole lot of wedding footage!!!!!!!!!!

Our Wedding Trailer