aaron & julie's wedding

aaron & julie otis * 10/21/06


the siblings * 10/21/06


folks,
it was a beautiful wedding..... it's hard to believe that my younger brother is now a married man. it was all a whirlwind experience.... from the announcement, to the planning, to the actual wedding - all in 2.5 months. julie did an amazing job of pulling it all together and remaining incredibly calm and easy going through everything.

aaron's "boss" - the director of the mission organization that aaron works with, drove all the way from washington state to officiate. and know what? he is the same one who married my parents in germany 38 years ago! what a wonderful testimony to my parent's marriage and life. too bad, aaron stole my idea! hahahahahaha.... he also stole another idea.... not far from my parents house is an old castle that used to be a farm..... through the 80's and early 90's, it was the destination of bands such as metallica, guns & roses, and yes, even country music stars such as reba and garth.... well, in the mid-90's it was abandoned and just recently completely redone as a wedding destination. there are so many classy photo ops in that building! sigh..... now a castle is a place to have a reception....

you know.... ray, the pastor who married my parents told us the story that it was the first wedding he had ever officiated. this was in his early years as a missionary in europe. during the ceremony.... not only did he officiate, but he did the sound, took the photos, and did just about everything else.... hahahahaha.... imagine the pastor, running between vows to get the camera up to a balcony in an old german church to take a picture of the bride & groom from a higher location, only to race back down and continue with the ceremony, run to the back, adjust to sound, continue with preaching... taking more photos.... now wouldn't you liked to have seen something like that!! i guess, that means, when i get married, i can pretty much have as much chaos as i like.... let's throw the order and prim and properness out of the window!!! hahahahahaha

the wedding message was convicting and thought provoking as we were challenged to truly think about the meaning of making a vow before God-Almighty! it's not something to be taken lightly. divorce cannot be part of a person's vocabulary. ray also said that in pre-marital counseling, he asks the couple why they think they should get married and what the circumstances have been to bring them together. if it's mushy and all about how wonderful the other person is, then he tells the couple that he cannot marry them.... there must be deeper reasons for getting married to someone.... anyway, it is good stuff to think about why you are with someone.

so, yeah, the wedding weekend was wonderful.... a testimony to God's faithfulness.