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Thursday, May 11, 2023

Guest Post A Garden Wedding by Angela Ruth Strong

 

Not Your Average Garden Wedding

After we were pronounced husband and wife in an English garden, Jim and I didn’t have the normal ceremony exit. Instead, he pulled out his knee cart that our daughters had decorated with a “Just Married” sign and ribbons. I hopped on the front of it, and the sound system played the rumble of a motorcycle revving its engine as we rolled away. This unusual beginning to our matrimony has been symbolic of our dozen years together.

First of all, the garden was heavenly. It represents what God has prepared for each of us. This particular garden belonged to a wedding house where my mom ran her tea house, and because Mom worked there, we were able to rent the venue for a good price. It was a more than we could have afforded and definitely more than I could have ever planted. It was a gift.

The knee cart represents the way the world knocks us down. Things like a ruptured Achilles can keep us from focusing on the beauty around us, or they can make us appreciate the good times even more. When joy mingles with sorrow, it should draw us closer to God. He never promised life would be trouble free. In fact, He promised us the opposite. And that He’d be there for us through it.

Having our children at the ceremony represents second chances. Our first marriages didn’t last, but our redemption never depended on the other person. And it never depended on us being perfect either. Only on our Savior.

The decorations represent the way God ordains celebration. The Bible tells us “thank offerings prepare the way for the salvation of God.” We can always find something to be thankful for, and we should since “the Joy of the Lord is our strength.”

Hopping onto the front of my husband’s knee cart represents commitment and how the two of us have chosen to do life together. While I didn’t need the device to get around, I wanted to share Jim’s journey. In sickness and in health. I stuck with him through another Achilles surgery and heart surgery, then when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I announced it to him by saying, “You’re the healthy one now.” I rode his knee cart with him, and he shaved his head with me.

As for the motorcycle revving it’s engine? This road can get rough, but we keep going. We’ve since bought an actual Harley and ridden from Glacier National Park to the Grand Canyon. Last year, our bike caught fire in Montana, and we had to rent a U-Haul to haul it home. What could have been considered a ruined vacation turned into a really fun road trip. An adventure.

We don’t live in the Garden of Eden anymore, but I am thankful for my wedding in the English garden. It often reminds me that God didn’t bring Jim and I together for wedded bliss but so we can join Him in blessing each other.

 Vroom....vroom...  


About the author . . . 

. sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been nominated for a Christy, won the Cascade Award, and become Amazon best-sellers. Her book Finding Love in Big Sky filmed on location in Montana and aired on UPtv in 2022. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho and blogs regularly for My Book Therapy. 


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