Bethany & Ben
Arnold-Bik,
August 30, 2008
It was one of the best days of our lives...the years of praying for God to bring His perfect mate for your child, and seeing it come to pass. God is so good!!!
Their wedding was a celebration of God's love and faithfulness, the blessing of family, the gift of friends, and the joy that comes from knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. He is the center of Ben & Bethany's union and life together. He is the One who has redeemed them and brought them together. He is the One that will give them the grace to live lives that are pleasing to Him. We know they desire to glorify God in their marriage, and that His Word is true and trustworthy. Their joy in each other is surpassed only by their joy in God.
We love Ben and his family, and are so thankful to be entering with them into this new season of our children's marriage.
A few highlights from the day:
- many relatives could be there, including all the grandparents
- so many friends came and
rejoiced with us - God provided many, many friends to help make the day so beautiful
- all the details for the day were faithfully carried out by our loving God; even with the little glitches that came up, God worked everything out wonderfully
- worshiping together during the service seemed the most natural way to thank our great God for His lovingkindness
- our joy was so full, we could barely contain it!
- At the beginning of the ceremony, Cindy and I couldn't get our candles lit with the adult-proof torches; we almost burst out laughing when we finally got them to work
- Ben trying to light the unity candle with the torch instead of the family candle; Bethany had to tap Ben's hand to let him know he needed to grab the lit candle instead
- Bethany getting swatted on the backside by the Marines who announced their marriage at the reception
- Jesse hiding in the back of Ben's SUV and as Bethany and Ben started driving away, opened the back window and waved good-bye to everybody
- During the bridesmaids processional, Susanna, who was the last to enter, was quite overcome with emotion and was fighting back the tears; that got Tracy, grandmas, and twins Charity and Amy teary-eyed then
- Because Chris couldn't walk Bethany in during the processional, she asked her brother Jesse if he could escort her in; it was a sweet moment to see that proud brother hand her to her father waiting up front
- Bethany asked Tracy to sing during the Unity Candle lighting, and at one moment, she got kind of choked up singing about God's faithfulness; He has been so faithful!
- Bethany and Ben dancing their first dance to Martina McBride's "My Valentine", a special song she picked out because Ben's birthday is on Valentine's Day
- Since Chris was unable to dance with Bethany for the Father/Daughter dance, Bethany picked out a special song, "I Loved Her First", and our videographer put video footage and photos of Bethany and her dad over the years together as a special presentation at the wedding reception; there wasn't a dry eye in the whole hall! Shortly after, our dear friend Rick Boyer wrote a poem for Chris about his Father/Daughter dance with Bethany and the legacy of His life being lived for the Lord through much har
dship with MS
We wanted to bless Ben & Bethany in a special way, so we set up a "Blessing Tree" where family and friends could share their prayers, wishes and Scripture
verses with the couple.
And from the wedding program, a couple of verses Bethany and Ben picked out to share: I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth I will make known
Your faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, 'Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.' "
~Psalm 89:1-2
We are so happy for Ben and Bethany and the future He has in store for them. It's all good because of Jesus!
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