Wyatt and Alina Russ Wedding

The Wedding Ceremony of Wyatt and Alina Russ October 10, 4 PM

Maid of Honor: Lauren Klein Best Man: Dylan Delgado

Everyone stand up front Alina escorted by Ray to front

We welcome you to the wedding ceremony of Wyatt Russ and Alina Warner. Marriage is a contract and a special covenant between two people who are willing to sacrifice and work hard to stick together and work on growing and improving themselves as people. A marriage is also a joining of families. We see that expressed here today with the presence of special people we know and love. As we gather today we might look into the future and see more special times of family bonds whether that be a vacation together, a Thanksgiving meal or the birth of a precious new life. So families, I encourage you to not just be a spectator in the life of Wyatt and Alina but a full participant (To a certain extent. Nobody wants to see their in-laws too often!)

Well I just returned from my favorite place on earth and some say one of the most beautiful places they have ever laid eyes on: Yosemite. In 1938, John Muir penned this in his journal:

“All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God’s eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.”

Wow!

What an observation of the beauty of all that God has created. The world is indeed beautiful, Wyatt and Alina, as you yourselves realize with your own personal love of the outdoors. It is not only beautiful, but as Muir observed, it is wild. It’s wildness is what draws us out of the safety and security of our homes, the relatively risk-free routines of daily life and calls us to go out and explore. John Eldredge in his book “Wild at Heart” says something similar to Muir:

“If you have any doubts about as to whether or not God loves wildness, spend a night in the woods . . . alone. Take a walk out in a thunderstorm. Go for a paddle with a pod of killer whales. Irritate a Bull Moose. The Great Barrier Reef and its Great White sharks, the jungles of India with their tigers, the deserts of the Southwest and their rattlesnakes-would you describe them as “nice” places? Most of the earth is not safe, but it is good.”

Why all this talk of the outdoors and the beautiful yet wild places of creation? Simply that I see parallels for us as we consider what a marriage ought to be. Marriage is good and it is beautiful. I see a young couple walking hand in hand around the neighborhood talking about dreams and goals or maybe talking about nothing at all. I see glass of wine (or 2!) on the couch after a tough day of work where one offers words of support and encouragement to the other. I see financial planning around the breakfast table where a couple marks our their future together. I see man and woman being kind, patient, not envying, boasting or feeling proud. I see people honoring each other and putting the other’s needs above their own. I see a husband who doesn’t keep a record of wrongs against his wife and a wife who delights in her husbands pursuits. I see spouses who trust, hope, and persevere. So, yes marriage is beautiful and good.

Marriage is also a little wild. It’s not always safe. Remember the early days of dating? Maybe you got dressed up a bit, sprayed on something to smell a little nicer, pulled out your best manners and always put your best self forward? Most of the time, marriage is quite unlike that. Waking up next to each other with crazy hair, bad breath and having to go to the bathroom isn’t exactly the picture of romance many young people dream of. Yet that is our reality. We’re not always on top of our game. Sometimes we’re grumpy, moody, sick, tired, hungry, or irritated. Sometimes we’re all those at once! Yet we are together. Yes, marriage is an adventure. It’s a wild place that is not for the faint of heart. There is a vulnerability in sharing the same space with another when we are not our best self, yet that is the very time when our love and our commitments are shown to be real and lasting. Love isn’t a fuzzy feeling and a warm emotion. It’s you and me in this together as Muir said in the “highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms.” Wyatt and Alina, certainly in our marriage you will experience all of the variety we see in nature, and it may not always be fun or easy, but God has promised it will be good.

Wyatt take the ring you have selected for Alina, place it on her finger and repeat after me:

I, Wyatt, take you, Alina, to be my wife, / my constant friend, and faithful partner / my love from this day forward / In the presence of God, our family and friends / I offer you my solemn vow / to be your partner in sickness and in health / in good times and in bad / in joy as well as in sorrow / I promise to love you unconditionally / to support you in your goals / to honor and respect you / to laugh with you and cry with you / to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Alina take the ring you have selected for Wyatt, place it on his finger and repeat after me:

I, Alina, take you, Wyatt, to be my husband, / my constant friend, and faithful partner / my love from this day forward / In the presence of God, our family and friends / I offer you my solemn vow / to be your partner in sickness and in health / in good times and in bad / in joy as well as in sorrow / I promise to love you unconditionally / to support you in your goals / to honor and respect you / to laugh with you and cry with you / to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Pronouncement/Presentation

Wyatt and Alina in the presence of God, and your families and friends, and by all of creation itself as a witness to your vows of commitment and faithfulness, I now pronounce you husband and wife. May you keep the commitments you have shared today and enjoy a long and prosperous marriage.

Wyatt you may kiss your bride!

I now introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Russ

Thanks everyone for being present!