The coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 10,000 lives in America and disrupted hundreds of millions more.
COVID-19’s quarantining has also forced many engaged couples around the world to reevaluate their wedding plans.
While many have postponed their ceremonies, others have decided to take the lemons that life gave them and turn them into lemonade. By sharing their big day with family and friends through online streaming platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Zoom, these couples are still able to have their big day – but from a physically safe distance, in order to protect their loved ones.
One of those couples was my friend, Christa, and her now-husband, Joseph. They tied the knot in her parent’s home with just their immediate families, while the rest of their guests watched via a Facebook live stream.
When asked why they chose to host a virtual ceremony, their answer was anchored around the peace of the Lord, despite their wedding plans changing multiple times within just a matter of weeks.
While some couples might have felt defeated, the newlyweds said, “We felt a peace about being able to be married… It made it where we could come home to each other and not put our family and loved ones at risk. We were so happy Facebook Live exists! We knew it would be the perfect way to still make things official and be able to have all of our loved ones be a part in a special way… It does not matter what a situation may look like, God can take any circumstance and use it for good! All we have to do is trust Him.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Couples like Christa and Joseph are still choosing joy, even in the midst of disruption and disappointment.
In so many ways, this unique and unsettling time is something of a metaphor for the marital journey. It’s a beautiful expression of what marriage is all about. Committing one’s life to another is about facing tough decisions and saying, “Okay, how are we going to conquer this? How will the Lord guide us through this?”
Marriage is about overcoming obstacles together, and I promise, you will have obstacles. It’s not if we are thrown a curveball, it’s when we’ll be thrown one.
Will we be ready and able to keep our eye on the ball?
As a recent newlywed myself – B.C. (before the coronavirus), I can appreciate the frustration many of these couples, especially the brides, have felt. After all, it’s what most little girls spend their entire lives dreaming of!
Yet, marriage is more than just a dreamy ceremony. The coronavirus is inevitably helping couples realize early on in their marriage that none of us are really in absolute control of our lives. We can plan our days and our lives as much as we want, but in the end, God has final authority over the outcome.
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man,” we read in Proverbs, “but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (9:21).
In the end, love is winning out for newlywed couples everywhere.
What do you do when troubles come, even in the weeks leading up to your wedding? Everyone is going to have life hand them lemons at some point – the question is, how will you respond?
