A Time of New Beginnings

    

My brother, Jim, and his fiancee, Sheryl, picked April 12^th for their wedding date. Because it was close to Easter and also because this marked a new start for each of them, they chose “a new beginning” as the theme for their wedding.

      Jim’s first wife passed away three years ago after a long bout with breast cancer. His faith in God and firm belief that God loved him helped my brother as he had to adjust to being single again after thirty-four years of marriage. Finding the “new normal,” as he described it, wasn’t easy.

     Sheryl’s life was turned upside down suddenly, when her husband was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. With the Lord’s help, she was able to work through the grief of the devastating loss; however she built a wall around her heart in the years following the accident as a protection from experiencing that kind of pain again. She wondered if she would ever be able to love anyone as deeply as she had loved him.

     Both families had known each other for a long time through their involvement in home schooling and community activities. As a single man whose kids were grown, my brother started looking for companionship and remembered Sheryl. For a start, he offered to help Sheryl organize her garage and attic. She accepted that offer; and later they began dating. Their relationship grew stronger, but Jim was cautious and was willing to wait until she was ready to make a commitment. Well, he did admit proposing many times, not giving up when she told him she wanted to wait awhile. We were all happy when she finally said, “yes!”

      Their wedding was held last Saturday afternoon in Davis, with about seventy people—mostly family—in attendance. Sheryl’s daughter was her matron of honor and Jim’s oldest son, his best man. My brother, looking handsome in his black tux, and Sheryl, a beautiful bride in an elegant white wedding dress, stood hand in hand as they committed their lives to one another and recommitted their lives to the Lord.

      During the service, the congregation was asked to read the “Apostles’ Creed” in unison, which expressed clearly Jim and Sheryl’s faith in Jesus Christ:

      

 “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead…”

   

       This is the essence of what Jesus’ apostles believed and taught, and the hope for which they lived and died, as it is for every follower of Jesus. It is the foundation upon which Jim and Sheryl will be building their marriage, just as they have in the past.    

       I pray that Easter will be a time of renewal and new commitment for each of us. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has made possible a new beginning in life. Praise the Lord! Happy Easter!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

(published in the Porterville Recorder on 4-19-14)