
Becca and Jake, it is a wonderful and special privilege to share your wedding day with you. I believe that I can speak for all of us to say that we are so glad that you found each other and are sealing that relationship today in this ceremony where we are all witnesses.
The lesson that you chose to have Sarah read [Ecclesiastes 4:9-12] says a lot about how you value each other. “Two are better than one… one will lift up the other.” The writer of Ecclesiastes was something of a pessimist – he is most remembered for writing that all is vanity and chasing the wind – there is nothing new under the sun.” Yet even he was able to see the value of a mutual relationship such as you have – that indeed, two are better than one.
My wish for you today is that you will always value that mutual relationship. The wedding ceremony that we are using has something of an odd construct: I didn’t ask “Do you take this man… do you take this woman…” Instead, I asked “Will you take this man to be your husband… will you take this woman to be your wife”. “Do” can imply a sort of passive, go-with-the-flow attitude; “will” implies a determination from within to value each other in your mutual relationship. That’s the attitude which will go a long way for making a strong marriage.
Becca, in your blog “Longhorn Lucy”, you wrote: “I am excited that I found a great man to marry, and I'm excited to see all of our hard work and planning all put together.” Jake, I would bet that you have a similar feeling about Becca. May it always be so, that your mutual hard work, that your mutual lifting each other up, that your mutual caring for each other, will always prove that “two are better than one.”