The wedding was beautiful. I cried unabashedly, but then I almost always cry at weddings, especially if I feel deeply connected to the people and I've witnessed their love story, and marriage is such a profound and beautiful thing and I get overwhelmed when I see that commitment being made and know the people making it are godly and serious and steadfast and wonderful. (I wonder what the record is for the longest sentence ever.) I'm going to share Becca and Matthew's story because it's amazing.

Six years ago in Boca Raton, Florida, Becca wrote a poem called "What the Heart Sees" that basically talks about how easy it is to judge a person's appearance rather than their heart, and she emailed it to a bunch of her friends. In Sumner, Washington, a guy named Matthew received the poem as a forward that had been passed on several different times. He was so moved by it that he traced it back to the original sender, Becca, and emailed her. They began exchanging emails and getting to know each other. Matthew knew long before Becca that there was something more to their relationship, but it took Becca a little longer (about 4 years longer, actually) to realize the same. Occasionally he would bring up the idea of that "something more," but Becca said she didn't feel the same. About a year and a half ago they began talking on the phone regularly, and God began opening her heart to the possibility of allowing Matthew to pursue her in a romantic way. Their emails and phone calls increased, and in April of last year, Matthew journeyed to Tennessee where Becca was in school (and living with me!), and spent ten days with her. After that, both Becca and Matthew knew this was it. Becca went to Washington to visit Matthew later that August, and she came back engaged. I remember picking her up from the airport and her showing me the ring and us jumping up and down, and I could just see the Lord in it. I watched Becca falling in love, and it was so beautiful, and so pure. They both love God so much and long to glorify Him with their relationship, and they've had several obstacles to overcome, but they've seen God provide in countless ways that told them He brought them together. Amazing. God is such a romantic. And the best thing is: poetry had its hand in bringing them together. Sigh.

My trip has been so much fun. Seeing Emily again is like being with myself, weird as that sounds. We just click. We can laugh hysterically and then the next minute we talk about God. It does my heart worlds of good. Tomorrow we're going to Emily's church and then we're going to Mars Hill Sunday night, which is some church in downtown Seattle that's supposed to be really neat. Then next week we have plans to go to the waterfront, to Pike Place Market, the Underground Tour, and various and sundry other tourist-y things. I am SO excited! It is absolutely gorgeous; every time I step outside I just want to applaud God because it's so glorious.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1