FEBRUARY 17, 1996...

I woke up that morning and prepared to wed my beloved. It was a chilly day in Atlanta, Georgia. I got to the church, First Baptist Atlanta, in the middle of the afternoon. The ceremony would be at 7pm. As my friends and bridesmaids helped me dress and got themselves ready I nervously anticipated the moment I'd been dreaming about - walking down the aisle. We each had four attendants, skimpy for a Southern wedding I know. Being a professional musician, I had meticulously chosen each piece of music to be played or sung. As I stood in the stairwell behind the sanctuary, my heart leaped. I asked one of my attendants for my Bible. She held it open as I read a passage to slow my racing heartbeat. Then the most wonderful, beautiful sound floated past my ears. One of my best friends from college was playing the prelude music. The sound of his oboe playing Bach to the accompanying strains of the organ lifted my spirit and focused my mind on the beauty of the moment. When it was time, I stepped into the Narthex and stood by my father. As we awaited our turn to walk down the aisle with the other attendants I was captivated by the song being sung by the vocal quartet. "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name" was sung beautifully by choir friends of my soon to be husband and as the climax of the song approached tears formed in my eyes and I struggled to control my emotions. Then it was time for the mothers to process. My oboe friend played the solo from the soundtrack of The Mission as they went down the aisle with their spouses and lit the candles. Then it was the moment I'd been anticipating for months, the bridal processional. My beloved had ingeniusly chosen the most beautiful and powerful piece of music I could have ever imagined for a bridal processional - the Jupiter chorale from The Planets by Gustav Holst. Months earlier I had approached my organist and asked him to arrange this piece of music for himself and brass quartet. As each pair processed down the aisle, I got more and more excited. This was it. I could sense my dad's nerves as we awaited our turn. Then it came. My father escorted me down the aisle towards my soon to be husband and the ceremony began. The ceremony itself was all such a blur; I'm glad I have a video tape of it. I will never forget the end though. We had decided not to kiss each other until our wedding day. Our friends and family knew this was our intention and had planned a surprise after our inaugural kiss. After the most romantic kiss in history (no we didn't botch our first kiss ever!!) we turned around to see the congregation holding up scorecards!! How funny! What was even funnier was our second kiss. As we left the sanctuary as husband and wife we leaned towards each other and.....missed! LOL, that one was caught on film for every one to see years later.

As I reflect back on that day nine years ago, I praise God that He sovereignly brought Tim and I together and has blessed us and kept us strong ever since.

Blessings.