Practice Makes Perfect

It's always amazed me how there are seasons of life when time seems to simply creep along and others when it races ahead at breakneck speed. And more often than not, there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the tempo at which time passes ... it progresses at its own pace, no matter what we may do to try to speed it up or slow it down. I simply cannot believe that my only daughter's wedding is tomorrow ... tomorrow ... she's getting married tomorrow.

Today will be a busy, busy day with food prep for the reception, last-minute errands, pedicures and probably a thousand other little things that will pop up. I'm sure that the day will zip by, and before I blink, we will be heading to the church for the rehearsal and then to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. I've always thought it odd that couples rehearse for their wedding ... seems to me for some reason that you shouldn't have to rehearse getting married. And yet, most couples rehearse the ceremony the night before the wedding ... well, here in the U.S. anyway.

I've been thinking about Meg and Barrett's rehearsal and the wedding, needless to say, for a while now, and this week, that thinking has kicked into high gear in a big way. Over the last few days, however, I've begun to think about another wedding and wedding feast that will come one day. Watching the devastation left behind from the tornado in Joplin and seeing all the lives that were lost has caused me to ponder a great deal this week about the true brevity of this life. It strikes me that those of us who are believers are rehearsing while we are here on earth ... or at least we should be anyway. Our thoughts and actions each day should be a rehearsal for heaven ... we should be striving to live every moment of every day in preparation for the day that God calls us home ... for the coming wedding feast of the Lamb ... for the time when Jesus comes to claim His bride, the church.

So tonight, we will rehearse our parts in Meghann and Barrett's wedding. Tonight, we will share in food and fellowship together. My prayer is that I will be forever reminded that every thought I have, every word I speak, every action I commit is practice ... that I'm rehearsing for the greatest wedding and wedding feast of all.


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