And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:9-10)

PLAYING CATCH-UP: Yesterday, scrolling through this summer’s blog postings at “The Life-Charged Life,” I realized I haven’t written that much about this summer’s amazing Andrew/Alicia wedding in Midland, Michigan.

It’s not surprising, really, considering we drove directly to Niagara Falls after the event, and then continued our epic vacation tour with a visit to baptize Rebekah Mae in Connecticut, followed by many more adventures on the way back to Florida. Then, the moment we arrived in Brandon we were full-swing into the fully loaded countdown to leaving and our move to Wake Forest.

And here we are, settling in a box at a time but still with loads of photos to share, and so much to write about if I’m ever going to catch up on this unimaginably eventful summer. And so, when I remembered to take a look at the wedding photos (shared so generously by Chris and Clark Pashby), I realized I really should say a few more things about July 6 in Michigan before another day goes by.

FUN FUN FUN! I believe a lot of people forget what an occasion of joy a wedding is for the parents. The bride’s parents; the groom’s parents. Happy, happy, happy!

Sure, we work our derrières off for months on end, we spend a boatload of money we may or may not have, and we are exhausted – both physically and emotionally – by the end of The Great Day; BUT, parents of the bride and groom also experience such a rush of joy that I’m fairly sure the four of us may have been the happiest people in the room.

THE GOOD WINE: There’s also a deep spiritual truth here. When Jesus showed up at the wedding recorded in John’s Gospel, his very presence elevated the occasion from “a fairly good attempt at a great celebration” to, “Jesus is in the room, now everything we do is beyond excellent!”

Seriously. The Pashby-Maul wedding was a great celebration regardless; but because Jesus was in the room, well, the entire event was more than a notch above excellent; fact is, the day moved well into sensational.

BRILLIANT! The British have a word for this, and I think it’s very appropriate for what I’ll coin, “The Jesus Effect.” The word is “brilliant.” It’s a great word, theologically, because Jesus is light and life. Brilliant is a word about light, and God is the source of all light, life and energy. So Jesus is brilliant, and the Pashby-Maul wedding bash was brilliant for all the above reasons.

And more besides… but that will have to be a post for another day – DEREK