No Bingo in June

By Hally Franz –

Did you ever wonder how much money is spent on weddings each year? More precisely, have you pondered how much is spent during the month of June on weddings? I don’t have the answers, but we all know it’s a chunk of change. Weddings are big business!

There are the dresses, the décor, the music and the venues. There are meals, pictures, attendant gifts, flowers and party favors. Some weddings include themes, and some even become part of reality television. While current trends in weddings may be a retailer’s dream, I hope that this year’s June weddings fill life-long dreams for the couples who walk down the aisle (or, the beach, brick road or garden path).

I know a very special June bride. She is the daughter of a dear friend, and she was a great babysitter for my children when they were small. In fact, my 10-year-old daughter, Rosaline, has been asked to be a junior bridesmaid for Jessica, and she is super excited. We had a shower for Jess a few weeks ago. I was remembering the shower, and it occurred to me that there is a certain discord in one of the games that we played that day. I called it Bridal Bingo.

Bingo is a game of chance. It requires no work, preparation or special set of skills or characteristics. Isn’t that the reverse of marriage! Successful marriage is very much related to the work that the partners put into it. And, most definitely, there should be some preparations made prior to the wedding day. Aside from the actual planning of the event, couples must prepare by talking through issues they’ll face as a married couple. They should consider the lifestyle they want for their family including where they will live and worship, whether they will have or adopt children, work and leisure questions, and a host of other concerns. Addressing those topics takes time and energy. Aside from work and planning, successful marriages are built by two partners who demonstrate maturity, generosity, kindness and caring toward one another. Marriage isn’t for the poorly prepared or ill-tempered.

No, indeed! Weddings may be big business, but marriages ought not to be risky business. As for my special June bride, I have every confidence that she and her husband-to-be have taken time to lay a foundation for a successful marriage, as well as an awesome wedding day.

PRAYER: Merciful and Mighty Father, bless this year’s brides and grooms with the qualities of wisdom and kindness, commitment and caring as they begin their lives together, so that their unions may bring honor and glory to You.

“With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NKJV).