Overwhelmed

     "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you all partakers with me of grace..." (Phil.1:3-7)
        Post wedding and pictures and pre-celebration--

     Lord, this is simply the prayer of an overwhelmed, overjoyed woman.  A woman overwhelmed by Your grace and goodness.  A woman overwhelmed with the certain knowledge that she is a  selfish, prideful sinner and undeserving of even one single blessing in her life.
     And yet...overwhelmed, first, by the treasure You have given in the Lord Jesus.  Yesterday at the wedding, our precious niece Emily and our Janie sang of the astounding, overwhelming and beautiful truth of Your love poured out for us in Jesus Christ:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
     Those words still ring in my ears this morning: "Why should I gain from His reward?  I cannot give an answer.  But this I know with all my heart--His wounds have paid my ransom."   Thank You, Lord Jesus, for paying my ransom with Your wounds.  If you gave us nothing else ever again in this life...that would be infinitely more than enough. O might we treasure the priceless Treasure we have in Christ.  And in that, this morning, I am overwhelmed and overjoyed.
     But Father, I'm also overwhelmed with the treasure You have given us in our friends and family.  This wedding, this glorious joining of two children who adore You, has been a labor of love by so many friends. We truly could not have done this without them...and we would not have wanted to do this without them!  They have quadrupled--no, way more than that--they have infinitely multiplied our joy in this celebration! 
     The gift of those friends and all they have done, all they mean to us, are too many to name.  Too much to absorb.  From engagement parties to food brought by to encouraging phone calls and texts to running last minute errands to prayer, prayer, and more prayer, to rushing to get the wedding rings right before the service (that had been left behind in all the excitement), to creating astounding beauty with flowers and lights (as one of those dear friends shared yesterday: "Let us walk in the light of the Lord." Isa.2:5) to giving great joy in bridesmaid lunches to powerfully ministering as our pastor to leading as wedding director to coming to the wedding to celebrate with and shower love upon us...and on and on and on.  
     Paul had it right--we thank our God in every remembrance of our dear friends and family as we partner with them in life for the glory of God.  Life is so full of ups and downs, but boy, there's nothing, nothing, nothing like the treasure of those we love to pull us through, to spur us on, to pick us up when we fall, to cry with us in our sorrows, and to celebrate with us in joys.  
     Yes, what a gift God gave us in one another.  And this morning, we "hold you in our heart, for you are all partakers with [us] in grace."  Don't we all need it--that grace?  That glorious grace that lifts the burden of our sin and the weight of our shame and tells us afresh: "Forgiven.  Forgotten.  Now move on in the boundless depths of Your Father's love for you."  And we are "partakers together."  Aren't you glad He gave us one another?  Aren't you thankful we're not in this thing all on our piddly lonesome?  
     So thank You thank You thank You, Father.  Thank You for weddings.  Thank You for beloved children and seeing the happiness on their faces as they join their lives together before You.  Thank You for dear friends and family--there are simply no words, Lord, for our gratitude for each and every one of them.  What irreplaceable treasures in our lives.
      And thank You for Jesus--
     ...But this I know with all my heart--His wounds have paid my ransom. 
     To God be the glory.