Love Endures All Things

This Saturday I will celebrate with my good friends Matt Dugan and Erin Parker as they join together in holy matrimony.
Now while I could give them lots of advice on starting a marriage, my 25 years of singledom probably don’t give me much credibility as a marriage counselor.
Last Saturday Matt called me to help him carry their new queen-size Sealy Posturepedic mattress home from the store.
So I met Matt at the store, loaded the mattress and box springs and we went on our merry way.
As we traveled along FM 93 I saw a flash of white in my rear view mirror.
I looked and sure enough, the brand new mattress had caught wind (I’m beginning to think FM 93 is cursed for me).
“Matt -- there goes your mattress!” I exclaimed.
We both watched in amazement as the mattress took flight into the wild blue yonder -- like a bird with wings.
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t quite that impressive -- but it did shoot seven or eight feet into the air before it came crashing down on it’s corner with a tremendous bounce and then settling in the middle of the road.
Thanks to quick reflexes by the driver of the Ford Explorer behind us, the mattress wasn’t completely toasted.
As we examined the mattress, we knew there was no way we could hide this accident from Erin. So we loaded the mattress back into the truck and slowly made the way home.
Needless to say, Erin wasn’t too excited to see their brand new mattress with pretty permanent tears and wrinkles in it.
I took my cue and left shortly after.
Talking with Matt later reminded me again of the importance of material things.
There is none.
A mattress is a mattress -- and as proven Saturday -- they don’t last forever, but their love for each other will endure.
To help ease the pain, I told Matt a story David told me about his wedding escapade.
As David and Anna registered for their wedding gifts at a fine retail store, the sales clerk promised them an extra nice gift from the store.
After the wedding, they went to make a few purchases remaining on their list and the sales clerk brought out a small white box.
She seemed very excited about the couples gift and opened a small white box to reveal an even smaller glass swan.
David and Anna looked at each other, not quite sure what to think.
And after they left the store they both laughed about their disappointment.
“We sure thought we’d be getting something super amazing from all the hype,” David said.
But amazingly with all the gifts that remain from their wedding, two things remain.
Their love -- and that small glass swan.
“I’ve broken most of our other gifts,” David said. “But the one thing we’ve always kept as the greatest remembrance of our wedding is that little swan.”
So to Matt, Erin and the rest of us -- sometimes the marriage, honeymoon, gifts and excitement are all super hyped and we get caught up in the emotion of the moment -- but in the end love is what matters and love is what endures.
Through the ups and downs, the sickness and health, love remains (and maybe a goofy story about the day we forgot to tie down your mattress).
So good luck to both of you and may your love endure above all else.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” - 1 Corinthians 13:13