Welcome to some memories of our wedding ceremony.  Many of the words said and written are very important to us.  Some are words we wrote.  Some are words some of you wrote.  Some are verses from the Bible.  We treasure them all.  We hope you enjoy them.

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Well, nearly everything went smoothly...once we actually left the hotel that morning.  And the rope that held Ginni's luggage shut even came in useful!

READING of VERSES – read as a conversation between Bill and Alicia Spear It was as if we each lay in the mud of resignation at the bottom of a deep river of loneliness.  All our adventures and travels were the snorkel through which we breathed the air far above, until… “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.”  Psalm 18:16  The hand He reached with was the hand of the other: to Donna, He reached with Sandi’s hand; to Sandi, Donna’s.  He spoke to our hearts the ancient words, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”   Ecclesiastes 4:9-12  And so He braided us with Himself – a cord of three strands not easily broken.  We awoke to the light of a new day, a day of joy, of forgiveness, of love – realizing afresh each new day, that it was only… “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”  Lamentations 3:22-23  We bowed our heads in thanksgiving at the immense gift God had given to each of us, and earnestly sought a proper response.  We began each day praying that God would give us discernment to follow His will, that we would be lights for Him and that we would use our time wisely, claiming the promise that… “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt.”  James 1:5-6  And so God authored a myriad of “coincidences”, or as Sandi says, “small miracles where God remains anonymous”, to reassure and guide us.  We asked for “writing on the wall, preferably in English”; He began by scribing volumes with black paint, then took out His pallet and illustrated His answer to us in vivid color, until our last Hesitation was erased.  He guided us like He promised He would long ago… “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”  Isaiah 30:21  We stepped forth onto the way, holding hands.  The world around us could not see the collage painted by the Master Artist Himself, and raised an eyebrow in judgment, “This doesn’t look right; it’s too this or that; it happened too fast.”  But every person who knew our story and saw the Artist’s work resoundingly encouraged us… “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”  1 Corinthians 1:25  And so we embraced the foolishness of God and heeded His command to… “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”  Proverbs 3:5-6  As we seek to acknowledge Him in all of our ways and to be submissive to His direction, we listen to the message in one of Sandi’s favorite jokes:  How do you make God laugh?  Show Him your plan… “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declared the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  Jeremiah 29:11  Like athletes on the starting line of the life’s greatest adventure race, we eagerly anticipate the future He has planned for us.  Although we realize with just a hint of trepidation, that… “From everyone who has been given much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  Luke 12:48b  He had already given us much; now He is blessing us with each other – with more than we could ever ask or imagine.  We gratefully accept the plan He has for us, this undeserved honor, this specific place for us to stand… “I looked for a man among them who would…stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land.”  Ezekiel 22:30  Therefore, interwoven with the abundant joy of this union is a commissioning.  As God joins our lives, He gives us a mission together – a “co-mission” – to stand in our gap, walk in His paths, and reflect His love to the world around us – His extravagant, passionate, unfathomable love.

Slick The pleasure is all ours to have you as a humble and God fearing friend, you are truly a friend of God, your nickname should be "Theophilus" friend of God.  Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1   God Bless you and Donna in Marriage. Telly

Oh, sweetie, I am so happy for you... May you continue to shout your "yes" into the world, as you have done for so many years... Michael

Nancy Cook and Barry Nease played guitar and keyboard to Nancy's song "He Calls Her Beautiful" before the processional.  They also did the prelude music, processional and recessional.  Having those two long-time friends use their amazing talents to serenade us on our wedding day - just one of those details that made this an absolutely incomaparable day for me (Donna).  I can't thank you enough for being there for & with us.

EXCHANGE OF RINGS / VOWS (Sandi)  Out there walking in the moonlight She stands wishing if she might Find me, the one who she was meant for I stand alone in my life Searching for her who will be my wife Wondering if she is wondering about me We’ve been apart for so long now Wouldn’t it be nice if we could somehow Find a way to find each other All our dreams we could live All our love we could give If only we could find each other

(Donna)  When I look at you I am amazed.  When I was a younger my mind formed a misty image of a man.  A warrior and a lover.  He would wield his sword and fight for my heart because he’d see the Beauty inside my armor.  And once he’d won my heart, he’d gently take my hand and lead me on paths God prepared for us.  And we’d share a love that was the very image of the love of God Himself in all its reckless raging fury, all its purity, devotion, and passion.  He’d be my best friend, my soul mate, my helpmeet, my companion, my lover.  Years have passed since I dreamed that dream.  And suddenly God blew the dust off that hazy image and out of the mist a real hand reached, inviting me into the fairytale of my own dream.  I take that hand now; I accept your offer to step out of mere existence – and into life – because you are that man from my dream and I intend to spend my life making you as happy as you’ve made me.

Know I (we) love you both very much and look forward to seeing you both grow in God's grace.  Sandi, Donna is amazing for you and I am still in awe of how she has brought out all the best qualities in you.  Donna, I didn't get the chance to tell your parents, but I wanted them to know their daughter is in great hands.  I have known Sandi for many years now.  In that time, I have come to appreciate that he will protect you fiercely, love you deeply, and be single-mindedly loyal to you.  I have never known anyone else with his resolve.  He is unflinchingly stalwart and will not back down when he is right, but is also the first to apologize when he is wrong.  You did well. Slim

Your smile is prettier now!  JD & K

I do love your writing. I always have a sense that you enjoy and make the most of life. I suspect everything is not always enjoyable but wow you do seem to appreciate life. Note to self: take a leaf out of Donna's book.(See Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes if I need further encouragement). Heart felt congratulations on your engagement and the impending promise of marriage.  I was only with you for a short part of your journey; Sandi is truly privileged to have the prospect of spending so much longer with you. May God bless you both. David-John

Just to remind us to keep a sense of humor...  This is one of our favorite quotes from books we're read together:  “Mike Mason…likens marriage to a tree growing up in the center of one's living room.  "’It is something that is just there and is huge and everything is built around it and wherever one happens to be going – to the fridge, to bed, to the bathroom, or out the front door – the tree has to be taken into account.  It cannot be gone through; it must respectfully be gone around...it is beautiful, unique, and exotic: but also let’s face it, it is at times an enormous inconvenience.’"  (From “Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts” by Les and Leslie Parrot

Friends, I cannot thank you enough for those of you who have been praying for Donna and me...I can tell you your prayers were answered in abundance as the Lord poured out His amazing grace and peace on us, our family and our friends. The wedding went like clockwork...everything was so smooth it was just a total blessing.  Tons of folks volunteered to help out, our family and friends had a terrific time in CO and the ceremony was simply awesome...Our pastor's words, the readings from friends, the prayer of Donna's father at the reception, the amazing music and the absolute beauty of my bride was only topped by the gracious opportunity we had to lift up our Lord and Savior! The wedding rings were not supposed to make it until after the ceremony despite the efforts of our jeweler and Fed-X...we resigned ourselves to this minor inconvenience and then gave it over to God...despite being told they simply were not going to make it, the rings were delivered 3 hours early!  He moves mountains, if only we have faith!!  Donna was totally surprised when her sister/maid of honor handed her the brand new wedding bands during the exchange of our rings...she simply beamed at our Lord's graciousness. We spent 9 days in Korea for our honeymoon and we hiked in some amazing national parks, rock climbed and swam, enjoyed Seoul, worshipped at Youido, the 800,000 member church here and spent Sunday afternoon at Prayer Mountain...a site operated near the North Korean border where folks go to pray for brothers locked in the tyranny of the Communist regime still in Korea.  Prayer, reading the word, playing guitar and enjoying the Lord in His beautiful creation...simply outstanding!! God has been and simply is...GREAT!  Thanks again for your love and your prayers! In His grip, Bush / Slick / Sandi

14 Apr:  My natural alarm clock of to-do lists parading through my mind woke me in the wee hours of the morning.  In its wanderings, my slowly waking brain stumbled upon what will always be one of my favorite memories:  Sandi’s and my wedding day and the week that followed. The ceremony and reception far more wonderful than I had even imagined.  Family and friends did an amazing job of decorating the little Red Barn and setting up the music.  Having so many folks travel so far to celebrate with us made the day unspeakably special to us both.  We only wished we could bask in the glow a little longer.  But only a little longer...  We escaped through the bubbles and snowflakes dancing on the breeze, laughing with folks who hadn’t blown bubbles in years.  The day couldn’t have been more perfect – warm enough to be outside for the ceremony, perfect lighting for pictures sans squints, and finally a few raindrops for good luck, all mixed with the warmth and love of family and friends.  It was truly a dream I lived that day.                                                         (Donna)

It only gets better from here. LaRue/Lurch

We certainly hope so!!  Donna & Sandi

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