June 21st 10 am “I want to surprise Auntie and Uncle with a wedding they’ve never had. Tonight.” ~Emily Video link at the bottom on the blog.
Wow, this is incredible, I thought, but plan a wedding in one day? How? But somehow with full confidence it was going to happen and it was going to be beautiful.
The Couple: Meet Auntie and Uncle. Our amazing guest house mangers. Who were never able to have a wedding ceremony due to persecution of being Christians and their families being Hindu. But they were married in their eyes. Their love over flowed for each other. He loved to share jokes, and she loved to laugh. They were contagious.
The Plan: Host a beautiful ceremony for a couple who truly deserves it more than anything. The goal was to surprise them. We told them at 4:30pm we want to bless them with taking family photos of them, so they should wear their best attire. Their son, was in on it. He was able to translate everything they needed to know. We split into committees on our team and went to work. During the day, our goal was to buy flowers, a cake, create a wedding space, photographers, “invites”, music, etc.
The Ceremony: Time had finally come. We set up the space as Auntie and Uncle got dressed. At this point they still did not know. Uncle even mention “wow this kinda looks like a wedding space.” They were so excited to take photos. They looked amazing. We sat them down and Emily announced the surprise! They were ecstatic. Thrilled. Overjoyed. The ceremony couldn’t have been more perfect. Emily officiated. They said their vows. We cried. We smiled. We laughed. We had a flower watering ceremony. The plant representing their love, and the love they poured onto it. We had communion together. And prayed over them.
The day couldn’t have gone any more perfect. Mountains in the background. Horses even walked by during the prayer! If I could dream the best wedding ever, this was it. Everything fell into place. We were able to celebrate an incredible bond without any hiccups.
But there was one thing we had absolutely no control of…the weather. You all may know that it is currently rainy season in Nepal. Every day leading up to this one, it would be super-hot in the early afternoon, and then torrential down pour in the early evening and all night. Before the ceremony even started, you could see the rain coming over the mountains. It wasn’t looking too good. During the ceremony it got closer and closer, and you could hear the thunder rolling. Out look didn’t look to good. The ceremony went on. We never felt rushed. We never felt pressured to quickly run through this special time. We were going to soak up every minute of this love and joy.
Best news! It didn’t rain! Not until the final group photo was taken and the cake was cut. Talk about perfect timing.
As I’m sitting here during debrief reflecting back on the month, I can’t help but remember and thinking about the beauty in God’s nature. And this exact day and how powerful God’s timing was in holding off the storm, so we could celebrate.
We could see the storm coming, but the sun still shown through the clouds. The rays still popping through. How magnificent is our God. Our God of perfect timing. The God who shines through the darkness.
Complete control was given up to God, in the weather. We had full confidence He would protect us. How many times in my life, have I not trusted God with a storm in my life, and not give Him full control of it? Convicting. Me, as a sinful human, it is very hard to give up complete control in any situation. I want to believe that I can control it. But the weather is something I cannot control. No matter how hard I try the storm will always come. The choice is, am I going to sit in the rain, and let it consume me, or am I going to let God hold an umbrella above me and say “I got this. Do you trust me?” Our God of perfect timing. He knows when in my life to send a storm. He knows when I need protection. The question is how am I going to handle it. How will I react? How will you react?
My favorite part? The sun shining through the clouds, creating beautiful rays of light. No matter how many clouds or storms that come, God will always shine through. I may not be able to see Him during it, but He’s there. Trust that.
Conclusion: After the ceremony, they cut the cake. He shoved it in her face. She laughed. And we sent them off on a honeymoon, on top of the mountain.
If you want to see more pictures from the wedding, check out my Instagram @nicolemwittmann or Facebook!
check out the video I made of the day! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7_mlW0swo
