Its now been 3 weeks since that wonderful day, and we've both had time to think and reflect about how good God was to us. I will try to fill you in on as much as possible. It was a day that didn't necessarily follow our plans exactly, but better than that it followed God's plan.
Just getting to the wedding day itself was a real challenge, there were many things, such as not being able to find someone to do the Western Ceremony, but God had the perfect person in mind, we asked the people we thought might be able to help but no one could. Even when had given up looking, God still had someone specifically in mind, the father of a very good friend just happens to work in Thailand and I had met him a few times before. I felt like I should ask him, after him and his wife praying about it they agreed to come. I'm so glad they did, I couldn't have thought of it turning out better than it did. Other people that we needed such as translators / MC's, we struggled to find in our own strength but God had it all in control. Once the day arrived we had everything we needed, all we had to do was enjoy the day.
11-Jan-2008
3:00am - Tuu woke up nice and early, to begin getting ready and to go get her makeup done. She only slept 2 hours because of all the excitement. I, Tom, woke up at around 5:00, I really could have slept longer except I was just too excited so I just got up and got myself ready. Proceedings were set to start at 7:39 (not a typo, but that was the time is auspicious). I was ready long before then, and had to do something to stop me from worrying so I played a couple games of Winning Eleven soccer with some mates.
THAI CEREMONY
7:30am - all my family and friends rocked up at the house where I was staying, we waited for the Khan Mark (different items given as gifts) to be prepared, then when everything was ready we proceeded to make a loud noise as we walked to Tuu's house. It wasn't a long walk as the two houses were next door to each other. There were three gates that I had to pass through before reaching Tuu, each gate was a thin chain or necklace held by a few of Tuu's relatives, who I had to give money to before being allowed to continue. After the 3rd and last gate, then I finally got to see Tuu, she washed my feet and then we entered the house. We sat down while the elders counted the sinsot (dowry).
What happened next was a little unexpected for both Tuu and I. We had already talked over how the wedding would go with Tuu's parents. Praise God there were many things that they agreed we would not have to have, even though a traditional Thai wedding would have them, such as monks present at the wedding. They had also agreed that when they did the ceremony of offering gifts to the ancestors and telling them of our marriage, that we would not have to be present. However on the day someone else made sure that it happened while we were all sitting there along with my family and friends. At first Tuu and I were not really happy with what was going on, but we knew that we should just trust God that he was in control. Then what happened next was what I would class as one of the highlights of the whole wedding ... all of my family and our Christian friends started to pray for us, our marriage, and the household. It was AWESOME, God was right there with us. I don't know how long it will before that many Christians gather in that house and pray together again, its something that was really special. If it had gone according to our plans, the wai phii (praying to the ancestors) would have happened secretly while everyone was eating breakfast. I believe the enemy thought he could disrupt our wedding by throwing this at us, but instead God totally used it to bring about his plans, and his plans were PERFECT.
Next we both were lead upstairs to Tuu's room where we sat on our new bed, and we had to eat some plain rice with banana, We didn't necessarily understand much about that part of the Thai ceremony, but we just followed instructions and knew God was with us. After returning downstairs everyone ate lunch.
When we came back from lunch it was time for the rest of the morning ceremony. First we had this string placed around our heads, which symbolised the connection we have a married couple. Then came the water blessing, where everyone came one-by-one and poured water on our hands as they gave an encouragement or blessing. This was the longest part of the thai ceremony, so I was really glad that we were sitting down for this. Our hands ended up looking like raisins by the end of it. Then there was gift giving where Tuu and I gave presents to our parents and grandparents, and they in return gave us an envelope with money in it. Still after this there were a few other things that stopped is from finishing the ceremony, such as waiting for one lady to tie our wrists with "special string". At first it was frustrating because we just wanted to be able to leave and get ready for the Western ceremony, but we just had to stop being impatient and trust God again that he was still in control. The ceremony finished at about 11:30, and then Tuu rushed off to get her makeup done and her changed ready for the Western Ceremony.
WESTERN CEREMONY
1:00 - Everyone, including me, was at the hotel ready for the Western Ceremony ... we waited and waited, and wondered if the bride was ever going to arrive ;) But Tuu had about an hour less to prepare than we originally accounted for so we knew she would be there eventually.
1:30 - The wedding began, started by the lovely bridesmaids walking down the aisle, followed by the even lovelier bride with her parents next to her. There was a Bible reading, and 2 worships songs. The English song we chose was "You are my strength" by Reuben Morgan (My favorite Hillsong songwriter). Through the whole of the wedding process God really was our strength. There were many trying and testing times that we couldn't have got through with him. As we sang that song while we were up on stage, the truth of the song hit me again, God's goodness was undeniable. His greatness was untouchable. His strength was unbeatable. His love had reached us.
It was the first time that Tuu's family had heard anyone worshipping God, so I praise God for that opportunity. Then we had a slideshow, and I also washed Tuu's feet. God had spoken to me about doing this a few months back, I really felt that I should do it following Christ's example. I wanted it to be clear to everyone that I wanted to not only lead Tuu, but to also serve her - quite opposite to the way of the world.
Finally there was the vows, pledges, ring giving, and the charge. During the vows many of Tuu's family and friends were brought to tears, not because we had come up with some really special words, but because they saw the love we had for each other, the love God had given us. Above anything else, Tuu and I wanted God to be given the glory in "our day" because really it was His day, we know that if it wasn't for his goodness we wouldn't have each other, nor would have been able to get married. Though we haven't been able to talk to everyone, we have heard reports from many how they were really impacted by the wedding, we PRAISE GOD for that. We pray that God will keep using our lives to impact people, keep using the love he has given us to touch others. And we will always need Him to be our strength as we go through every new challenge
Next post: Evening gathering & Honeymoon
