Micah J Ballard

Good afternoon, friends!

We are gathered together here today to celebrate the commitment between two people, Katie Stuva and Mackenzie Moore, and to witness their joining in the spiritual union of marriage.

We know that a legal or spiritual ceremony like this one today is not what makes a relationship significant. We recognize that like most couples, you probably didn’t wait until this moment, right here, right now, to decide whether or not you are committed to each other. Each of you knew long before you got here that this was going to be your person, forever. But this ceremony today is an opportunity to show your loved ones, and to remind each other, that what you have together is for the long haul.

Katie and Mackenzie, we had an opportunity to talk a little bit about what exactly it is that you two have together that brought you here today. You have walked through fire to make it here. It all started with a chance meeting at the summer camp you were both work at. Well, okay, it started a little before then, at a worship service where they first met, and later that summer a mutual friend's wedding. But it wasn't until they met again at LSCA that they really started to bond. The whole week, they only had eyes for each other. When they were supposed to be writing lessons for campers, they were getting to know each other better. By the end of the week, they were sharing "friendship vows" because they already knew that they wanted to be part of each others' lives forever. You know, just regular gal pal stuff. They spent as much of that summer together as they could. Mackenzie told everyone who would listen about Katie, and Katie came home to Springfield every weekend to spend time with Mackenzie.

It wasn't until one weekend, cuddled together on the couch watching Breakfast at Tiffany's, that they both realized there was something more going on between them. They were both terrified that they were alone in their feelings, but after they shared their first kiss, they knew they were on exactly the same page.

For the next few months, they struggled together to reconcile what they felt for each other with what they had been taught to believe about who they were allowed to love. They realized what they had been taught wasn't what they really believed. They believed that God's love was for everyone, no matter who they were or who they loved. They believe that God brought them together for a reason, and that God was with them in their love for each other.

Almost 2 years later, Katie proposed. It was Mackenzie's birthday, and Katie pulled out all the stops, even recreating a winter wonderland in her aunt's basement as the perfect scene to pop the question.

Katie and Mackenzie, your relationship has been marked not just by joy and deep friendship, laughter and love, but by pain and loss and sadness as well. Not everyone in your lives have been overjoyed at your love. But the love that you two share has held you together through thick and thin.

That's what this is really all about isn't it? It's about love. No matter where you come from, where you're going, what you believe, or who you believe in, humanity recognizes the essential nature of love. That's why we're all here today. That's why you two are standing here to make a public declaration about your relationship. It's why your family and friends have come all this way to share this moment with you. Love.

Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables, "The future belongs to hearts, even more than it does to minds. Love, that is the only thing that can occupy and fill eternity. In the infinite, the inexhaustible is requisite.

Love participates of the soul itself. It is of the same nature. Like it, it is the divine spark; like it, it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable. It is a point of fire that exists within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can confine, and which nothing can extinguish. We can feel it burning even to the marrow of our bones, and we see it beaming in the very depths of heaven."

This love that Hugo writes of is not simply an emotion. Love like that is so much more. It is a commitment. It is a promise made to each other to grow together. It is a commitment not just to the person standing in front of you today, but to who they will be tomorrow, in a year, and in ten years. It is a promise not to grow stagnant, but learn more about each other every day.

That is why this contract of marriage is not to be entered into lightly but thoughtfully and seriously, and with a deep realization of these obligations and responsibilities.

And so, with that in mind.

Do you Mackenzie, take Katie as your wife? Do you promise to love her and respect her in times of joy and times of hardship, to share your life and your dreams with her, to build a home with her that is a place of love, happiness, commitment, and growth? If so, say I do.

*(Wait for Confirmation)*

Do you Katie, take Mackenzie as your wife? Do you promise to love her and respect her in times of joy and times of hardship, to share your life and your dreams with her, to build a home with her that is a place of love, happiness, commitment, and growth? If so, say I do.

Katie and Mackenzie have written vows that they would like to share today to remind each other of their commitment to a future together.

*(Vows)*

Katie and Mackenzie will now exchange rings as a symbol of their love and commitment. These rings will be an outward sign of the inward love you share. Each time you see them, they will be a reminder to you of your promises made to each other today.

Mackenzie, as you place this ring on Katie's finger, repeat after me:

        With this ring (with this ring)

        I give you the promise (I give you the promise)

        Of my unconditional love forever (of my unconditional love forever)

    Katie, your turn:

        With this ring (with this ring)

        I give you the promise (I give you the promise)

        Of my unconditional love forever (of my unconditional love forever)

Now, by the authority vested in me by the State of Illinois I now pronounce you wife and wife!

Katie, Mackenzie, you may now kiss your bride!

*Cheers*

Friends, it is my honor and joy to introduce to you, for the first time ever, Mrs & Mrs Katie and Mackenzie Stuva!