Now That's A Wedding!

You gotta love Britney Spears. I have always had a special place in my heart for Britney. I'm not sure why. Sure she dresses a little, um, risque--what my mother-in-law would call "trashy". And it's obvious that the girl has never sang a live note in her life--she's taken lipsyncing to a new level. I even saw five minutes of concert footage of her sitting behind a piano. We all know she can't play the piano! But her weekend wedding is the best thing she has ever done!

She, and new hubby, Kevin Federline--who has recently had a child with another woman--were married this weekend in a quickie ceremony in the house of her wedding planner. (How much do you get paid to plan THAT?) In the wedding, the bride wore a strapless satin gown and the groom wore a traditional tuxedo. But that's just the beginning!

After the five-minute ceremony, Britney's maids donned hot-pink track suits emblazoned with "Hot Mama" on the back. Not to be topped Federline, and groomsmen draped on their own tracksuit which read "Pimp", with Federline's reading "Pimp Daddy." And just when you thought the jumpsuits were the best part, for the reception, the couple served chicken fingers and ribs.

That's AWESOME! It all goes to prove: "You can take the girl out of Louisiana..."

Don't get me wrong, I was raised, for a while, in Mississippi. I've been to luxury occasions. Luxury meaning chicken fingers and ribs! I know where Britney is coming from. This is a wedding I can relate to.

I cannot, however, relate to her first wedding earlier this year. If you remember, Britney and Jason Alexander (a hometown friend, not 'George' from Seinfeld) were married in Las Vegas after a night of drinking and stupidity. 55 hours later the union was dissolved. At that vaunted occasion the bride wore a baseball cap and torn jeans down the aisle.

I know what you're thinking: "Britney is classy."

Oddly enough, though, Britney's weddings makes me think of our relationship with God. One of the strongest metaphors in the Bible is that of God romancing us and taking us as his beloved. Unlike Britney, though, it is not a casual affair. He knows that we will not always take him seriously. He knows that we will turn and leave and run to other lovers. He knows that sometimes we make commitments to him, only to want to escape them 55 hours later. Yet he remains steadfast. He remains faithful, even when we are not. God is madly in love with you. He has chosen to be--to keep the metaphor--"married" to you.

I love these words from John Eldredge: "God created us for intimacy with him. When we turned our back on him he promised to come for us. He sent personal messengers; he used beauty and affliction to capture our hearts. After all else failed, he conceived the most daring of plans. Under the cover of night he stole into the enemy's camp incognito, the Ancient of Days disguised as a newborn...What he is after is us--our laughter, our tears, our dreams, our fears, our heart of hearts."

Isn't that incredible? God wants to be with you, not for what you can do, but just for you.

Now that's a wedding!