“These precious articles will then be sewn into a quilt for any child the Good Lord sees fit to send to bless our marriage.”
“Is that acceptable, people of Gasthof Village?”
“Amen,” came a resounding word. It had a German lilt, and a bit of a Chinese accent as well.
Lucas, Joseph’s father, spoke next. “The community accepts you and your marriage. So then, I give unto you both, wholeheartedly, my blessing.”
“As do I,” added Samuel.
Lucas opened the Bible and began to read. “In the book of Genesis, chapter two, beginning with verses eighteen to twenty-four. ‘The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.
So the Lord God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name.
The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man.
So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The Lord God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man,
The man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called woman,
for out of man this one has been taken.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.’”
Samuel continued. “Now for the vows. Newehockers, please come forward.” The barn fell silent. Rebekah Elnora Stoll and Joseph Lucas Graber, can you both confess and believe that God has ordained marriage to be a union between one man and one wife, and do you also have the confidence that you are approaching marriage in accordance with the way you have been taught?”
“Yes,” they answered in unison. Rebekah liked the way their voices sounded together. As though she had been waiting all its existence for this very day.
Samuel extended his hand over Joseph. “Do you also have confidence, brother, that the Lord has provided this, our sister, as a marriage partner for you?”
“Yes.” Joseph’s voice was strong. Commanding. Rebekah shivered.
Lucas extended his hand over Rebekah. “Do you also have the confidence, sister, that the Lord has provided this, our brother, as a marriage partner for you?”
“Yes, I do.” And she did, with all of her heart and soul.
Lucas then spoke to his son. “Do you also promise your wife that if she should in bodily weakness, sickness, or any similar circumstances need your help, that you will care for her as is fitting for a Christian husband?”
“Yes.” He sneaked a peek at Rebekah and winked.
Samuel spoke to Rebekah. “Do you promise your husband the same thing, that if he should in bodily weakness, sickness, or any similar circumstances need your help, that you will care for him as is fitting for a Christian wife?”
“Yes.”
Samuel’s voice rang out. “Do you both promise together that you will with love, forbearance, and patience live with each other, and not part from each other until God will separate you from death?”
Joseph looked at Rebekah, and she stared into his eyes. “Yes,” they answered together. “We do.”
Lucas continued. “Your hand please, Rebekah?”
She extended it. To her shock, it was not trembling, though every other part of her, both inside and out, seemed to be. Thankfully, the troublesome, bat-like butterflies had taken roost somewhere deep inside. Hopefully, they would never take flight again.
He placed Rebekah’s hand in Joseph’s. Lucas placed his hand beneath their clasped hands, and Samuel placed his over the top of all of them. “Then,” Lucas said, “may the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you and help you together and give his blessings richly unto you, and this through Jesus Christ, amen.”
Then, it was over. Rebekah was no longer Rebekah Stoll, she was Rebekah Graber, wife to Joseph Graber. A warmth unlike any she’d known before lit her cheeks.
This is it.
Joseph’s hand closed tightly around hers and he gazed into her eyes with an azure fire she’d never seen there before.
The first day of the rest of our life.
***
As everyone filed out of the church and into the winter sunshine, Thomas’s voice rose above all the other happy sounds. “Let’s eat! I’m starving!”
“Meow,” somebody answered.
“No cats at Sissy’s wedding,” Thomas admonished the faceless meow-er. “Or Katie will feed you dead mice.”
A good natured laugh rolled across the neighbors and friends.
