Yay weddings!

Today we were blessed to witness the marriage of Allison and Paul!

The day began with a yummy breakfast with Mom and Dad J and then we hit the road to the Fredericksburg area. It began to rain outside,which not only slowed traffic way down (we arrived with 7 minutes to spare...), but also prompted quite a few prayers for the rain to stop for the outdoor wedding!

The rain stopped just in time for the wedding, and we were handed programs and paper towels to wipe off our chairs as we arrived to the ceremony site (very creative). The wedding was held on her family's land, which included a beautiful area almost designed for a wedding, with trees on either side and a beautiful trellis overlooking the trees.

The ceremony itself was beautiful. Both Allison and Paul are devout believers in Christ and the entire ceremony pointed directly to Him. The wedding was officiated by three pastors (their college pastor, and Turkish pastor, and Allison's childhood pastor) and it was truly beautiful.

Oh right! So for those who don't know - Paul was adopted from Turkey when he was 16 years old (his official name is Ozgur Paul Jerdan - we call him either Ozgur or Paul). He became a Christian when he came to the states and his now filled with passion for reaching Turkey with the gospel. Allison shares the same passion; in her vows she quoted Ruth "Your people shall be my people"... and it shows. Their entire wedding reflected both cultures - we learned a traditional turkish dance, ate Turkish food, all intermingled with the traditional bouquet toss, toasts, first dance, etc. It was so much fun.

I myself enjoyed being on the other side of the Jerdan wedding, hanging out with family, catching up with everyone, even remembering a few names here and there! It's a blessing to be part of another large and loving family, and I'm delighted to have Allison join the crew.

After the wedding we headed to the Richmond area, where we are staying the night, beginning or fun adventure around the south of Virginia for a few days! We're pretty excited to be spending time with each other, making new memories, and seeing new sites.