The bubbly girl with the polka-dot bag.

That’s how I’ll always remember her, at least. Prancing around campus, with that year round spring in her step. Oh, that Brittany Arbuckle, coming into class a few minutes late again, with a big coffee stain on her t-shirt, which of course happened during one of the fifty high-fives she distributed between her dorm and Old Testament with Mr. Smith. I remember that Brittany Arbuckle very well; she’s talking real fast, and we’re trying to keep up, because boy, she’s got it, whatever it is, and we all want it.

Brittany Arbuckle– I wonder how many boys promised their friends they’d marry you? But alas, you had to choose one. And so we waited for you to choose, wondering who’d win your heart for good.

We wondered who’d get on his knee, and ask that Oregon girl to be his wife. We knew not who he was, but what he had to be. We knew he’d have to be quick– quick to keep up with her racing mind. We knew he’d have to be handsome– handsome because she has an eye for beautiful things. We knew he’d have to be adventurous– because the rain calls her out to play in the middle of the night. But more than anything, we knew he’d have to be wise– wise enough to know, she wouldn’t marry any man, unless his heart was good with God. Oh friends, she needed a wise man, a man who knew where she’d buried her heart, years ago, deep in that garden tended by her Father.  We waited for a man who’d not only find, but nourish what had already been planted.

Stephen, you are that man. Aren’t you proud to have been so specifically chosen, so specifically desired? To have a wife, that knew what she wanted, and waited for it… she waited for you. For that, we are thankful. As her close friend, I couldn’t feel more confident than I do, that she found exactly what she prayed for. Her and I, we prayed for you both, before you even knew each other, and my heart now rejoices in God’s faithful promise. He has been so good to you. Remember what it took, what He did, to lead your two roads to this one?

On this road: I trust you will protect one another, always. I trust you will laugh too loud, and wake your neighbors when Brittany’s up at 2am, with too much coffee in her system, and wants to wrestle. I trust she will be a good listener, offer sound advice, and be understanding when you’ve watched one too many chick flicks. I trust her heart with you.

Finally, I believe you two are better together than you’d ever be apart. I see it today, and I plan to see that truth manifest in your many years to come. As your friend, I will watch, and I will remind you, what you promised to each other, at the foot of Mount Hood, that pretty June day, in front of your adoring family and friends. And for that, as Brittany once coined, let us all,  ”Be Joyful Always.”