On June 30, I was nervous as I could be. Looking out the window at the rain, wondering when the deluge would stop. The water falling from the sky was a thick unpenetrable, drenching veil... and it had been raining constantly. The downpour was loud, as if wind was blowing the rain straight down onto the world outside. My thoughts? "Well, this is going to be interesting."

Time is ticking by, our wedding is tomorrow... the rehearsal is just moments away, and the sky, the world beyond the window pane... is invisible to me. I describe myself as a lover of rain, snow, sunshine and thunderstorms. I love the changes in the weather, watching the world adjust and readjust. Today, though... I was a little frustrated. I just wanted to see the sun. I wanted something to actually go right from beginning to end.

It's June 30 and tomorrow, I'm marrying my best friend. More than that. Tomorrow I am reuniting my life officially with the mother of my children. More than that. Tomorrow is when a broken vessel is made anew, and the cracks are seamed with gold. But it's raining so hard today... and we have somehow completely overlooked the idea that we should have planned a rainy-day location for our wedding.

I closed my eyes, and tried to probe... what would Trish think about this? You know what she'd say? "Well, this is going to be interesting." Hey, a rainy outside wedding... that would certainly make a mark in my memories. I am honored to have a rainy-day wedding in the outdoors, if that is what God wants, so be it. Let it rain. Bring it on! But... dear Lord, please don't let the rain hurt Janet, June or Raylee. I was most concerned about Raylee's music equipment getting ruined, or someone getting hurt.

On June 30 at about 5pm, the rain stopped. The sky was overcast... and I was driving to the Wrightsville Beach park gazebo. I know there had to be a smirk on my face. A little inside laughter. I was ready for the rain, and now it stops. Rehearsal time. The steps were practiced, the songs were played and the vow was rehearsed. The sun peeked through the clouds just enough to grant us a rainbow.

Nice, perfect. A rainbow for our rehearsal. I believe June Bell, the officiator of our wedding, saw it first. "Look! A rainbow!"

Wait... rewind. Let me take you through a few of our many, many wedding failed plans to lead you up to this point. First of all, I didn't really start saving up for the wedding until late January. I thought.. eloping would be the way to go, as we've already been married once! So, money was meager, this meant... plans were meager too. Trish wanted to do something that would forge a wrinkle in our time... eloping is too quick, a flash in the pan. Let's make an impact.

In the days leading up to the wedding.. I'm blowing up Janet's phone. "How in the world do we make an impact?" I really haven't saved up for this, and we want to get married on July 1. To me... an impact would mean to take a typical wedding... and totally turn it upside down. I want people to have fun, for example. So... yeah, I took full liberties with crazy ideas. Karaoke, Doctor Who theme, or even a charity ball... with the focus on some non-profit that helps children. Trish and I went ALL OVER the place, so bless Janet for trying to reign us in. wedding collections collections with colors

The first day Trish and I sat across from Janet, she opened up a wedding planner... and bless her soul, I felt bad.. because I think Trish and I were in sync that we didn't want a traditional wedding. Honestly, we a judgement-free, peaceful, loving atmosphere. The look in Janet's eyes, they said, "yikes."

Oh and I could give you the nitty-gritty, but believe you me, when I say the best laid plans fell to pieces, seriously... every great plan fell apart. But it was replaced with something BETTER. We thought we were having a pig-picking, and ended up with sandwiches, salad and meatballs. We thought we were going to be married right before the reception, but things shifted to where the wedding was at sunrise, and the reception was in the evening. Everything about our wedding... was pieced together with acts of love.

Back to our rehearsal day.. June drew our attention to the great beauty in the sky... drew our attention away from our mundane issues. "Look! A rainbow!"

The next day, the sun shone from directly behind June, onto Trish's and my face as we said our vows. The harmony of Raylee and Janet carried softly and easily through the gentle breeze in the gazebo. Sincerity, and a true sense of divine blessing rested upon us as we spoke our vows. Trish's eyes did their magic of piercing to my soul as she spoke the vows. The rings were exchanged and peace rested across my heart. Solemn peace. No rain. Sun. It is well with my soul.

Dayma, Adrienne and Tameca dressed up the reception ballroom in white and silver with floating candles and new chairs shortly before the wedding day.

Debra Haugen, Diana Todd and Becky Woodcock provided the food... we didn't even know what was on the menu, they just let us know it's all taken care of.

Kristin Cannon did the photography of the wedding, and ensured that those pictures would display on a screen during the reception.

Janet found a DJ that worked in our weird 2 hour reception schedule easily.

The reception was filled easily, our guest book had more guests than chairs, but the room was certainly not too crowded or empty (Trish nor I like being in large crowds or being centers of attention)... but it was truly perfect.

Fred Gainey and Raylee took advantage of the karaoke! They did wonderful. We actually danced to Fred's singing.

Mom and I danced to "Stand By Me"

Melinda McKeon and her husband wowed the crowd with their dance.

Trish and I danced many times... we were lost in the moment.

Close friends, family all around... it was love in the air.

We came into the reception to the song "Reunited and it Feels So Good"
We danced to "Thinking Out Loud" and "Feels Like Home to Me"
We left with (GET THIS)... HERE COMES THE SUN

"Trish, isn't this amazing?! I mean, I am so surprised at how all of this turned out."
"I knew it would all work out!"
"I honestly had no idea it would work out so well! Janet said it would all work out. You said it would all work out... you were at so much peace about this, and it ACTUALLY ALL WORKED OUT!"

We laughed.
We got in our car.

And the car wouldn't start.

"Seriously?" We looked at each other, and shrugged. "We got this."

We got this, world! Here is a man and a woman that was utterly TORN apart and divorced... and by a miracle, we are back together. The wedding plans, the weather, and even our car couldn't wreck our peace, not even a divorce. lol

LOVE ALWAYS.

OH! Did I tell you that there was yet another rainbow on our wedding day? Kristin, amazing Kristin... she took a picture of it.

We saw three more rainbows during our honeymoon the following week as well.