Page 242 of Sing with Me

His voice cracked, and caused Skye to almost forget what she was to say next. “Romans 8:37 says, ‘Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ I will always be with you whether you are very well or very sick. We will go through it together. I will rejoice with you and suffer with you.”

Diehl smiled. “Deuteronomy 31:8 says, ‘And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.’ We acknowledge that God is with us and He will never leave us. We pray for His protection over our marriage and our lives together as husband and wife, and parents to our children.”

To which, a young man shouted, “Amen!”

Everyone laughed as Ethan grinned, standing next to his Grandpa Ned, who motioned for him to go forward. Ethan stepped very carefully to his dad, holding a cushion with two rings on it.

Diehl glided the gold wedding band onto Skye’s ring finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Brinley handed him Skye’s engagement ring. Diehl placed the blue diamond back on Skye’s finger. He winked at Skye, causing her to chuckle and feel slightly giddy.

Skye picked up Diehl’s wedding band. It was heavy. It had three square princess-cut diamonds embedded into the lustrous gold. When she put it on Diehl’s finger, she rotated the band such that the three diamonds appeared precisely on top. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“By the power vested in me, and in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, I pronounce you man and wife,” Pastor Gonzalez declared. “You may kiss your bride.”

Diehl lifted Skye’s veil. They stared at each other through misty eyes. Slowly, he lowered his lips to hers.

Honey-flavored lip balm again. Skye savored his kiss as Diehl held her.

She didn’t know how long the kiss was but it must have been a bit too long because Pastor Gonzalez cleared his throat twice.

“Kiss later, Dad,” Ethan said loudly. “Cheesecake awaits!”

The entire chapel erupted in laughter and applause.

When Diehl and Skye straightened up, Skye glanced over to find Ethan bowing to the crowd.

“You’re welcome,” the ten-year-old said.

Somewhere in the chapel, a baby cried. There was only one baby in attendance, so Skye knew who it was. Big lungs. Future singer, that Jovan McMillan.

Diehl held Skye’s hand as they faced the wedding guests. From this vantage point, Skye could see the old wooden beams above the chapel, and the few chandeliers here and there. Surrounded by stained glass windows, she could not see the outside, but her ears told her that the rain might have subsided, at least a little bit.

“I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Diehl and Skye Brooks,” the pastor said.

Applause echoed off the walls and ceilings as string music filled the air again with another hymn medley for their recessional.

Hand in hand, Skye and Diehl walked down the aisle to the cheers and whistles of family and friends.

Skye was too nervous to look at the faces of all in attendance, but she had seen the RSVP that Avery and her cousin, Gillian, had sorted out for her.

Among the crowd would be members of their Sunday School classes at both Seaside Chapel on St. Simon’s Island and Midtown Chapel in Atlanta.

Of course, all the men from the Monday Morning Men’s Bible Study Group would be here too, as well as the ladies from the Tuesday Night Bible Study Group, including Olivia, the pastor’s wife, and their two daughters, home from college for the summer.

Somewhere in the crowd would be colleagues and executives from Brooks Investments, plus many of the chefs working at Skye’s the Limit on St. Simon’s Island and Watt’s for Dinner in metro Atlanta.

And Watt Watanabe and his now wife, Anastasia. If not for them deciding to retire on St. Thomas and selling Watt’s for Dinner to Skye at a price she could afford, she would not have been able to spend eleven months in Atlanta with Diehl. Their marital counseling would be somewhat incomplete. Much of their session assignments required both of them to demonstrate problem-solving skills and teamwork. They had to be together in person to do the activities to improve their odds of staying married after their honeymoon and the first four years of marriage.

Indeed, God had brought all these people together to help Diehl and Skye prepare for their married life together, including Pastor “Bootcamp Fizz” Fitzpatrick who had assigned them so much homework that Diehl asked for a diploma after their six months of marital counseling was over.

Instead, Pastor Fizz had arranged for several meetings with at least a dozen Christian couples who had been married to their spouses for over fifty years. They shared with Diehl and Skye their pitfalls and perils, as well as their secrets and successes.

Skye learned that those couples did not have a single method to a joyful marriage—except that they all had one thing in common: faith in the living God who created marriage in the first place.

Yes, the giver of all good things was none other than God Himself.

God alone had brought Diehl and Skye together. And God alone would keep them together.

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