The Wedding Trip

Even before the wedding, my friend and I were already thinking about how we would spend a special time of rest or vacation. Each of us shared our own understanding of this matter. We did not want to take worldly traditions into our union, especially since all of it cost a lot of money, which had to come from somewhere, and money does not come so easily. But we have minds enlightened by Christ and prayer that has power. And in order to make the right decisions in this matter, we decided to seek counsel from the One Who is the Fullness of Wisdom. We wanted to have God’s blessing in all areas of our life, so we trained ourselves to always turn to Him in prayer with all our questions and requests.

When we already knew that we would have a wedding, we decided in advance to think through the question of how we would rest after the celebration, and whether we would rest at all. We decided that if we did do something, it would be something active for both the soul and the body.

But any trip costs money, costs our time, and we agreed to look at this situation rationally. We heard that our brothers in faith build sanatoriums and hold health camps, open cafes and health food stores, and that they are constantly in need of both funds and people. We could simply donate something, or with the same funds pay for our lodging and food, and at the same time with our personal presence support their meaningful work. Even if we would not bring profit with our visit, we could at least serve someone. And our money would not go to support the world, but would remain within our large family.

It was hard for us to choose whom to please with our visit, and so we decided to ask God for wisdom from above to solve this issue. Then we took the list we had made and began calling everyone, trying to understand how the Lord would answer. Some joyfully invited us as guests, some had no space available for our dates, and some we could not reach.

Both of us felt impressed to go to a sanatorium under construction and participate in the project as much as we could. We coordinated the time, thanked God for His answer to our request, and began preparing for the wedding.

And then the decisive moment of our first wedding trip came. Gathering the necessary things and tools, we decided to take along some missionary books as well, to give them to the people whom the Lord would bring into our path.

Loading the necessary things into the car, we entrusted our lives into God’s hands and set out on the long-awaited journey. We had no need to hurry, and we decided to take along fellow travelers whom the Lord would send us. And new acquaintances did not take long to appear.

The Lord taught us that everyone would know that we are His disciples if we had love for one another. We decided to bear this witness to all strangers, especially since we were overflowing with this very love and longed to pour it out on each other.

Picking up the first woman, we realized that she was not going our way, but we decided to deviate from the route to take her to where she needed to go. My wife gave her the front seat, gently fastened her in, and sat in the back herself. The woman was at first frightened by such attention to her, but when I began to tell her how wonderful my beloved was, she calmed down and listened with surprise to my stories. And my other half kept trying to prove that I was the best friend in the world and that she was very happy to have such a husband. At first, the fellow traveler tensely looked at the road, not understanding where she had ended up, but then she began to smile broadly and watch us, trying to figure out whether she was dreaming. In the end, she asked us which church we belonged to and whether everyone there was like us. We gave her the prepared books as a gift, exchanged phone numbers, and went on.

All the following fellow travelers experienced something similar in our cheerful company, and we did not even notice how we arrived at our destination. We enjoyed telling about our love for each other so much that we decided to continue doing so at the sanatorium.

At God’s institution we were warmly welcomed and given a separate room. We prayed, paid for our lodging, and went to get acquainted with new friends. We did not want to be just guests, so we began looking for work, since we saw that activity was bustling all around. My wife quickly found a place in the kitchen and began telling everyone how wonderful a person I was, generously given to her by the Lord. Meanwhile, I found work in landscaping and, working with my hands, got to know new people, engaging in casual conversation about everything.

At lunch we met again, and she introduced me to her new friends, who examined me carefully, trying to compare what they had heard about me with reality.

I let them know that in my wife they had found the most wonderful person in the world, and it would be our great joy to become their friends so they could delight our hearts all our lives.

At lunch we introduced ourselves to everyone present and announced that we had come to love them, and that we had much of this good to give. Some looked at us suspiciously, some simply listened, and some studied us very carefully, trying to catch every word. And we had many words of love for everyone. And how could we not love, when we had been taught this?

After lunch it was customary in this institution to take a walk in nature, and we, dividing into small groups, all headed into the nearby forest. My wife ran ahead with her new friends, embracing them joyfully and telling them something animatedly. And I discovered a new world of the people who kept me company. It was so interesting to test my knowledge of love on living "training grounds"! In the course of conversation I would periodically point to my other half and thank God before everyone for such a wonderful gift. But people tried to assure me that at first everything goes smoothly, but then problems begin, and then we would see about our love.

Mentally I gave all these words to God and prayed for His protection for my family.

My heart was increasingly confirmed in the necessity of fighting for happiness and keeping love no matter what.

The vacation days passed in joyful work for the benefit of the developing institution. All of its staff were our fellow believers, and by the end of our stay we had become part of our large worldwide family.

Sowing God’s love into the hearts of strangers, we noticed how quickly it took root and solved many issues in the best way. How joyful it was to give ourselves and our time to our new friends, sharing with them our knowledge of love and friendship and receiving sincere warmth from them.

Meeting with my wife in the evenings in our room, we joyfully shared our daily experiences and discoveries, and then prayed by name for all our friends and all the needs that had been revealed to us by that time. Then we went to bed together. Sweet is the sleep of a laborer.

How exciting it was to wake up with the thought that today new discoveries and new opportunities awaited you.

Returning home, we carried in our hearts a wealth of new experiences and new friends.

1. Please read Amos 3:3; Galatians 6:10; John 13:34-35; Ecclesiastes 1:8; 2:24-26; 3:22; 4:9-12; 5:17-19; 6:11-12; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:16-18; Proverbs 31:10-12,25-31; James 4:13-17; 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 in the light of this lesson.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

4. Do ideas from the lives of others help you change your worldview?

5. Should we support our fellow believers financially?

6. Is it useful to combine rest with work for the benefit of others?

7. What benefit does a person gain from three meals a day and doing nothing during another vacation?

8. Should we pay attention to the society and environment in which we will be during our vacation?

9. Will it be right to combine our travels with useful work and fellowship?

10. Should we tell other people about our love for each other?

11. Will it be right to make new friends on every trip?

12. What should be done if I want to go to a sanatorium to visit friends during vacation, but my wife wants to go to the sea?

13. Should we pray for every trip and every undertaking?

14. Does Heaven observe how we spend our free time?

15. Can the second tithe be spent on missionary trips?