For a little over a month now, I have been living the life of an engaged man. I have had enough friends get engaged that I have seen a little bit of how this should go. Many hours of planning, thinking and working towards a single event. I have planned my share of events in my life-time, and so has Cami…so in some ways this is nothing new to us. At the same time, this event is focused on us coming together, so it is very different than any other event we have planned.
Perhaps the hardest part of all of this is dealing with the guest list. This is not a simple “open to the public” event. A lot of money is attached to every name on the guest list, which means we end up having to spend a good bit of time thinking about who gets an invitation. Working through that process is so frustrating, because we would love for every single person we know to engage in this special day with us, but it is simple not possible.
As I have been thinking about process, I realize how much I hate the limitations in planning an event where we have to count our invitations. I hate it, because I now have a better sense of how much goes into preparing an invitation for one person, and the meaning of being able to hand someone an invitation to our special day. While the meaning behind a wedding invitation is really powerful, my mind goes to the power and meaning behind an invitation into the community of God’s people.
While I have been spending so much time thinking about wedding invitations, I am reminded that there is a wealth of importance on every invitation I make when inviting someone to come to church. I often treat these invitations like they are free, cheap and undemanding…yet there is a profound weight attached to a personal invitation into things of a spiritual nature. The power of my personal invitation is huge. So, as I look towards big events like the Grand Opening of Water’s Edge on February 2nd, I am spending time considering who God would ask me to invite. I am (attempting to) allow myself to feel the weight and importance of a simple phone call or a Facebook message to a friend as I ask them to come with me this February.
Seeking to understand the power of an invitation,
-Cory
