In May of 2009, I had the privilege of making a new friend at a wedding in South Dakota. We hit it off right away, taking a long walk down the road and later in the park, talking about what the Lord was doing in our lives at the time. That was the beginning of a sweet friendship. We kept in touch since then, equally enjoying the fellowship, and watching with enthusiasm as the Lord continued to lead in each of our lives. Not too much time had passed, in fact, before it was clear God was doing something of Andrea’s dreams. He was opening the door, after years of devotion to the Lord, to a new life, a new name, even a new country. He was calling her to lay her life down for another; to give of herself completely to the needs and desires of a man named Joel. After their engagement, Andrea asked if I would be willing and available to be the pianist at her wedding in Wisconsin come August. She herself is an excellent pianist by no stretch of the imagination! But being the bride + the pianist was just not going to happen. I considered it a privilege to play for her, and looked forward to the opportunity. Moving to Iowa for the summer to intern with Bright Lights threw an unexpected hurdle into the equation, but little by little, the Lord brought it all together beautifully, and August 27th proved to be a beautiful, memorable day. Andrea had some great photographers lined up, but I just had to sneak in a shot or two during the reception to share with you all. 🙂 I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking . . .