07 Aug Christina, “Peace I Give to You”

Lately I have had ample time to study one of my favorite photographs that now graces the room where I sit by Christina every day. It was taken on Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands by professional photographer and now family friend Bryan Johnson on the morning of Christina’s wedding. It was a breathtaking moment: classic California weather, Pacific Ocean waves rolling in behind Bryan and me, and the surf crashing into the boulders that line the coast there. I had butterflies in my stomach as I thought through the wedding details of the day. Flowers to be delivered for Christina and the wedding party, a gorgeous flower arch to be hand carted down a 3/4-mile-long steep path to Point Bonita Lighthouse along with chairs, and many other details too numerous to mention. The flowers had been hand selected by our grandmotherly florist, Anna Bella, so as to meet the National Park Service’s requirements of no “non-native” flowers allowed. Such was the level of details required.

Never mind that I had employed the best wedding planner I could find; it was my job to worry. But I will never forget that look of peace and calm in Christina’s eyes that day as she gazed out over the Pacific Ocean while Bryan took this photograph. She never had any doubt or fear that the day would be anything less than beautiful, and once again, she was right: beautiful it was. Sure, she trusted me. Sure, she knew my attention to detail. But more than that, her peace came from a relationship with God that is interwoven into how she lives life and for that I am grateful.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 14:27