Kaylea, shortly after you got engaged, you said, “I want my wedding to be fun. Aaron and I joke around a lot, and we have a lot of fun. I don’t want us to feel like we’re taking ourselves too seriously. I really want to make the day the most fun it can be for everyone involved.”
Kaylea, your challenge has been accepted.
Over the past few years, there are several ways that our family has had fun with you and Aaron.
Like the oh-so-relaxing video game Mario Kart. There was that one time I beat Aaron. That was a lot of fun. I will remember it forever.
Or the classic, award-winning Italian card game of deduction – Bang! That game is very, very fun. I still don’t know how Aaron wins every single time.
Or the times we have played pickleball. Such fun times for all involved, even in the crazy wind and freezing rain. Right, Jess?
But some of the most fun times I’ve had in recent years with you and Aaron involve playing catch. Aaron, yesterday I gave you a glove. It’s the same model that my dad bought for me, and the same model that I have purchased for both Kaylea and Sophie. That glove means you are part of the family, now.
That glove is an incredible work of craftsmanship, a work of art. In order for that glove to do what it was created to do, it has to be cared for and played with. If you placed that glove on a bookshelf as a decoration, it would never do what a good glove is supposed to do.
Good gloves help you build trust with your catch partner. When you play catch, you aren’t trying to hurt one another or embarrass each other. You are spending time together, connecting with each other. Each circuit of throwing and catching is an exercise in building trust, a physical way of saying, “We’re in this together.”
Good gloves help create meaningful memories. Kaylea, I remember playing catch with you at the Grand Canyon, at the Nashville Sounds game, and watching you perfect your knuckleball over the years. Aaron, you have always said yes to my invitations to play. I am in awe of your cutter and have loved playing catch with you in the backyard (sometimes Caeden joined us), as well as on that very, very windy and brisk December afternoon with Will and James.
Good gloves open the lines of communication. While coordinating your body to throw the ball and catch it, you listen to each other. You throw and share stories about your day. You catch and process one other’s ideas and dreams and worries and fears. Sometimes, bad throws are made. Instinctively, you say, “I’m sorry,” and then chase down the ball and keep playing. Apologies are an important part of good communication, too.
Good gloves encourage fun. There is no shortage of serious in this world. In the upcoming months, you will share and discover all the wonderful responsibilities of building a life together and the work that entails – taxes and bills and car repairs and laundry and doing dishes. Having fun together is an intentional choice you must make daily.
I have had so much fun playing catch with both of you.
Good gloves teach us how to slow down and pay attention, helping you see that what really matters is sharing this experience with your catch partner. In a world filled with an overwhelming amount of noise and distractions, playing catch helps recenter you in the story you are living and, if you are paying attention, remember God’s Great Story. Living in God’s Great Story is all about learning how to love one another in real life, bringing glimpses of heaven to earth in the process. When you play together, sharing joy and paying attention to one another, where time often becomes irrelevant, that is also known as love.
At its heart, playing catch is an exercise in growing in love.
Aaron, Kaylea throws a delightful knuckleball. It is a work of beauty and art, just like she is.
Kaylea, Aaron throws a natural cutter. It is a wonder and delight to behold, just like he is.
My challenge to the two of you is this: This first year of your marriage, wherever you go, as often as possible, play catch. Let your love be displayed and continue to grow as you play together, creating ripples of hope in your wake.
It will require work and time and creativity to play together. But good gloves make relationships stronger. Good gloves bring people together.
All of this talk about playing catch to say this: I’ve been talking about your marriage the whole time:
Trust each other – you’re in this together.
Make meaningful memories.
Practice good communication, with quick apologies.
Have fun together.
Pay attention to each other.
Live and grow together in God’s Great Story of love.
Playing catch, like marriage, like life is an adventure designed to be shared.
And we are all cheering you on.
