To My Son and Daughter

Dear Tom and Erika,

Today was your wedding.

It has been a long wait and the last months have been very busy with all the preparations. Does it seem like a blur to you too?

I remember a couple years back when Tom was getting ready to run out the door to meet a girl at Casa Bonita. I was trying to hold him back, cautioning him not to move too quick. Who was this girl that he was all of a sudden smitten with?

Tom has always been one to put his hand to the plow, take a firm grip and move forward with determination. That’s what he did with you Erika. He fell in love with you and wanted to be your husband from the start.

That is one of the qualities that will make him a good husband. He will not be afraid to take the lead as you grow together and build your home. Tom loves Jesus and will endeavor to make your home a place where Christ is the head and you both live to honor him.

The Bible talks about leaving your family and cleaving to your spouse. It is your home that you establish. It will be different from the ones that both of you have left. You are both young and that will make the merge easier than when you are older and more stuck in your ways.

Your families will always be a part of you but a good marriage requires a clean break from those families. It’s now Tom and Erika. Together you will both lengthen your existing families and make a new one. You will decide new traditions and pull in some that you grew up with. Together you will decide what the Tom and Erika Faustin family will look like.

Your loyalty will be to each other. You will have secrets that no one else will ever know. You will be careful of how you talk about your spouse to others, even when you are mad at them. You will defend each other from attacks from the outside.

In many ways, the world will try to make you like itself. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to Him and perfect.” Study God’s Word so that you will know how he wants you to live. The world is crafty in how it tries to trick us. It will send things our way that will rob us of the blessings God wants to give us. The only way to avoid this is to know what God says in the Bible so we can recognize the counterfeit.

Be bold in your trust of God. He loves to amaze us. Let Him expand your vision of what is possible. You will never be disappointed by trusting Him too much. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Look beyond what is possible with just two and see what God can do with three. He will be your provider, your strength and your protector.

I want you to know that I will continue to pray for both of you daily. I look forward to seeing what God has for Tom and Erika Faustin. I know it will be amazing!

Dad