That’s right — one month ago, we got married. Has it been a month already? I guess time flies when one is having fun.

And it has been a lot of fun. Being married to Grace feels really…natural. It feels like something that was meant to be, like it’s part of some purpose that transcends even the attraction and love shared between two people. That ought not to come as a surprise, as the Sacrament of Marriage is a part of the ongoing revelation of God’s purpose for men and women, and as our lives continue on this now joined path that revelation will play itself out all the more fully.

So my hope is that Grace and I continue to grow together ever closer in love, and in the love of Christ. If there’s any higher calling in this life, I can’t think what it would be.

Grace and I landed safely at Edmonton International Airport later in the evening last Friday (the 2nd of November), ending off our ten-day honeymoon in Greece tired and more than a little glad to be back in North America, but still in awe of what was, for the most part, an enjoyable adventure abroad. Although it started out feeling more like a trip than a honeymoon, we slowed our pace down a bit and just enjoyed each others’ company for a few days…and it was great. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful wife as she.

It was nice to just get away from all the hectic tedium of the wedding and post-wedding frenzy, and to be equally sure it was nice to just get away from the apartment for a day or ten. I had only moved my things over to Grace’s a couple of days prior to the wedding itself, and hadn’t had time to unpack much. Add that to a considerable load of gifts* and it makes for one very messy, box-filled apartment indeed.

And really, I don’t think we could have picked a better place to escape to than the town on Crete that we ended up in. Hania is not exactly a “small town”, with a population somewhere between 57,000 and 70,000 depending on which source you consult, but the architecture has strong Venetian influences, and in the “off season” it has a slow, relaxed pace to it that we just drank in for all the days we were there.

I’ll have more detailed write-ups of the wedding and the honeymoon to post in…well, maybe a few days, maybe a bit longer than that, complete with pictures. For the time being, let me just say that it’s great to finally be married to a girl whom I have loved so much for so many years now. I’m grateful that we had a blast in Greece and that we were able to travel in safety…but that gratitude cannot compare to the joy and praise that I feel in my heart at finally being able to see here there on the next pillow when I wake up in the morning.

* the generosity of our friends and families has been more than overwhelming, and we find ourselves so grateful for all of it. Thank you, everyone.

Grace and I will be flying off to Greece this afternoon for our honeymoon. It’ll be a long flight, but well worth it — we’re booked in to a nice hotel in Athens for our first night after we land, and our next stop will likely be the island of Santorini. From there…well, we’ll make it up as we go. It’s not a huge country (compared to Canada), but there’s plenty to see and do.

We’ll see you all in November!

Well, this is it, the big day. As of 1:00 PM (well, probably more like 1:30 PM, allowing for the typical progression of events in a Catholic nuptial Mass), I’ll be a married man.

And about time, too. Seriously, this has been an event almost six years in the making. And the more I think about it, the more I begin to suspect that this is what was meant to be, even if at times I’ve railed and raged against it with most of the faculties I apparently possess.

If there was ever a sign that this was meant to go somewhere, it’s that Grace a) actually humoured me enough on our first date to let me ask someone to take a picture of us, and that b) she kept the picture. Who does that, seriously? Who so invests himself into a first date that they flag down a total stranger in the mall, hand her a camera, and ask her to take a picture of himself and the girl that he asked out not a week prior?

Well, me, evidently.

But that’s how things work with the Lord — revelation is gradual, and things that don’t always seem to make sense in the moment will suddenly become completely sensible after some indeterminate length of time. This one picture, so off the cuff and random at the time it was taken, now has incredible meaning…and, in a way, always did. What couple who makes it to the altar can actually say they have a picture of their very first date ever…of their very first foray into the world as a couple, even if only in a nominal capacity?

There’s an incredible meaningfulness there, and yet it’s not something that was instantly apparent. But as I put the finishing touches on the slideshow for the wedding, and as I inserted a scan of that exact picture as the first picture of the “us as a couple” section of the presentation, suddenly it made perfect sense why I was suddenly inspired to ask a passerby to take that picture. That flash of inspiration, that split-second decision…and six years later, all the reasons behind it become plain.

This is meant to be. It always was. And what a fool I was in those times where I tried to make it into something that wasn’t meant to be.

It’s more than about time that Grace and I were married, and after almost six years we are about to become a promise fulfilled. How amazing is that, that men and women can be united in that way? And how amazing is the author of that unity, for the way He quietly but consistently hints at his plan, and inspires action in the hearts and minds of those same men and women?

Well, it’s official — Grace and I have booked our tickets for the honeymoon. We’ll be flying out to Athens on October 23rd, on Air Canada (with a connection in Frankfurt that will be handled by Lufthansa). We’re both looking forward to it very, very much (though not quite as much as we are the wedding, mind…)

And what an experience it was!

By some miracle, I managed to keep meticulous notes about each and every day of the experience, and so in the coming few days I’ll be converting my scribbled notes into full articles and posting them here, at Ubi, and at the wedding website. For the moment, it will have to suffice when I say that on the whole, this was one of the most amazing experiences, and one of the most incredible journeys, I have ever had or undertaken.

And I’ve got 1726 photos to show for it. Now, admittedly, I won’t be keeping all of those…but still, that number ought to give the reader a decent idea as to the magnitude of the Jamboree. Failing that, there are a few statistics attached to the Jamboree’s Wikipedia entry that may prove enlightening.

I also made many good friends, and I would even venture to say that in working with the people of ICCS — the International Catholic Conference of Scouting — defined for me at long last just what my Scouting career means to me, and demonstrated just how I want to conduct myself as a Scout, and what I want to work toward as a member of that world-wide organization.

I made a number of new friends, met some incredible people, tasted great English bitters and IPAs, attended Mass and Taize prayer with what was, for me, a heightened frequency, and worked with between 50 and 100 kids a day doing little things to help them learn (or learn more) about the Catholic faith. And in the off hours, I had some memorable times with some or all of the members of the 59th Rover Crew that were in attendance at the Jamboree.

I have to say, though, that the best part of the Jamboree was coming through the doors out of the customs area at the Edmonton International Airport and seeing Grace there. I had missed her so much during the trip, and seeing her smiling face across the arrivals area was the first breath of fresh air for this man when he finally made it home again.

Home. It’s strange, but over the course of the last three weeks, the very meaning of that word seems to have changed so much for me. Home is not, for me, the place where I’m currently living, the place I rest my head at the end of the day, or the place where my family is. Seeing Grace again, I knew at once that the sneaking suspicion of a feeling I’d been having all Jamboree was true: home is where she is. Home is with her.

And so, O Reader, on that note I will leave, and will tell you only that you ought to keep checking back — in the weeks to come, those 1726 photos (or as many of them as I decide to keep) will make their way onto the site, as will the day-by-day articles describing this incredible trip abroad.

Well, I’m off to England, as of about 8:00 this evening (the flight’s scheduled departure time is 7:55 PM, but it’s also Air Canada, so we’ll see how close they come to hitting that mark). I leave England on August 11th, and I have honestly got no idea when and if I will be able to get near the internet long enough during that time to post anything to the site, or even to check my email.

Which means I’m going to have one very full inbox when I get back.

Anyhow, for the next three weeks or so, I’ll be spending most of my time in Hylands Park, which is north-east of London, participating in the 21st World Scout Jamboree — which, incidentally, also marks and commemorates the centenary of Scouting. I’ll be attending the camp as an IST, an ‘offer of service’ — basically, I’m going there to help run one of the events.

Currently, as far as I have heard, I am going to be working with the Faith and Beliefs component of the camp, and while I haven’t the first clue what that entails, I imagine that it will basically involve me spending a lot of my day talking with kids about Catholicism. Which should be a lot of fun, I expect. I will, of course, have the camera in tow, so hopefully I will be able to bring back lots of pictures for everyone to enjoy…although admittedly, most of them will probably be of the Jamboree, since I don’t expect there will be much time for sightseeing while I am there.

Now, with all that preamble out of the way, here’s the important stuff to be said.

Grace, I love you so very much, and I will try and find out what sort of options are open to me for phoning home as soon as I get to England. I’ll miss you so dearly each and every day I’m gone, and rest assured that I’ve printed a handful of pictures of you to adorn various day-to-day things I’ll be using — there’s even a small photo of you taped to the camera.

You’ve been the most special, wonderful person in my life since the day I met you, and I look forward to seeing you again when I land in Canada. Your smiling face and your dancing eyes can always lift my spirits, and I already want to hear your soft voice again.

Say a prayer for my safe travel, love, and I will figure out what the best way is to get in touch with you as soon as I land. I can’t wait for August (or, come to think of it, October)!

Mom, Dad, Megan, Katie, Carmen, and Simon, I miss all of you, and all I can ask is for your prayers for a safe trip. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get back (including you, Meg, if you do happen to visit in mid-to-late August).

Family and friends: I miss all of you as well, and I ask for your prayers for a safe trip as well. I look forward to seeing you all again when I get back as well.

And to everyone, I look forward to sharing stories and pictures when I return, and I hope that you all have a great middle-of-summer.

As mentioned by Grace, we are changing the venue and location of the wedding, shifting it from Edmonton, Alberta, to Grace’s home town of Vermilion (also in Alberta). The Wedding Information page has been updated to reflect this.

We’ll post more later on the rationale behind the shift, but for now consider this to be your informal notice, O Reader, of the chance. We’re working hard to get invitations sent out by the end of the month!

I have been thinking a lot lately about what marriage means to me and how I see myself as a contributer in this vocation. Recently, I have been working on self image, and after much prayer tonight and reflection, I have come to a conclusion about the kind of wife that I am going to strive for in my marriage to Ken.

For me, marriage is not only about spending the my life with someone I am attracted to and connected to, it is hard work and a series of interactions and decisions that Ken and I will make together to create a cohesive life of two becoming one flesh. This vocation is a great challenge to any person entering into marriage and I thought I should share with you, o reader, what I will bring to this marriage.

I am not perfect and perfection will not be my goal; my goal is to strive to be as excellent as I can be in everything.

God comes first and then my marriage to Ken as priority.

Love of myself, that I will learn to love and continue to love Ken with the same respect and dignity I want for myself.

Sacrificing some of my needs to meet Kens’.

Comforting him in tears and times of distress

Taking time everyday to do something that builds up my marriage with Ken.

I will do my best to balance distance and connectedness in a relationship.

Living my life in faith and trying to walk the path of God with Ken beside me.

Prayer.

Church.

That I will keep the motto “Lord make me an instrument of thy peace”, in the foreground of my mind.

I will do what is in our best interest.

I will love unconditionally.

I will learn to let go any hurts that may occur and show mercy.

I will be thoughtful in my speech and actions.

I will love like everyday is our last.

I will do my best to follow the word of God.

I will create a mission statement with Ken, that we may be fruitful members of Gods family.

I will listen.

I will make statements. ( inside joke ).

I will do my best not to be critical.

I will laugh.

I will cry.

I will have joy and pain, but know that it is all part of God’s plan.

This is just the start. It is the night shift so I am a little tired but I will continue the list as time goes on.
May God bless this marriage.

Grace

Hi there! Thank you to Ken for the elaborate story of our trip to camrose. Ken, you wrote eloquently, what a beautiful story! And the pictures are amazing…it brings up fond memories for me. I just thought I should let the readers know that our Wedding is now in Vermilion and I am very excited about it! Thanks to my parents for helping with preparations and to Ken for his hard work as well.