Jason had a small wedding to officiate today. Only the couple and their immediate family would be there.  I asked him if someone would be taking pictures.  He thought probably not.  So I did what I so naturally do; I inserted myself into the event.  Not even knowing the couple, I decided (all self-important-like) that I would save the day.  I asked Jason if I could tag along and offer to take their wedding pictures.

Pulling up to the church, I got out of the car ready to pour on some picture-taking love.  I was stopped dead in my tracks by a woman holding a camera with a professional-looking attachment that resembled a creature out of a sci-fi film.  I told Jason I could stay in the car realizing I had no purpose in being there; I hadn't been invited.

Fast forward to 2:00.

Jason and I found ourselves on a "Let's get everybody something new to wear for Easter" mission. After a few hours and a few shopping bags, everybody had something new and spiffy to wear; except me. Every dress was too short, too tight, too young-looking or dry clean only.  If there was a dress meant just for me, I wasn't finding it.  And so we went home with one person in the car suffering with a case of "poor me".

The way I see it, this is a give and take world. Not one to do all giving or taking only, I find it appropriate to have good balance.  I had planned that good balance today.  I was going to give at the wedding by taking pictures that would serve an unsuspecting couple.  I was later going to take home a new dress; I'd owe it to myself.

Give and take. I see myself doing just that in every day's story; a story in which I'm always a central character.  I'm "a friend in need or a friend indeed".

But it isn't always about me.

At the wedding, I found myself nothing more than a nameless girl in the audience. I wasn't there to give or take. I was there, simply,  to take-in.  I saw the mother and father of the bride holding hands; their age-old love for each other evident.  I watched the bride wipe tears as she repeated "I do".  And I listened to a story of how the marriage came to be; a story rich in love.

Leaving the mall, I found myself with a willingness to give-in. Old dress or new dress, flashy or dull, I'm not the main character on Sunday, or any day. I may find an opportunity to greet some visitors and certainly I'll sing praises.  There will most assuredly be someone there who warms my heart with a hug or a compliment. Most importantly, beneath my dull, old dress will be one who remembers

There's a time to give,

a time to take,

and a time to do little more

 than fade into the audience;

a grateful and unimportant bystander-

with a heart occupied by worship.