What I learned about marriage through a breakdown at KFC

Before I can really get into the marriage lesson learned at KFC, I have to back track to the week before our wedding.  When you plan a wedding in 40 days, you don’t have time to be particular about every little detail (which is a real blessing!).  However, ten days before our wedding, I found myself feeling very particular about one thing, one thing I could not control, that one thing, was the weather.  In planning an outdoor wedding, I had to submit to the fact that the weather might not be perfect on my special day.  Forty days out, that was easy as we had an indoor back up that was perfectly acceptable for a wedding. (Note I used the word "acceptable".  Who wants "acceptable"?!)

Of course, the minute the 10-day forecast was available, I was scouring every weather site to see the first glimpse of the sun that was sure to be forecasted on my wedding day.  GASP - thunderstorms...60% chance??? what?  look again...every....10....minutes. no change. ever. To a woman who has planned an outdoor wedding, the weather is a pretty big deal and a pending chance of rain was enough to send me spiraling into distraction (my decision to eat at KFC should at least give you an indication of how distracted I was by the pending weather!).  I found it increasingly difficult to get comfortable with that pesky little thunderstorm cloud that was GLARING at me from the weather report! 

Five days before the wedding, Brad and I helped our church hold its first service in a new building.  That morning, on our way to church, the sky opened up and a downpour began.  As we stepped soaking wet into the brand new lobby of the building, I remember saying to Brad, “if anyone deserves good weather on a special day, it’s this church! I’m sure there were plenty of people praying for good weather today and look what they got!”  As people arrived for the service, I remember watching them dash inside from the torrential downpour, shoes soaked, clothes drenched, and umbrellas dripping water all over the floor.  In an flash, I was transported to my wedding day where my mind’s eye painted a picture of what I might look like trying to hold an umbrella and avoid puddles in a wedding dress.  I saw my guests soaked to the bone and I saw us being married in our backup location, not at the garden that we had worked so hard to arrange.  In that instant, I felt myself on the edge of a breakdown.  Luckily, the service was starting so I was able to pull myself together...somewhat.  

After a rainy, but successful first service at the new church, Brad suggested stopping by KFC to grab a quick bite.  Again, we ran through a rainy parking lot, jumping over puddles in a mad dash to the front door.  I sat down in a corner booth and looked out the window at the looming clouds. Suddenly, the thoughts of a rainy wedding came rushing back.  This time, the tears came rushing in too.  Yes, I had a breakdown at a  Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Brad arrived with the food to find me blubbering about rain, weather, and my wedding dress. Without skipping a beat, Brad said “should I just go ahead and get this to go?” 

Over the next five days, the weather forecast never really changed.  Thunderstorms and rain were expected to bring a cold front to the area.  In order to ensure rain did not ruin our day, we contemplated saying our vows on Thursday (zero percent chance of rain) during the rehearsal.   However, while the forecast never changed, my attitude finally did.  We (and everyone else I knew who prayed!) had been praying hard for good weather when I realized that praying for good weather was the WRONG prayer to be praying.  Instead, I started praying for a good attitude and a joyful heart no matter what the weather brought.  Two days before the wedding, I heard four different stories from co-workers, friends, and acquaintences whose outdoor weddings were changed by the rain.  In every circumstance, the storytellers did not express one tinge of disappointment or frustration over the rain.  Instead, everyone talked about how beautiful and wonderful the day was, even in the rain.  It was through those conversations that my prayers were answered and I finally felt at peace with the fact that our wedding plans may have to be altered due to rain.

Friday morning, my wedding day, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to a HEAVY rain.  At 7:30 when I left for breakfast, the rain was still pouring.  By 9am, the rain was calming and the sun was starting to shine.  By noon, the clouds had cleared, the sun was out, and the roads were beginning to dry.  It was around that time, I sent a text message to my groom that read “I think we just learned our first marriage lesson...sometimes we have to wait out the storm in order to see the beautiful weather waiting behind it.”