Wedding season is upon us, friends!

And though a time of great joy and (hopefully) great cake, for us singles it can also feel like a series of events designed only to remind us of our single status.

Filling out RSVP cards for one (can I get both meals, though?). Awkward bouquet tosses (I’ll be in the bathroom). Constant nudges from relatives saying “You’re next”, or worse, “Why are you still single?” (Take a hike, Aunt Debbie). Twiddling your thumbs during slow dances just waiting for Lil Jon to come back on (maybe that’s just me).

It can be tough, awkward, and though we may overflow with happiness for our friend, it can drum up all sorts of questions for us.

Questions like: Will it ever happen for me? Is there still hope?

I get it. I’ve been there, and I’ve felt the tears prick my eyes as I pondered the answers, wondering if every time it happened for someone else, meant there was less hope for me.

But this year has been different.

This year, I began to wonder something else. I began to wonder how hopeless I would feel if no one ever got married at all? If God never acted in this way in my friend’s lives or anyone around me? How little hope would I have then?

The answer? Practically none at all.

Friends, weddings, more than anywhere else, should give us hope that God is still writing love stories.

Witnessing it happen for others is hope come to life.

It’s obvious, walking down the aisle in front of us, waving sparklers in our face proof that God still moves in our love lives.

That doesn’t mean that weddings as a single are never hard. We may still be dodging Aunt Debbie, as a multitude of emotions come over us from sparks of joy, to twinges of sadness. But one emotion that I pray we can leave out of the mix this wedding season is hopelessness.

Instead, may our eyes be opened to see that we are literally standing and dancing in the middle of a reason to have so much.