Wedding + rent cars = 8

One small wedding.  Granted, it was a destination wedding.  Savannah is one of the many sweet spots on this earth, and the details appeared finely tuned and ready to go.  With options for flying into Savannah, Jacksonville, or Charleston, we could grab a rent car and even stay the weekend just for fun.  Surely we could share the rent cars once we arrived.  The idea kept sounding good, but in actuality the car scenario wasn’t panning out.  On the day of departure, the bride and groom had trouble from the start.  An overturned concrete truck delayed traffic on the highway and caused them to miss their flight.  Oodles of phone minutes with airlines and $2,000 later, the bride was crying, and the groom's composure had clearly been tested.  The only available replacement flights were out of DFW instead of Love Field, with a return flight out of Jacksonville instead of Savannah, which they quickly booked, though knowing they'd have to sort details later.  They arrived Savannah and rented a car, and the next day the wedding ceremony was beautiful.  All those months of intricate planning certainly proved fruitful.  When the weekend finished and time came to head home, the couple’s rent car still required return to the Savannah airport in order to avoid stiff penalty.  Wanting not to worsen their already $2,000 in the hole, they returned the car as required and hitched a ride to Jacksonville with the bride's grandparents, who had also stayed the weekend to enjoy the city.  The grandparents' rent car had little extra room for luggage, as they never dreamed they’d be carrying the bride and groom on this 2-hour ride to the Jacksonville airport.  Trying to lessen the luggage load, they relegated transportation of the wedding dress to the groom’s dad because he was driving all the way home to Texas without any airport stops.  They carefully stacked 3 suitcases in the middle of the back seat to Jacksonville and hopped in the car for their 2-hour trek.  Considering the bride's family, the groom's family, and the 3 friends who decided to crash the wedding, I counted at least 7 rent cars for a relatively small wedding party, and that seems excessive.  But the cars proved helpful, especially when trying to sidestep the rain that loomed each day and handle various trips for make-up, hair, photos, and food.  I recall the early days of having prayed over this wedding, now realizing the Lord had reason for us to rent all these separate cars.  He knew from the beginning that the concrete truck would overturn and that He would love our family through each agonizing step of the whole ordeal, all the while using the potential catastrophe to actually deepen our confidence in Him as provider.  Everyone still made it to the wedding, and we saw opportunity to put prayer at the forefront once again.  Isaiah 58:11 says, "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame . . ."  How I love Him for loving us first.  I pray too for the driver of the concrete truck.