Almost twelve years ago we finished our wedding service with the hymn, "Amazing Grace." It is probably the best hymn ever written in my humble opinion — not least because it calls us "wretches"!

We sang the hymn accompanied only by the same bagpipes that had welcomed Andrée in to the tune, "My Bonnie is a NutBrown Maiden." I never found out whether it was deliberate or not, but the piper stopped playing at the end of the penultimate verse. As we sang "When we've been there ... " with no instruments, I can well remember my eyes brimming.

Anyway, I said all that to say that I can fully understand the emotional reaction Terry Virgo reports to singing the same hymn at his own son's wedding recently. This post is, I think, the best one he has written so far. Luke Wood has pointed out that in the same post, Terry Virgo also commends marriage to singles.

[Incidentally, please pray for me as I am preaching tomorrow, and as always, these days do not feel adequate for the task. This post has been a great reminder to me of the fact that God's grace is there to equip and enable me — I need lots of it tomorrow, please God!]

The only problem with this latest post of Terry's is that he apologises for it — saying it's a bit too personal. I think we need to tell him that it's just that kind of post that makes for a fantastic blog. I think I've slipped up a little over here on my own blog by not being personal enough lately, so I promise I will try and do so more often, if that's what you want!

I will leave you with this quote from Terry's post — please let me know in the comments section — do you WANT more personal posts from your favorite bloggers, or would you rather that we stick to pure theology? Actually for me, even my theology is theology that I personally care about and am interested in — I hope the real me peaks through from time to time! Here is the quote that I liked so much today:

"... we began to sing. Within seconds I was in trouble. I was fighting back the tears. ‘I once was lost, but now am found …’ I stood in the front row looking past Wendy along the line with three sons; Tim, the groom, Ben and Simon, his two best men, the stunning bride and Joel, our other son, facing them about to conduct the wedding.

Just behind, recently flown in from Cape Town, was our daughter, Anna, with our daughters-in-law, Rachel and Kate, caring for the next generation, eight grandchildren!

As we sang, I couldn’t get past ‘I once was lost …’ I stood there suddenly reflecting on my earlier life, aimless, having no idea what life was all about, hanging out at pubs and snooker halls or going to parties and jazz clubs, often drunk, not knowing that there was a gospel or any kind of purpose to life.

I have no idea where I would have finished up. I can’t imagine the life I would have lived. I cannot believe that I would ever have been loyal to one woman or found a job which brought any satisfaction. How would you raise a family when you have no map or compass? I once was blind!"

— Terry Virgo