The Wedding of Melissa Goodell and Janus Abello - 24 June 2012

The part of the ceremony officiated by Vince Hawkins, lead minister of the Columbia Church of Christ.

This past weekend, I traveled to Columbia, Missouri, to attend the wedding of my friends, Melissa Goodell and Janus Abello. Both the ceremony and the reception were held at Columbia College. They chose to have their ceremony on a Sunday, which is a little unusual, but I liked that I could drive down to Columbia after church.

I first met Melissa when she moved to Columbia to be closer to her then-boyfriend, Brandon. Being from Boston, we instantly bonded over our shared love of the Red Sox. One of my earliest memories with her is watching 'Fever Pitch' with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore and relishing thoughts of Fenway Park. That and helping her learn how to drive a manual-transmission car. And Janus, I can't remember when I met him, but I've known him for a while. He's originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and came to Columbia to study at the University of Missouri. I think it's pretty cool how God brought them both thousands of miles from home to meet each other, took them halfway across the world to Novosibirsk, Russia, for them to fall in love, and then solidify that love into marriage back in Columbia, Missouri.

Here's some of my favorites:

   

Maks, the lead minister of the Novosibirsk Church of Christ, traveled to Columbia to be part of their wedding. He prayed in Russian (left). The vows portion (right) was officiated by the other minister in the Columbia church, Jason Touchatt. Melissa cries as Janus read his vows. I cried, too. They were great. He talked about how parts of Melissa's character initially scared him because they were so amazing.

A Baptism in Omaha

While up visiting friends in Omaha, I was able to volunteer to photograph a baptism of Amanda Meyer. Beyond her salvation, the baptism represented the joining of the couple in a common faith.