It was a particularly special day for my friends, Jill and Michael—it was their wedding day! My husband was officiating their ceremony, and I had the honor of providing the piano music for their beautiful celebration.
Everything on the church platform looked perfect: lush palms, elegant florals, and the grand piano gleaming under the soft light. Little did I know how important those decorations were about to become!
As I began playing the processional, I happened to glance over at the communion table near the piano. My heart skipped a beat—both the communion goblet and the tray for the bread were empty! Someone had forgotten to set out the elements, and the bridal party was already halfway down the aisle.
Fortunately, I knew my husband’s layout of the service, and I realized my moment to act was coming up—during the first prayer. As soon as he bowed his head, I slipped off the piano bench, crouched low, and made a quiet dash from the stage to the stairs and up to the break room.
Rats!!! No grape juice. No bread.
But… there was Diet Pepsi and a box of Saltine Crackers.
“Well,” I thought, “if Jesus could turn water into wine, maybe He can handle Diet Pepsi in a pinch!”
So, armed with my backup “communion elements,” I hurried back to the stage, thankful for all the strategically placed palms hiding my stealthy return. While my husband gave the opening remarks, I crawled behind the piano, staying as low and quiet as possible. No one noticed when a little hand appeared from behind the communion table reaching for the goblet, which suddenly disappeared and then returned to the table with Diet Pepsi. Then the saltines found their way crumbled onto the bread tray. Mission accomplished!
I slipped back onto the piano bench just in time for the first song, heart racing but victorious. The rest of the ceremony went beautifully. The only giveaway was the puzzled expression on the bride’s face (and then the groom’s) when they tasted the “wine.”
To this day, we still laugh about how Jesus turned Diet Pepsi into wine that day—and how not one person in that large congregation knew what had happened behind the palms.
It was also the day I realized… maybe I should consider offering full-service weddings!
