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Worth the wait

A double dose of faith led two opposites to genuine love

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer

For 15 years, she kept the bridal gown in her closet.

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Tammy and Richard Lorince, in foreground, were among the couples who renewed their vows Feb. 21 at Conyngham Valley Bible Church. They recently welcomed a baby daughter, Faith, into their family.

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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Eleven other couples lined up in the church vestibule to process down the aisle and renew their vows the evening Jane Storaska and Tim Whiteside got married.

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“There were times I felt tempted to give it away,” the former Jane Storaska admitted with a laugh.

Yet something made her hold onto that floor-length white dress with its long train and sparkling beads. Something made her hope she’d meet a man who – unlike another fellow she had known – would be sincere when he talked about marriage.

Jane met her commitment-ready future husband, Tim Whiteside, about five years ago. She was working as a front-desk clerk, and he was visiting Pennsylvania on business from Illinois.

As he checked in, Tim noticed her smile. “She was very warm, very friendly,” he said.

Tim’s stay at the hotel was extended, and, Jane happily noted, “He and his boss didn’t go out drinking to bars. They played computer games.”

It also impressed her that Tim “wasn’t ashamed of his faith. He wore it on his sleeve.”

Literally, Jane said, every T-shirt Tim wore had some sort of spiritual message. That made her feel comfortable opening up to him about her own Christian convictions.

The couple grew closer, and Tim moved to Pennsylvania to avoid 36-hour commutes. He took a job at TPC in Bloomsburg, where he puts graphic designs on trucks. Jane continued to work full time for the Columbia County Housing Authority. (The hotel gig had been a part-time, second job.)

Together, they began to attend Conyngham Valley Bible Church in Conyngham.

As they learned more about each other, Jane saw how they differed. “He’s very spontaneous, and I’m very conservative. I need time to plot and plan,” she said, going so far as to call herself “a spinster-type lady.”

Nevertheless, when Tim, 46, proposed in January that the couple marry in February, Jane, 44, accepted.

It gave her only three weeks to prepare, but Jane agreed to hold the wedding during a church service at which 11 already-married couples planned to renew their vows.

“We jumped on the bandwagon,” she said.

“What better place to do it than surrounded by our friends?” Tim asked.

On Feb. 21 the couple stood before Pastor Jeff Butala and pledged their love and fidelity.

“What God has joined together, let no one separate,” Butala said. Turning to the congregation, he added, “You may clap.”

Earlier in the evening, some of the vow-renewal couples explained why they wanted to take part.

For Richard and Tammy Lorince, it was a renewal of commitment after the birth of their baby, a girl they named Faith.

For Rachel and Mike Suchowieski, it was a chance to experience some of the formality they missed by eloping 43 years ago.

“Finally, I get to dress up,” Kim Metzer said, smiling at the memory of the jeans and hiking boots she’d worn for her “bonfire wedding” nine years earlier.

Actually, her husband, Ray, said, rain canceled the bonfire. But they still got married sporting jeans and boots.

Butala, the pastor, said the renewal of vows was part of a program designed to strengthen the bonds between husbands and wives.

“We want the rest of our marriages to be the best of our marriages,” he said.

The church-sponsored program also included the movie “Fireproof,” which deals with a fire captain and his wife who heal their troubled marriage.

The public is invited to another screening of the film at 7 p.m. March 20 in the church building at 475 Main St., Conyngham.

Are you getting married?

VOWS is an occasional feature that puts a local wedding in the spotlight. If you would like to invite The Times Leader

to cover your wedding, call Mary Therese Biebel at 829-7283 or e-mail mbiebel@timesleader.com.