A Recap: Our Village of Amazing People and a Wedding

My latest lesson learned: It not only takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to put on a wedding!

It's hard to put into words all the gratitude, emotions and memories I experienced before and during my youngest daughter's wedding last Friday. Between Hoopfest weekend, then moving the about-to- be-married couple over from Spokane we jumped into busy pre-wedding activities that included errands, meals, walks, spending a night on a houseboat so the bridal party could have our home for the Bachelorette Party, rehearsing, primping, and setting up for the main event.

 

We had the rehearsal dinner at Kinza Teriyaki, which both our family's love and where the bride and groom had MANY dates through the years. Thanks, Vanderlinda family. It was delicious and fun!

As Mary Poppins often said, our daughter's wedding was "practically perfect in every way!" We were blessed with a beautiful day, spectacular venue (thank you, Gold Mountain Golf Club!) hand-written vows that had everyone in tears, and an amazing dinner. These photos don't do this day justice because they're from my cell phone. We can't WAIT to get the professional photos back. 

Our daughter and son-in-law's "Best Day Ever" would not have been possible without the contributions of many, many people. I want to give a public shout-out to ALL the friends and vendors who made this wedding so special. If I left anyone out, please know it wasn't intentional!

• Gold Mountain Golf course for the beautiful setting, service, details, and the amazing food.
• Jesse McGee, the best wedding coordinator ever!
• Anita; for altering Sarah's dress and re-making my veil for her. Such a blessing!
• Sue for sharing her lovely greenery and Dawn for delivering it.
• Sara for helping me fix my hair before I dashed out the door, and Michaela for helping with this MOB's eye make-up.
• The Davis family for loaning us their truck for the now-married couple's move across the state, and to cart home wedding decor after the event, and hosting the photographers.
• Loree at American Party Place for the pretty pink water goblets.
• Lisa at Lisa Hysek photography for the amazing macrame' hoops and vintage settee.
• Chapel Hill MOPS for the use of their lanterns.
• Mike, Evan, John, and Todd for driving guests in golf carts out to the woods.
• The bridal party for help setting up and for their love, laughter, and support.
• Olivia and UPS for the pretty programs.
• The photographers; wife and husband team. Alycia and Evan Lovell.
• Amy Barnes, from "Brier and Ivy," for her incredible flowers!
• Amanda Muchmore, the videographer.
• My neighbors, for putting up with a million cars in the driveway, noise from the "Bride Tribe" and 12 months of hearing details.
• My Bible study and Fab-5 prayer posse for on-going prayers.
• Most importantly, God. For ALL the blessings.

My Mama's heart exploded with pride as I watched my oldest son officiate the service and then act as the Emcee. During the reception, I got the privilege of listening to the toasts given by my husband, oldest daughter (the maid of honor) and youngest son (a groomsman.) So much genuine love and respect and laughter was shared!

We celebrated the newlyweds the next morning with a family brunch and time of opening gifts and reflecting on our favorite moments. 

As the wedding notebooks and decorations continue to be put away, it's time to focus on our next special event and countdown; only 122 days until our first Grandbaby's due date!

I'll leave you with the sky God painted for us last Thursday night as a gift the night before the wedding. 

Wishing you joy!

In His Grip,

xo Jane

He's a Keeper

Just like in the story of The Tortoise and the Hare, it has been a long and slow process but we are plodding along together on the right path in our marriage.

We are a bit like turtles... slowly learning how to love well.

We are in it for the LONG run and the prize at the end of our lives. Marriage takes perseverance and practice and definitely prayer.

It was 32 Novembers ago that we first met and started dating. We both worked at an Indianapolis restaurant called DALTS; I was a waitress waiting to get a teaching job, he was a cook trying to figure out life after college. November 7th~first date: (he had a free pizza coupon.) December 10th~(we knew it was love.) Mid-December~I had melanoma surgery and he spent all his non-working hours hanging out with me at the hospital. December 22nd~(he proposed.) Christmas Day~he asked my parents. Yes they were shocked and not quite on board. I totally understand now that I have young adult children!! June 11, 1983~we were married!!!

31 years, 4 kids, laughter, lean years, disagreements and tears, his fall off the roof and recovery, job changes and moves, surgeries, some bad choices, counseling, grace, and through it all hanging on to God and each other. Which brings us to now...

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." 

Ephesians 5:25

Here are some examples from the past month of how my husband has loved and served me:

He helped with my MOPS church project making baby blankets.

 He baked really good chocolate chip cookies for our kid's visit.

He helped me untangle my yarn and roll it into balls. He even convinced his friend to help during a Seahawks game!

When I missed my Chicago flight home due to bad weather in Indianapolis, and it was the last flight out, he booked me a hotel room and a got me a ticket for the next morning. Dragging my 48 pound suitcase through O'Hare has convinced me to pack lighter. (BTW, when you book a Hilton room with points they give you two free water bottles.) The cold, stale Starbuck's bagel was my delicious dinner.

When my Thanksgiving apple pie completely dripped to the bottom of the oven, (why didn't I put the pan on foil?) he took care of my mess.

Even though he loves log fires, we both agreed that we were tired of the draft and the smell of smoke every morning. He convinced a company to give us a good deal on a gas fireplace insert. YAY! 

Let it be noted that when the gas grill quit working Saturday night he cooked our "welcome home two youngest kids steak dinner" over the open fire. My guy has many talents!

Before leaving for a business trip yesterday morning he managed to go work out, clean the kitchen, buy more lights, make a pancake breakfast and help a child with an application. I really haven't embellished the previous examples. He treats me like a princess (most of the time) even when I don't deserve it.

What have I been doing, you might wonder?? Well I certainly haven't been blogging! I've just been a little off this month. I can't explain it... I just haven't had tons of energy or enthusiasm. Also, I was out of town for a week visiting family and ever since I returned I've been sick. 

Marriage is about give and take. Ups and downs. Peaks and valleys. We take turns caring for each other and sometimes it's a bit unbalanced. I hope there are times when my husband feels spoiled and I hope he ALWAYS knows he's loved.

If you too have been in a marriage for awhile then you understand. It isn't a race... It takes perseverance yet it's SO worth it.

Thank you for letting me  share how very grateful I am for how God has worked in the heart of the man who I get to call my best friend, husband, father to our four, and partner for life. He's a keeper.

In His Grip, 
Jane                 Thanks for stopping by See Jane Learn!
xo

What I Learned in October

Here are some things I learned last month:

1. MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is still thriving. Our two coordinators recently flew to Louisville, Kentucky for MOMCon, the MOPS national convention. I had attended a convention back in 1998 in Denver and still have amazing memories from that trip. Were any of you there? Thanks to technology, I was able to stream all the large group talks given by fabulous Christian Mom speakers. I was familiar with many of them from blogs and books I've read, and spending my weekend immersed in their encouragement felt like I was there! This Mentor Mom is going to start saving her pennies to attend next year's MOMCon since it's in my childhood hometown of Indianapolis!

2. Even guys like collections. Throughout our marriage, my husband has put up with my collections, many of which have come and gone. Two of my favorite items I collect are antique aqua Ball Jars (I went to Ball State!) and white pitchers. Now that we've down-sized, I realize I need to quit collecting and "edit" my belonging. My husband has a collection...shower heads.

Yep. He keeps a stash and switches out our shower head occasionally. The zip lock bag moves from house to house.

3. I appreciate the sound of English words better than American words. One of the books I recently listened to on Audible was A Little Love by Amanda Prouse. I enjoyed the accent of the narrator, and here's a few reasons why the English vocabulary sounds better:

"edit my belongings" vs. purge, "load the boot" vs trunk (besides, aren't trunks located on the front of an animal?), "it's rubbish" vs. trash. See what I mean? Their words just sound more classy. Great book by the way. 

4. You can find out your blood type when you donate. When I asked my doctor's office if they could tell me my blood type, they said it would  cost something like $90 to do the test. The nurse did tell me that if I donate blood to a blood bank, I can find out for free. Sounds like a win-win...giving and getting.

5. Now I understand why pastors where robes. I attend the modern service at Chapel Hill so our pastors are usually wearing casual clothes. I never really questioned why pastors wear robes in traditional churches (or mine on certain days such as one we call "Saint Andrew's Sunday".) After our pastor brought up the topic, I did a bit more research here. The purpose is so our focus is on the message, not the man/woman or their personality delivering God's word. It also reminds the people of his/her special calling. The robe is not meant to set him/her above the congregation, but to set them apart due to their unique office as pastor during the Lord’s Day worship service. 

6. It's not just a musical, it's a possibility. A couple years ago when my man and I were still living in Illinois, I convinced him to watch Fiddler on the Roof with me. I had never really watched the whole musical. Well...this fall WE got to play matchmakers and connect two single friends we know and love. Guess what?! Five weeks after their first date, they are engaged and a wedding date has been set. I love happy endings, and I love how GOD knew all along they were meant to be together.

Photo courtesy of Bing

7. We should have taken the course twenty years ago. We've been taking the Dave Ramsey course at our church called Financial Peace University. Oh my... He.    Is.    Wise.

Using biblical principals, Dave teaches how to handle money. If only we'd taken his course when we first got married. Now, we're working hard to change our behaviors and correct past mistakes and move forward. If you haven't heard of it, I recommend you check out Dave's website and buy this class for couples getting married. 

I'm linking up with Emily P. Freeman at Chatting at the Sky. What have you learned lately?

In His Grip, 

Jane       Thank you for stopping by See Jane Learn.

xo