Do I Hear Wedding Music?

        “Is that wedding music I hear?” Could be! After all, many a bride chooses the month of June to tie the knot. It’s the most popular month for marriages for numerous reasons—some of those being tradition, better weather, longer daylight hours for celebrating, and availability of lots of flowers.

        I’ll skip the ancient Roman reasons for June marriages (weird and ungodly, to say the least), move up the continent, and jump ahead centuries.

        In medieval Europe, marriages took place after spring planting and before harvest to ensure families returned in time to bring in their yield. Also, around June was considered a good time to bathe (done very infrequently in that era) to assure the bride and groom smelled their best! Oh, and that’s where tradition of carrying fresh flowers and herbs originated—to assure a pleasant scent.

        Brian and I chose to marry in November, but I can assure you. We bathed (how frivolous of us—smile)…and not in June! Well, yes, we did bathe in June too, along with all the other months. (Or should I say, I assume my intended washed as I definitely didn’t witness that!)

        Fresh flowers were so costly in 1978 when these young missionaries planned their wedding, so my mother and I drove to a grocery store where we’d heard they sold lovely silks.

        Indeed, they did! I chose a mix for each handcrafted basket my bridesmaids would carry (made by a disabled friend), extra to make a halo for my junior bridesmaid (our niece), and enough for boutonnieres.

        Then Mom told me she’d heard about a bride who, instead of carrying a bouquet of flowers, held her Bible.

        I loved that idea and picked special silk flowers to place on top of my Bible—in the form of a corsage so I could wear that on my going-away dress following the wedding. I also sewed a silk cover with lace matching my wedding gown for a special wedding day Bible cover (which, along with the corsage, I treasure to this day).

        Our invitations were designed by us at Brian’s suggestion. He particularly liked a ceramic tile I’d made in a college art class. We transferred that simple design onto paper, created the message we wished to be our announcement, and took the master copy to a printer who worked his magic.

        One funny memory regarding those invitations: To totally copy the original design the paper needed to pass through the press 4 times. That would be super expensive, so we requested the printer run the main color—brown—on gold-tone parchment paper.

        Then we ventured over to an art superstore, found 3 permanent markers matching the tile colors, and purchased those. For the next month, every time we had free moments, Brian and I colored our invitations. (Yup, we really did.)

        Everything about our wedding was low budget. But, to be honest, I don’t think I would’ve wanted it any other way, even if we’d been blessed with funds to do more. All that didn’t really matter so much.

        What counted? This man and this woman pledged their abiding devotion to one another, along with other things—yes, including that I’d obey (smile)—from that day forward and forever more.

        Oh, about the obeying thing: (“Rabbit trail” here!)

        Recently, I went through all my files of everything I ever wrote since 6^th grade. Good grief! Some works were okay-ish, some laughable, and one especially grabbed my attention. The title? “What I’m Looking for in a Husband.”

        I won’t bore you with the 20 requirements I listed, but #8 cracked me up! “He needs to be able to keep me in line.” Um, okay, good goal, but no one had been able to do that up until then—but…

        Kudos, Brian Hampshire! You score the highest! (End of “rabbit trail!”)

        Now, wedding music: I always wanted a song Queen Elizabeth II had at her wedding—The Lord’s My Shepherd plus other musical pieces I’d loved over the years. Brian chose favorites of his (Gaither numbers) to be sung by special friends. 

        And, for our wedding march? Something a little different, but I love it to this day—Sheep May Safely Graze played by a flutist, accompanied on the organ.

Sheep May Safely Graze by Johann Sebastian Bach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BMCE7XJ2H8&list=RD0BMCE7XJ2H8&start_radio=1

        “Is that wedding music I hear?” Yes—at least it was ours!

        But I digress. We actually sang a couple duets at our reception, one of which was One & One Makes Two from Sesame Street. (We really did.)

One & One Makes Two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5Yc0RYDS7w&list=RDy5Yc0RYDS7w&start_radio=1  

 

        “Is that wedding music I hear?” Nope. Not even close. Forgive me for slipping that memory in. It was fun, though, and quite surprised our guests!

        We enjoyed our very us wedding. And that day began what’s now been decades together, serving the King of kings! A marriage that survived multiple no-matter-whats—those life things that happen and can tear marriages apart.

        By now we’ve seen our children marry and look forward to one of our grandchildren’s weddings in the not-to-distant future.

        But there’s another Wedding Day a-comin’! Preparations are being made, and the Lord of hosts has invited us to attend. It’s gonna be huge. The best ever!

        We’re going!  

        You’ve been invited too! Have you accepted God’s invitation? This wedding is for all who’ve accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord (the bride of Christ).

        Right now, we’re just waitin’ for the Groom to say, “Rise, My children—Come on in.” 

Wedding Music

Wedding Music by the Kingdom Heirs

 

        Yes, that’s wedding music we’ll hear! And it’s gonna be amazing!

#wedding #Junebride #groom #marriage #weddingmusic #Lord #marriagefeastoftheLamb

*lyrics in italics & quotes from Wedding Music, written by Cross & Talley, released 2005 

Photo Credit: wedding rings—camella.com.ph, sheet music—shutterstock.com, heavenly clouds—freepik.com

Storms Aren’t for Always

        As I write, thunder bellows, and a storm rolls closer!

        Everyone who lives here in “tornado alley” knows to beware of shelf clouds. If they send down “tentacles” that begin swirling and dropping toward earth, sirens blare and emergency broadcasters instruct listeners to take cover!

        Actually, this isn’t our first hefty storm experience. There’ve been many.

        The worst hailstorm in our recorded history happened last month. The racket those tennis- and baseball-size hailstones made hitting our roof terrified us. Even elderly folks who’ve always lived here said, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

        Thousands (no exaggeration) of car windshields were damaged! At the airport (about 30 miles from here) an estimated 1,500 cars were damaged. The wait to get those and our roofs repaired is estimated to take at least 2 months.

        The largest city to our west—Joplin, Missouri—just marked its 16^th anniversary of the horrific, killer tornado that destroyed so much of their city.

        I remember our first trip to Joplin after moving here. Brian and I drove along, and I commented, “Wow! What a nice city this is!” I pointed to the left. “Everything over there looks so new!”

        Then it struck me—Brian too. And we fell silent.

        Of course it was new. We couldn’t imagine the scope of damage that tornado left, but it was crystal clear how much ground it covered—not by the sight of destruction but by multitudes of new structures.

        Yet, this also showed Joplin’s resilience. To build again.

         Of course, the greatest loss in storms is human life. Our own pastor lost a brother in one. I can’t imagine.

         Storms come in many forms. Predicted or by surprise. Mediocre in strength or fierce. Causing inconvenient messes or total destruction.                                               

        There will always be storms. But a “good” thing about storms? They aren’t for always. And after many storms? You might just be surprised by rainbows painted in the sky!

        Rainbows assure us the storm has passed. Rainbows can restore hope. Rainbows mark the fact we’ve survived the storm. And they point us to our magnificent Creator Who, by painting the sky, reminds us He keeps His promises and cares. After all, He doesn’t just show up when the storm’s over. He’s been with us through them all—patiently “holding his brush and pallet of colors.”

        Life is filled with storms, and no one escapes them. That’s part of living in a fallen world. Okay. We don’t call those tornadoes, hail, flood, or anything like that. Instead, we call them broken relationships, death of a loved one, losing all one owns in a fire…and any other catastrophe that hits.

        Storms cause damage. They hurt. They also leave marks that they were there.

        But remember. Storms aren’t for always. There are rainbows too, helping us look forward. To regroup. To recover. To begin again if all vanished in the storm.

        This isn’t my idea. Let me walk back with you to one of the oldest accounts in the Bible.

        Job, a righteous man who loved Hashem (God) with all his heart and soul, faced tragedy after tragedy—one after the other.

        The enemy was sure Job would turn away from God after all he endured, but—as always—the devil was wrong.

        God knew otherwise and allowed the devil to bombard Job. You see, Job’s faith and love of his Redeemer was firm in the good times—so it would hold true no matter what, and God knew Job would pass the test even after being hit by “storms”—afflictions. And he also lost all his children in a literal storm! (If you’ve not read the account of Job, you might want to do that. It will help you face hardships you think you cannot possibly endure.)

        Oh, there was a conversation where Job lamented his suffering to God, but he never turned away from Hashem.

        And after Job’s “storms?” God restored all his losses x two! Job’s “rainbow life”*—after which he proclaimed, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.” –Job 1:21b

        Reader, if you’ve been through storms and are now on the rainbow side, you’re very much aware the memories of those storms—the damage and devastation you suffered—marked you, just like real storms. Severe ones do that. They change us, just like destructive weather alters our world.

        I hope and pray you’ll weather your storms, grasp the promised hope given by the Creator of rainbows, and know there’s always a way to begin again.

        You’ll always remember those storms but can also share with others how God brought you through them—because now you’re on the telling side because…

        …storms aren’t for always.

Till the Storm Passes By sung during a gathering at the Collingsworth home—

Thanksgiving 2024--"Til The Storm Passes By" (much larger group than first time)

(from the hymn, Till the Storm Passes By, by Mosie Lister, 1958)

        A day will arrive when there’ll be no more storms of any kind! And where will that happen? In Heaven. And when will it take place? When Jesus comes to take His children Home…

        …and Home is for always!

#storms #hail #tornado #flood #rainbows #neveralone #hope #promise #Job #Heaven

*a new beginning/starting again…“representing hope, healing, and joy after a period of grief and trauma.” –bing

Photo Credit: shelf cloud—iStock, balls & hail—from hometown citizen, posted on Facebook, rainbow—Pexels, Job—shutterstock.com.