Wedding Joy

"...spend this short season well. Spend each of your shared moments and hours. Spend them in wondering delight at the blessings of God. Spend them in passioned pursuit of Christ, in fellowship with his people, in constant love and service to one another and to your family, your neighbors, your community." ~Douglas McKelvey, Every Moment Holy

(Most of these photos are from the official wedding photographer, who did a fantastic job.)

The "first look" and the family photographs were all finished.

So the wedding party scooted over to the holding area where we waited for the guests to arrive. 

We brought some cheese and crackers to help our tummies have something solid, since the reception was all desserts.

Thankfully, one of the bridal party had the sense to bring disposable mini toothbrushes with the toothpaste pre-loaded.

I had never heard of these amazing inventions, but they came in handy as we finished eating and prepared for the service to begin.

 

Then we prayed together and began the walk to the lovely chapel for the ceremony.

Wedding Day for Olivia

 And then everyone was getting ready for the wedding. I'm so grateful the place we stayed was big enough for our family and the bridal party to use as a home base.

Olivia chose to do a first look with both her brother and her dad.

I found myself thinking about the marriage blessings in Every Moment Holy.

Watching our kids prepare for and participate in marriage causes me to ruminate on my own marriage in awe and thankfulness.

"May your love for one another overflow in blessing to all who have the joy of knowing you. May the world be better loved because of your passion for each other.

May the flame of your love never wane, but burn ever fiercer across the years, that even in old age you would remain wellsprings of one another's delight." 

~Douglas McKelvey, "Every Moment Holy"

Olivia deliberately chose a wedding dress with pockets :)

Before we knew it, we all loaded up and drove to the lovely wedding venue!

Sweet Sabbath on the Porch August 2024

"Have you ever wondered why God would institute a Sabbath? Doesn't it seem like we could accomplish more for His cause if we worked seven days a week? So why did God stop working on the seventh day? It certainly wasn't because He needed a break. Here's my take. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that we don't keep the planets in orbit; He does. But you'd never know it by our frenetic effort to get to the bottom of our to do lists. You know what you really need? A stop doing list!" 

~Mark Batterson, "Wild Goose Chase"

 The long, screened in back porch during wedding week was exactly what we needed to help us slow down and listen to the Holy Spirit's whispers. This space provided a calm shelter in the chaos of the week. The porch also gave us a place for some sweet conversations with our kids as we cradled cups of hot coffee in our hands on the cool mornings. What an unexpected gift!

Wedding Week Part 2 August 2024

The beautiful Sugar Bridge trail began right behind our house, so Sarah, Aaron, and I walked it early one morning.

Sarah was tasked with making everyone's hair look good for the wedding, including mine :) She practiced to make sure that each of us had a style that we liked.

The day before the wedding, I met my dear friend, Roxanne, to hike along Pinion Creek to Brittany Dam. Time with her is always encouraging, I still can hardly believe her family drove up from Dallas to help us with all of the behind the scenes work for the wedding. We've been able to support them as their own kids have gotten married, and this sweet sister is a gem.

Sarah put the finishing touches on the cake and set it on my great-grandmother's cake stand. It feels like Sarah has been repeating this pattern all of her life. Make a beautiful cake, place it on a cake stand for all to enjoy :)

What a beautiful community showed up to prepare the space for the wedding reception.

Olivia and Connor chose to keep things simple, a few pictures, a few flowers, lots of delicious desserts, and some original music.

With friends and family working together, it didn't take long to plate the desserts on the many cut-glass serving dishes we brought.

Before we knew, everything was set up,

and we were ready for the wedding rehearsal and the beginning of a new chapter.

 

Wedding Week August 2024

"History is like an intricately interwoven tapestry with infinite patterns that only the Omniscient One can see and foresee - but if threads the needle. Your ifs don't just change the trajectory of your life; they change the course of history." ~Mark Batterson, "If"

Everyone gathered in Bella Vista a few days before the wedding. In an interesting turn of events, the original Air BnB we had booked canceled on us as we were coming home from the family gathering in Dallas. I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to find a house big enough for all of our family and the bridal party, but the Lord provided the perfect place: plenty of room upstairs for the married couples, plenty of room downstairs for the bridal party, a beautiful backyard surrounded by trails, a huge screened in back porch, and a well-stocked kitchen with lots of cabinet space as well as a large pantry.

As soon as everyone arrived and unpacked, we started baking desserts for the reception. And of course, Sarah made the wedding cake: a delicious carrot cake recipe that our family has tweaked to our taste. If it's made with coconut oil from the Solomon Islands, the cake is even better!

Another bonus to the house we chose for the week? My friend, Bree, who is also my strength training coach, lived only a few minutes away! So we snuck in an early morning walk and gym session together before the rest of my house woke up.

After most of the baking was done, we took a quick hike to see the nearby Tanyard Creek Falls.

As friends and family began to trickle in to celebrate, I was reminded of that intricate tapestry of our lives, woven by the Lord, and crossing our paths with so many amazing people who make our journey more beautiful.

Cello Studio Class August 2024

I tried something new with my cello studio this summer. We held a studio class with the focus of showcasing progres, not perfection. Each student played a piece of music regardless of whether it was "ready", and we all cheered for each other.

I provided brunch, and families poured into the little fellowship hall where one of my student's dad pastors. I think it was a rousing success and plan to do it again next summer!

 

July 2024 Milestones

"Watching one's small humans age and grow up packs a serious punch. It's like being stuck in a dream unable to speak, like being a ghost that can see but not touch, like standing on a huge grate while a storm rains oiled diamonds, like collecting feathers in a storm. Parents in love with their kids are all amnesiacs, trying to remember, trying to cherish moments, ghosts trying to hold the world. Being mortals, having a finite mind when surrounded by joy that is perpetually rolling back into the rear view is like always having something important on the tips of our tongues, something on the tips of our fingers, always slipping away, always ducking our embrace."

~N.D. Wilson, "Death by Living"

Sarah has been serving as a nanny. Recently she and her small one each drew a picture of their families. When she sent us this photo, I felt joy intermingled with grief. Joy in observing the crayon rendering of such valuable relationships, joy in remembering so many sweet years of building those relationships, joy in watching my children grow into young adults and flourish. At the same time, I experience grief that my favorite people no longer live under my roof, grief that we no longer share daily mundane tasks, grief that their songs no longer float through the rooms.

In July, we hosted Olivia's bachelorette party. All these lovely ladies spent the weekend under our roof, and Sarah coordinated memory-making activities for this group that will help keep Olivia accountable and encouraged throughout her marriage to Connor.

The special weekend also fell on Sarah's 25th birthday. She insisted that we not celebrate because the time was to be focused on Olivia, but we didn't listen to her! Katherine made a beautiful tiramisu, and we surprised Sarah with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You".

July 2024 - "He is speaking always and everywhere"

"God is a God of galaxies, of storms, of roaring seas and boiling thunder, but He is also the God of bread baking, of a child's smile, of dust motes in the sun. He is who He is, and always shall be. Look around you now. He is speaking always and everywhere." 

~N.D. Wilson, "Death by Living"

Ways I heard God speaking in July:

-A bounty of fragrant basil on our back patio and fresh tomatoes at the farmers' market produced quarts of spaghetti sauce in glass jars, waiting for the cold of winter to make us reach again for summer 

-Peach upside-down cake to utilize the ripe peaches abundant in July (our favorite recipe is from Beatrice Ojakangas)

-Bushels and bushels of purple hull peas shelled late in the afternoon on the porch, then frozen to be cooked up with some of our favorite beef sausage and enjoyed on cold nights

-PraiseWorks, one more year for Katherine to enjoy being a part of something big and beautiful

-Continuing to read and work through another gem by Curt Thompson, which is nurturing my love for neuroscience at the intersection of Christianity and helping me grow

-This little passage links some trails around my hometown. Our normal bike route was recently disrupted by construction, and this path squeezes in between two houses in a subdivision. Every time I ride my bike here, I feel a little bit like I'm opening the wardrobe into Narnia :)

-Astoundingly, this thick stack of cards has been stretched across my wall for the last year, encouraging and strengthening me. So many people sent snail mail and buoyed me through a hard year of cancer treatments!

 

July Garden 2024

"We have been created as recipients. I look at the stars, at the grass, at my fat-faced children, at my fingernails, and I am oppressed by gratitude." 

N.D. Wilson, "Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl: Wide Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World"

July is the height of garden season here, and I'm always amazed to watch the tiny seeds morph into fruits and veggies. The critters were getting into all of our melons, so we added chicken wire and wrapped plastic bags around the small, hanging melons.

We emptied one side of our composter and dug it into the raised beds so we could plant butternut squash for this fall.

The tigger melons were thriving, as long as we could keep the squirrels away from them. The abundance of melons made up for the total demise of the tomatoes this year :(

We don't have chickens, but I would like to add them to our collection soon. Until then, I'm grateful for friends who share their bounty and who get excited with me when I find a beautiful double yolk.

The sweet blot peppers did well this year. Our Ozark giant peppers didn't get to be giants, but they were prolific and delicious.

 

Sweet Sabbath

"The alternative on offer is the awareness and practice of the claim that we are situated on the receiving end of the gifts of God. To be so situated is a staggering option because we are accustomed to being on the initiating end of all things."

~Walter Brueggman, "Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to a Culture of Now"

 

See the Gifts Summer 2024

"Gratitude is liberation. We are all mortals, called into this narrative in this timestream without our consent. And we will all reach an end. See the gifts. And if they seem sparse, start counting. Omit nothing." ~N.D. Wilson, Death by Living

-Morning bike rides with my best friend

 

-Birthday parties for little Schalchlin cousins

-Tours of the USS Razorback and USS Hoga and a teenaged daughter who is falling in love with all things maritime in WWII

-the thoughtful and inspirational book, "Death by Living" written by N.D. Wilson

-a bountiful farmers market, representing many friends who work hard for this beautiful, delicious, nourishing, local food

-Saturday brunch on the back patio: waffles loaded with fresh fruit and shared with friends.

-Watching Grandma's first experience with a Rubik's Cube