A Change of Plans by Lynn Dove

You will have to excuse me, but tomorrow my daughter gets married and I'm just a wee bit excited!  We had been looking forward to this day, July 18, 2020 for well over a year.  The venue had been booked a year in advance, as had the photographer, and florist.  My daughter, Carmen, and her fiance, Jack dreamed of the way the day would go.  They had been meticulous in planning everything down to the finest detail.  I was blessed to be with Carmen when she picked out the gown of her dreams just before I started my chemo treatments last year.  Bridesmaids and groomsmen were selected, engagement photos shot, and wedding invites all mailed out at the beginning of March. 

Then Covid-19 hit and everything changed!

The province of Alberta went into total lock down, as did the rest of Canada.  As the weeks lagged on in isolation, Carmen and Jack faced the reality that their wedding plans had to change.  As out-of-town guests were forced to cancel their flights, and Alberta imposed group size restrictions, they had to make tough decisions.  Reluctantly,  they cancelled the dinner planned for over a hundred guests at their chosen golf course venue.  They explained their circumstances with their wedding merchants to tell them of their change of plans.  Thankfully, everyone was incredibly understanding and supportive of the young couple. They emailed all the invited wedding guests and said, "Due to the current situation, and our concerns for the health of our loved ones, we have decided to cancel our wedding.  We will be eloping on July 18, 2020.  We trust you understand our decision.  Thank you and we send our love and best wishes for good health.  Carmen & Jack." 

With that said, the wedding day they had dreamed about for over a year vanished in a vapour of tears.  

I wept before the Lord about our world situation in general, but particularly I cried out to the Lord to comfort my daughter and my son-in-law-to-be as they tried to come to terms with this huge change of plans.  They were adamant they wanted to be married on their chosen day, but the question was where to have the ceremony and how to celebrate with the tight Covid safety restrictions in place.  For several weeks, they did not know what they would do.  My heart broke every time my daughter texted me.  At first they thought about just driving to the mountains, find a scenic spot with just parents and their officiant being present to see them take their vows, but the provincial parks were closed and officials refused them permits.  They were becoming so discouraged and my prayers intensified for them to think "outside the box" and settle on a plan they could eventually embrace wholeheartedly.  I jumped for joy, literally, when they finally decided to have the ceremony at our home and have a small dinner "reception" at Jack's parent's home. 

It was an answer to prayer.

For the last several weeks we have been in full-scale planning mode.  My husband built their wedding arch and we've been trying to get our small acreage in shape so it will be an almost park-like setting for the ceremony.  The florist and photographer have adapted to the new changes well, and are prepared for the smaller gathering.  Jack's parents have superbly decorated their home for the reception dinner, making the setting as festive and beautiful as it could possibly be.  We hired a caterer, who has impressed us all with her attention to detail, and we are looking forward to the plated dinner, and the sweet treats she has planned to serve.  We know that the day's celebration will be considerably scaled back with only twenty people in attendance, but Carmen and Jack have observed how everything has just come together in so many ways that they are confident their day will be as special as it can possibly be.  I suspect that when the young couple look back on their wedding day in the coming years, they will remember the love of family, and the joy of the day, and they will not dwell on "what might have been", but only remember how wonderful it was!

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com   

Setting Sail by Lynn Dove

Forty years.  I can scarce recall what happened yesterday let alone four decades ago and yet on June 2nd I will have been married forty years.  I remember the day for the most part.  I remember I stressed over the fact that it rained the day before and the clouds looked ominous early that morning, but the rain never fell.  In fact, the sun radiated warmth all day and sitting on my parents' deck, trying to calm myself for the afternoon festivities, I actually got a little sun-burned.  It didn't matter.  I was getting married and nothing could spoil the day.

I don't actually remember getting into my wedding dress, or the short drive to the church in my father's big, blue Oldsmobile Cutlass.  The photographer took a picture of me being helped out of the car by my Dad, who reached for my hand and smiled at me.  If it weren't for that picture, I might have wondered if I had somehow been Star Trek-like transported to the church.  I don't remember walking up the stairs of the church with my best friend leading the way.  As the only bridesmaid, she was the centre of attention as she walked the aisle on the arm of my fiancé's best friend.  I remember we had to wait, my Dad and I, behind a closed door while my bridesmaid and groomsman strolled casually down to the front of the church.  Then it was our turn.  Dad kissed me on the cheek.  "Ready?" he said.  I must have nodded because somehow I found myself at the front of the church and standing next to the man I was going to marry.

I know the church was full of people, but I was too nervous to acknowledge any of them.  I don't remember the Pastor's words.  I was thankful someone had the presence of mind to tape the entire service on a cassette tape so I could listen to it months later.  I remember looking at Charles, who looked nervous, which was odd, because he was always so stoic and unflustered.  He smiled and my heart melted.  We would be okay.  We had no idea what the next day would hold, or the week, or months and finally years ahead of us would look like for us.  We held hands, exchanged our vows and pledged before God and our families and friends that we would love one another "'till death do us part".  It was enough.

Forty years.  2 miscarriages.  3 children.  4 grandchildren.  Numerous pets.  5 homes.  Countless cars.  Job changes.  Health scares.  Career changes.  Camping trips.  Family vacations.  Holidays.  Forty Christmases, Easters, and Thanksgivings.  Forty years of memory-making.  Forty years of holding hands, praying together, and leaning on God for our daily bread.  Forty years claiming His promises, and letting Him lead and guide us.  Constantly repeating the life verse we chose together forty years ago: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  Proverbs 16:9.

As retirement looms ahead for us, we are not content with sitting in rocking chairs and wiling away the days in relax mode.  We are celebrating our fortieth anniversary going on a Mediterranean Cruise.  It's a first for us, one we hope will mark the first of many travel adventures together in our future.  We love exploring new places and experiencing new things.

We are blessed that all three of our children and their families live close by so we can continue to memory-make with them, indulge our grandbabies, and watch them grow up.  We will be celebrating the wedding of our youngest daughter next year.  It will be a blessed event.  I'm sure there will be other momentous events in our future.

As we set sail in a few months I can't help but think that we are charting a new course, my husband and I.  Retirement is like sailing into new territory.  What sites will we see?  What will we experience?  Who will we meet?  What new memories will we make?  We've had our share of many peaceful cruises on life's ocean, intermingled with some unexpected tidal surges and rough waves over these past forty years.  Still, we keep walking hand in hand, looking forward, full speed ahead, our eyes focused on the horizon and praying for calm waters in the years ahead.  I look forward to where God will direct us over the next forty years!

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com  

A Pictorial Thank Offering by Steph Beth Nickel

As most of you know, I attended my son's wedding in Scotland this September. Below are a few of the 1,000 or so pictures I took while there. They show some of the many reasons I have to give thanks.What fills your heart with thanksgiving?

 

Valentine's Prayers for My Children by Lynn Dove

I believe in the power of what I call "Valentine's Prayers" for each of my children. Praying they would one day find their lifetime Valentine just like I found mine thirty-five years ago!

From the day my children were born, I began praying for their future spouses. Some may call it odd to be praying for two boys and one girl, whom I had never met, nor would likely meet until my two daughters and my son introduced the "love of their life" to me for the first time. The thing is, if I believe that God has mapped out a plan for my three children and if it is His purpose to see them married, I believe He has also chosen a perfect spouse for each of them.

I know that we live in a culture where there seems to be a tension between what God's plan is and our "choices" and I will admit that when my kids started bringing home their friends and I met prospective "dates", I wasn't sure if God's plan and their choice meshed. Still, I prayed that if God was directing their steps, He would also eventually lead them to the "right" one.

By God's design, when my oldest daughter was in university, she started dating a six foot seven young man who had (and still has) the healthiest appetite we had ever seen. He was not a Christian and that concerned me greatly. I questioned God's plan and wondered why my prayer for a Godly spouse for her seemed to go awry. I needn't have feared...

My daughter knew she could not continue a relationship with a non-Christian and urged him to attend Alpha classes with her and weeks later he accepted the Lord. In their ten years of marriage, my tall son-in-law has attended seminary and attained a Bachelor of Christian Ministry and is serving the Lord as a licensed Biblical Counsellor. My daughter and he are Godly parents to my two grandbabies and I praise God for the boy I prayed for when my daughter was only days old.

My son, started attending a Christian school in Grade eight and a few days later I was introduced to his new friend, a sweet girl with a wide smile and a mouth full of braces. Their friendship grew through high school and into university and we praise God that we will be blessed to welcome a new daughter-in-law into our family on August 10th, 2014. She is a girl who loves God with all her heart, mind, soul and strength and who loves my son. She is the answer to my prayers for my son while I rocked him in my arms as a baby.

My youngest daughter has been dating a young man for the past year. He has a warm smile, a hearty laugh and treats our girl with respect. He is showing some interest in learning about God, and I pray one day he will place his full trust and faith in Him. It is, after all, a prayer I have prayed for each of my children from the time they were infants, for all their friends, and for their future spouses. I have no doubt if my daughter is allowing God to direct her steps (Proverbs 16:9), my Valentine's Prayers for her will also be answered!



Readers may connect with Lynn via her Journey Thoughts blog: http://lynndove.com/ or follow her on Twitter: @LynnIDove

Enjoy the Journey - Terrie Lynne

On July 13, 2013 my son got married. It was a beautiful day, filled with many special moments that I will cherish for ever. I can still see them holding hands as they lovingly spoke their vows while gazing into each others eyes. It was perfect. I don't think there was a dry eye in the Church!

Another special moment was during the reception when my husband and I had the opportunity to welcome our daughter-in-law into the family. I shared a quote that I thought was very profound and I could relate to as a mother. It goes like this:

"A mother is as happy as her least happiest kid".

I expressed how as a mother I could relate to that quote and that their wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life because I knew that it was one of the happiest days of my son's life! My eyes filled with tears and my voice cracked as  I continued to say that my new daughter-in-law was the daughter-in-law that I had always hoped for and that I hoped that I would be the mother-in-law that she had always hoped for. I could hear my own daughter quietly weeping in the background and I could see that my son and daughter-in-law eyes were filled with tears. As the evening went on I came to realize that what I said had a profound effect on many in the reception hall. I had various people with tears in their own eyes come up to me and express how that moment had touched their own hearts. I was blessed that they were blessed.

The quote I shared that night makes me wonder if our Heavenly Father is as happy as His least happiest kid. I know that He cares deeply and wants the best for each and everyone of His children. His desire is for us to freely choose Him, and allow Him to lead and guide us. I believe He too weeps over us. That we as His children are the children that He has always hoped for and that He will be the Father that we have always longed for. For He is a God of love and compassion, mercy and grace. He wants us to enjoy the journey!




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Photos compliments of Connor Tkachuk and by JBoisvenue photography 

Wedding Thoughts for Our Son and Daughter-in-Law - Denise M. Ford

In honor of our son and daughter-in-law's marriage (the wedding was July 21 in Vancouver) I wrote a poem based on their creative relationship that has developed over the years.

For Christopher and Catherine:

Perhaps if we could, we might hear your silent vows to each other…

Your laughter floats above the music of my soul, like a twirling current shaping a sandy shore,

One by one our notes appear, discovering the melody, understanding the harmony, measure by measure composing our love.

Your curiosity intensifies the depth of my dreams, like a rushing wind lifting the morning mist.

One by one our voices blend, discovering the melody, understanding the harmony, measure by measure composing our love.

Your devotion dances with the rhythm of my spirit, like a sparkling meteor streaking through the sky.

Rising in crescendo volume, our solos merge, forging a new harmony, measure by measure composing our love,

Our passion inspires the path of our future, like a soaring eagle swooping towards the precipice.

Our chorus encompasses us, combining our melody, intermingling our harmony, measure by measure composing our life.

Our promises glide freely and willingly to each other, like rippling circles reaching to a sheltered bank.

Hand in hand we will create our arrangement, within our harmony, measure by measure composing our life.

Our future beckons, revealing our possibilities, like a sunrise shimmering beyond

the horizon.

Together, composing, creating treasures for a lifetime, measure by measure our marriage begins.

With love,

Mom

To read Denise's personal blog and writing website go to:   http://www.walkingwithdustyanddee.com/

Wedding and Election Fever: by Bryan Norford

With expectations for a fairy tale wedding and a not so fairy tale election, it seems appropriate to share the following reflection with you. It comes from the marriage devotional Ann and I co-authored, Happy Together: Daily Insights for Families from Scripture, and published two years ago.

Eventually, we will get the government we choose, and therefore deserve. But we trust and pray that William and Kate will fare better than Will’s parents.

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Politics and Cinderella

King David had to balance politics and love; he was king and husband and both positions had their challenges. The history of politics after all is a sordid tale—of the power hungry manipulating nations for their own benefit and adulation; of dictators forcing ruthless rule over exploited people; of conquest and war as a means of extending rulers’ influence.

In contrast to this, the first love Michal had for David and his remarkable relationship with God is closer to the love story of Cinderella and seems very different from the politics David needed to practise.

Yet there may be more of a common thread to both politics and our favourite love stories like Cinderella than it appears. Behind those stories lurks the idea that “Once upon a time . . . happily ever after,” reflects a perfection of love and living that our hearts yearn for and our best experiences imply.

Political theorist John von Heyking has written a book entitled, Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World. The title evokes a sense that, despite its excesses, even politics arises from the notion that there is an ideal to strive for beyond the ravages of earthly life—a thirsty longing that wrenches our hearts but is never fully satisfied. As maidens dream of perfect love, so men envision the ideal society and strive for it.

I’m sure most politicians start off with the desire to better their communities, but easily get caught up in the subterfuge, manipulation and compromise that ambition seems to require, which undermines their good intentions. If we could read the rest of the story of Cinderella and her prince, it seems probable we might find a degeneration of their love into self-serving manipulation.

But neither of these evidences of fallen human nature should blind us to the desire God has placed in our hearts for the perfection that is only to be found in Him. If the yearning of the human soul is only complete in God, then the best that marriage can provide is found in Him also.