Yesterday was the bridal shower for the friend of my daughter. She looks so young. It is hard to imagine in just over a month she will be married. I have to say, I wish I could have a bridal shower every weekend. If I were to describe my perfect day, yesterday would have been it, but now I have PTBSD - Post Traumatic Bridal Shower Disorder.
There are so many things I loved about it. First of all, I wouldn't describe myself as a very creative person, but I had a couple ideas jump into my head the day just before the shower that were super cheap and made the place look amazing. I have all these "vine trees" I made last year for Christmas, but I have since discovered they can be used for everything - all year round. I went to the Dollar Store and bought some white thule, then I made giant bows and placed them on to top of all the trees. With some more thule, I wrapped the trees in white spirals all around the them and then placed them on different levels all around the family room. It made the place look bridal shower magical. I added some tulips on every surface and some other plastic flowers from the Dollar Store as well and made a big display on the center of the table. It felt like Spring had entered the house. I was so happy!
The other thing that made me happy was the push it gave our whole family to tidy up on an epic level. I am always tidying, always cleaning, but this pushed us to go do even more. It also pushed my husband to finish up all the electrical in the house so there are no more unseemly wires and cords or exposed outlets. No one would notice if they walked in, but our family noticed and it just gives that finished look to the house that you can't quite put your finger on. When you have a tidy house, everyone just seems happier. It also makes you want to keep it clean. I'll be pushing for that this week.
Next came the actual event. I'm not going to say I don't love having my boys and husband around, but there is something about a room full of women, sisters and friends, young and old, to just make the place full of life and laughter. It was so fun to have the house full of laughing, talking women. The sound was deafening! My husband was probably glad he was gone. I had help with the food, so I didn't even feel overwhelmed by having to make it all. We kept it really simple with veggies/dip, fruit/fondue, cheesecake, cheese and crackers.....super delicious.
Add in the fact it is about a wedding! About romance! About a bride and groom! It was so much fun to be a part of it! Every one introduced themselves with a story from their proposal or from their honeymoon. Lots of laughs and we all learned new things about one another.
My only sadness was when it was all over. I could honestly have had it gone on for hours. I did find out I will be hosting Easter, so yeah! Now I have another reason to keep the house clean and I can look forward to more people coming over! An introvert might read this post and get an anxiety attack, but it just goes to show how differently we are all wired. I think about who I can have over pretty much all the time. It fires me up. It fuels my whole being.
Having gone to another shower recently that was not with other Christian women, I also noticed a huge difference. No fellowship. At that shower I walked around the room trying to engage other women, trying to start meaningful conversation, but it just wasn't happening. I never want to leave events early, but that time, I was ready to go almost as soon as I could. I couldn't put my finger on what the problem was, why was I feeling so empty? That was when I realized it was the lack of fellowship. Had I talked with other women that time? Yes. But there were no "heart" conversations. When these other Christian women got together yesterday, there was non-stop heart conversations which is perhaps why I didn't want it to end. In that case, I don't think you have to be a extrovert like myself - all personalities need to be fed.
The one funny thing about the day had to do with our neighbours' chickens. They seem to love our place. If they get let out of their coop, they race over, eat our cat food, poop on our porch and hang out with our chickens all day. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want my friends to be stepping in chicken poop when they came, but I didn't want to stress our neighbour out either. We always have escaping animals! So I tried texting her as nicely as possible and just wanted to let her know her chickens were back. Within minutes her husband was over trying to wrangle 4 birds off our property onto his with a broom. It was very funny to watch. Picture it - herding chickens? Very amusing I must say, but he did it!
So now I have post-shower withdrawal. I joked with my husband that I should get into the bridal shower business as I love it so much. He actually thought it was a good idea! But for now, I will have to be content that the shower is over and start looking forward to the next event. I still thank God though that He has wired me this way. I thank God for fellow Christian female friendships. I thank God for these fun opportunities to receive fellowship that reaches all of us on a deeper level. I thank God for how He uses these things to bring our family together to accomplish a greater good - hospitality and even stewardship of our home. I thank God that our home can be used to bless others in this way and that even in the blessing of others I end up feeling the most blessed.
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