A Weekend to Remember

This weekend could not have been more packed.  While everyone is recovering from lack of sleep, lots of driving and tons of celebrating, I'm just wondering what's next?!  I wish EVERY weekend was like this last one!  In my mind it was the IDEAL weekend!

It started really on Wednesday when two of my kids headed up to Peterborough for the beginning of wedding celebrations.  That was super fun for them as they got to help set up for our friend's wedding.  We've known this girl since she was 12 and now, at the young age of 21, she was getting married to a super guy she met at camp.  My daughter was one of the bridesmaids and we were one of the few friends invited to the wedding.  She kept it very small and mostly family so we felt very honoured. 

We joined the party on Friday morning, leaving the younger four at home as, sadly, they didn't make the cut!  But they were staying with close buddies and I think that made up for it! 

I had anticipated crying at the wedding for sure, but had no idea how the waterworks were going to actually play out.  I'll never forget the first time I cried at at wedding.  It was my cousin's wedding.  I knew her a little, not super well, but we had been invited as a family.  When she walked down the aisle I found myself so emotional.  Thus began the new pattern for me and weddings.  When everyone stands up, I can't believe what that triggers in me.  I think it's the significance of standing, as we honour the bride and her family, in this case, her mother, who walked her down the aisle.  Her dad should have been the one, but he missed the opportunity of a lifetime due to bad choices he's made in his life.  I cried because of that.  I cried because her mom was still so close to her daughter that she was the privileged one.  I cried as I saw so many other significant people crying.  How can so many emotions come to someone all at once?!  It's almost better to just take things at face value and not project so much significance on to the whole process.  Why can't I just say, "Look!  There's  someone walking down the aisle in a church!" But I can't.  No.  Not me.  I instead have to see all the meaning behind it all which has me leaving the church feeling like I cried for hours.   And that was all in the first 2 minutes of the wedding.  It was going to be a long ceremony.  And it got worse....or better, I suppose, depending on how you look at it!

When the ceremony was over, there was much to celebrate.  It was so beautiful.  The reception was also full of tears as so many speeches were made.  Can I just say - I LOVE SPEECHES!  I know there are people out there who think they should be banned, but not me.  I love hearing how people know one another.  I love hearing how siblings love one another.  When the groom got up to thank his brothers, he fell apart like I've never seen a groom fall apart.  He was crying so hard, his wife had to read his speech.  It was actually such a beautiful moment.  Everyone was laughing so hard as he tried multiple times to get his emotions together, but he just couldn't.  It was at that moment, I knew she had married an amazing guy, who loved his family so much.  Speeches show the heart.  My friend's speech to her daughter also had everyone in tears, but another amazing opportunity for her to vocalize her love for her daughter.

There are weddings that cost thousands of dollars and then there was this one.  This bride did it all on her own (with the help of a few friends of course).  She made it so pretty and so simple.  All her decor was very low cost, but it made the little community hall in the backwoods so adorable.  There was no alcohol, no dancing.   Yet to me, it was the perfect event.  It was all done by 8:30 and people could go home and be in bed by 9!  We had 3 hours of driving ahead of us, but it was perfect!  The bride and groom didn't have to be exhausted and could actually be on their way to their honeymoon right away!  I think it will be hard to convince my kids to do this, but I'm going to highly recommend it!

Saturday was my mom's surprise 80th with 50 of her closest friends and family from many aspects of her life.  She was taken aback for sure, but felt loved and appreciated by all.  This was again one of my favourite types of events as I got to be with my children, except for my oldest writing a piano exam :( and I was able to introduce them to all sorts of people who wondered who they were.  It was a wonderful time of visiting and chatting with all my parents' friends who are also long time friends of mine. 

We did a couple of things that were very fun for my mom.  She had given me a few outfits that she used to wear when she was younger.  We had 3 of the granddaughters "model" them down the "catwalk" of the room and she then described each one and how she had been given it or where she wore it.  A literal walk down memory lane for her.  Then the highlight of that day was when all the grandchildren introduced themselves and then said one word that described my mom.  This was the ideal way to have a short "program" without the hours of speeches we would have all wanted to give.  My personal favourite was when my youngest boy who had been outside during all the words the other grandchildren had given, somehow had a sense to walk in at the very end.  He then proceeded to the middle of the room and I said, "Ok, Brock, introduce yourself...."  He stood and confidently concluded this part of the program in one sentence that summed it all up, "Hi.  My name is Brock.  I'm 7 and the youngest of the family and I JUST LOVE GRAMMY SO MUCH!"  It was the perfect ending!  Everyone ooohed and awwwwed.  Each grandchild had said so many great words, "Inspiring", "Encouraging", "Super spunky", "Funny", "Gracious"......they went on and on.....there were more than one person in tears as they listened to her be described by these sweet small, medium and large kids!

The party continued on for several hours at my sister's place which was perfect as there were places to play outdoors, downstairs and all over the house, but so much went on just on the couch, all cuddled together with everyone's chairs in a circle around that with so much talking that it was almost deafening at times with all the cousins, aunts and uncles in multiple conversations.  It was amazing to take it all in. 

Throughout the whole wedding, Grammy celebration and then dinner later at my sister's........there was this theme, this sense of spiritual legacy, God's Hand, His kindness and blessing felt so deeply.  At each event there was an older grandparent, or my brother-in-law/pastor, and then my dad, who gave a meaningful prayer at each event.  A non-believer would have noticed this perhaps and wondered if it meant anything at all or if it was just a tradition, but to a believing watcher, it was asking the God of Heaven to come down and personally touch and intervene - for the married couple and their future life, for my mom and her remaining years, and then later for our families by my dad for all of us, that God would continue to protect and guide.  It was so amazing to see that thread throughout each event.

Yes, these events were fun.  Yes, they were emotionally charged, but more than all of that they were so significant spiritually.  In each situation, God was present.  The marriage was a picture of how God loves His Bride, the church, so much that He was willing to die for Her.  Throughout the whole day God was given the glory for His role in their lives and how they want Him to be the center of their marriage.  That probably sounded so strange to the non-Christians present there that day.  In our family birthday celebration we weren't so much having a birthday party just for the sake of having a birthday party, but we were celebrating the life God has given my mom and how she has used to her life to give Him glory, how she represents a spiritual legacy to the future generations.  And prayer, so much prayer, throughout the two days.  God was called into each event so many times.  His presence could be felt constantly.  His blessing was poured down.

How am I supposed to start this week as a normal week?!  So much living was packed into two days.  By Sunday we were all in comas and I let the kids sleep in as long as they wanted.  Mother's Day was not perhaps the same as usual, but it didn't matter.  We had a great time reflecting with each child as they stumbled out of bed and then finally all together before some of them had to go to work.  We prayed again as a family thanking God for His grace in our lives and how obvious it was that He was in this whole weekend.  It was just an amazing experience.

The reality of doing laundry and cleaning is hard, but it was fully ignored for days. So as I go throughout all the regular stuff today I will be just thanking God for how He filled my gas tank up with all the wonderful conversations, the memories that were created, the prayers that were prayed and the relationships that were made....Life is so full and rich and filled with meaning.  I am so grateful for the celebrations that give us these opportunities to stop and just appreciate one another.  Besides the fact they are so fun for me (that is a big bonus), they are also so meaningful on so many levels.  I don't know if that is possible to appreciate without a spiritual lens, so I'm grateful for that, too.