Wedding

Last week on Sunday I was invited to Odanah to the engagement party of my dear friend Rachel to her beloved Lowell. They will be married on Sunday.

I was so tickled and honoured to be there to witness this blessed occasion that my feet haven't touched the floor all week yet. I've actually been wearing blue all week to commemorate and to celebrate their wedding. Usually after a trip I come home with a big hangover, but not so this time, I'm actually refreshed and up-lifted. I also saw many sweet people that I haven't seen for way too long.

Just feeling the thrill of it made me consider that we have all been invited to a very important event in the history of the world. God has called each one of us to attend His wedding to His bride the church. He longs for her as much as any lover does his loved one, and has asked everyone to come. That should make me feel awed too, and inspired to get the invitation out if anything should. I have accepted the invitation and committed myself in baptism to be there. I have been fitted in His righteousness, the wedding dress I plan to wear, because that's the only spotless one I can find. Hence, my daily struggle to be dead to sin, and not let the members of my body be used to serve the devil and his kingdom.

I was also struck again by how much our marriage relationship reflects the relationship of God and his church. I know from my own marriage how Rodney at times has looked at me with pity, mercy and great great love, and that is how God looks at his church and has provided her with salvation. I have had to look to Rodney for help, wisdom, and strength, and yes, even salvation when things have gotten tough, and that is how a church turns to God sincerely in prayer.

I know from having had a few breakdowns how Rodney helped to keep me whole, and saved me from falling to peaces. He never mocked me or shamed or insulted me, he just served me tenderly as if I was the queen of Sheba. Today I can walk with confidence, intact, with my head up because of this great love. He was the example of God's love for us. This kind of love is not just for some of us, it is for all of us. Whenever we feel lonely, rejected, or lost, He is just waiting to bless us, to hold us, and to see to all our needs. He knows what they are far better than we do ourselves. This is a great gift of love that we have been given; not to be taken lightly, it flows from Him through us and ever outward to touch lives and change hearts.


I painted this just before Judas was born in June 02. Rodney and I saw a beautiful sunset between the trees and rushed out in the wind to get a better view. Standing there is it's splendor we talked about how our life will never be the same again and that the beautiful honeymoon years were over. Like the sunset, that day really was the end of something beautiful and the start of a new special day or chapter in our life together. We were about to become parents and much happened in the following years to give us a stronger and more meaningful relationship.

Relationships

"Mom, can I keep these in the fridge until summer?" Judas calls from the hallway after slamming the door.

He has produced a sandbox pail of warms. "No Honey, they are going to crawl into our milk and our bread and...well, just kidding, but they might not like being cold, and they'll die before summer comes."

"OK," He answers, and that's the last I hear of the worms until it is discovered that they have spent a number of nights sleeping with him under his bed.

There is a wonderful book I'd like to recommend to all mothers, Worms in my tea. I'll post it as soon as I can find out who wrote it, but I have since passed it on to a few other moms who have busted their sides rolling with laughter. It's about the daily grind of being a mother, very funny!

My sister was just here for almost a week during the time Waylon from Neuhof got his wish to go home to be with the Lord. For those of you who don't know about Waylon, he had a two year struggle with cancer and nobody wanted to trade places with him when the time came to remove one of his legs, but later everyone wanted to be in his shoe when he told everyone "I'm going home." He just lifted up his arms and left. He had said that he doesn't want to have anything more to do with the things in this world. So we were discussing this balance between us living here and having to keep things clean and nice and not letting everything get into a sloppy mess. We were wondering where we cross the line, when do we simply have too much earthly preoccupation? The things Waylon had admonished us about were forgiveness, bitterness, grudges and more relationship based ideas.

So that may just be the line we are not to cross. We should have a look at ourselves and ask if our priority is our earthly work instead of our relationships? Is my house cleaner than my kids conscience? Does raking my lawn come before fixing that little trust issue with my sister? Am I too busy to talk with someone who really needs an ear? Have I got an extra minute to be polite? Is my dress more beautiful than my spirit? Do we come to an agreement if my brother thinks something should be done this way and I think it should be done that way?

Living together in community is not easy at all, maybe we should feel privileged to be on the colony with the people we live with. To be able to touch each other in such a unique way, bringing joy to the children, support to the strong, help to the weak, company to the old, and a light to our youth. Holding these up as our ideal and striving toward it with our ever failing humanity sure helps.

Relationships are also our best indication of how much we love God. He said that whoever says he loves Me, but hates his brother, is a lier. So in effect, we only love God as much as the person we love the least.