“Pure Joy”, “a little slice of heaven”, “a glimpse of what it will be like when there are no more tears and no more sorrow”. These are a few things I heard and absolutely experienced last weekend at my only daughter’s wedding. I have a lot of things I have felt over the past couple of years, but none so poignant as I did this past weekend. As I reflect there are a few important takeaways from this weekend I will try my best to articulate.
Family- “Family, got the keys to the kingdom, Family, take it a la carte, Family, all four seasons, Family, well bless your heart….Family, all in this together, Family, taking a chance, Family, like birds of feather, Family, kick off your shoes and dance”. I hear this song at camp during the summer before every staff meeting over and over and over. I love it! I love my family. I love the Chadwick family. My mom and dad would have loved this past weekend. My mom and dad loved each other, they loved me and my brothers and first and foremost, they loved God. My dad and both of my brothers were not able to attend the wedding due to health reasons and Texas high school football season. The interesting thing about family is it truly is not only the people you are blood related to. I have experienced deep meaningful relationships with people who are not family, but sure do act like they are. They have stepped in when my family could not. My camp family is truly my family. I have so many close relationships with people who have known me since I was only 18 years old. Almost 40 years of shared experiences, some good and some hard. The Torn family has stood in the gap for me in all of my important moments. There is also a special friend, Heather Masterson Devaney. She and I have known each other since we were 3 years old. My mother led her to Jesus in a backyard bible club. She moved away when we were 6 and our paths have crossed several times since then landing us 2 miles a part on a sweet little mountain in east Tennessee, Lookout Mountain. She has loved Andy and Bailey like they were her own. Then there is Sherryl Oellerich, or Mamma O as we all refer to her. She took Andy in when he moved to Chattanooga to attend Baylor and has taken us in ever since. Family, all in this together. Let me just say how wonderful it was as a mother to watch both of my children last weekend. Andy loved his sister so well. I loved walking into my kitchen on Friday night and seeing them, one sitting on the counter and the other standing. They were having one of those brother sister talks. I love knowing that they love each other. Andy toasted his sister in the sweetest way. I loved that toast. Who will the 6th man be…..Lastly, let me reflect on how much I love my husband. He was in my corner throughout this entire process. He is going through some really hard stuff. Really hard for a man and his pride, but the weekend clearly was not about him. It was about his daughter and his wife, his family. Oh how I love him so!
My People- “You gotta find your people, The ones that make you feel alright, The kind you want to stay up with all night, You got to find your people, The ones that make you feel whole, That won't leave your side when you lose control, The ones that don't let you lose your soul…..” My people. My mom used to ed221 tell me that I had the most wonderful friends. I would have to agree. Somehow I learned the secrets to finding the best of friends. If I told you my secret I would have to….well, you know how the saying goes. I have so many wonderful people in my life and would not begin to bore you with all of the details. Lets just say I struck gold in my friendships and I am so very grateful. Authenticity is such an important trait. I really think I learned about authentic friendships and authentic Christianity at Camp Ozark. Its about being real. No pretenses, no trying to prove anything. Just be real. I have found the most wonderful friendships with girls and guys less than half my age. My church family is amazing. When we found Rock Creek, we truly felt like we were home. We have done a lot of life together with our children these past 10 years. Our people showed up last weekend. They came from down the street and all over the country. They drove around town passing out welcome bags. They wrapped 300 forks with napkins and greenery. They picked up supplies and stood by my side for dinners, day of preparations, literally being there present and loving me and my family. Oh how sweet it was to celebrate last weekend with our people. I mean they showed up and because they are all so wonderful, we had the time of our lives. We danced and laughed and they loved me so big, I could hardly contain myself. It was pure joy!
Prayer- I believe in prayer. I believe it fulfils an important purpose in our lives. I mean, Jesus thought it was important, and I do too. My family and my friends believe in prayer too. I felt so covered up by prayer last week. My eye, that spasms hundreds of times a day, every day, did not spasm all weekend. How???? Prayer. I had no insecurities about the event, myself, the people around me. I was in the moment fully not thinking about myself, but able to take it all in so fully because I was being prayed for. I felt the love of my family and friends in ways that were unbelievable. I thought I would be a mess. I was not a mess at all. I was loved and loved so well, no mess could touch me.
Gratitude- I have never been more thankful for anything like I have been for the people who were present, either physically or prayerfully or even just by the way they were loving Bailey. I am bursting with gratefulness. I know this must be a slice of what heaven feels like. If I wanted to, I could go right back to worrying about Wades job or finances. But why, and how can I after seeing God at work this past weekend. He loves me so much that even my only daughters wedding mattered. What matters to us, matters to God.
How great this love
Oh, it's moving all my mountains
It's perfect love
It's casting out my fear
How great this love
Oh, it welcomes me like family
And anywhere I go
It meets me there
Cause He is good, and He is God
What I earned, it's not what I got
And He is just yet also kind
What I deserve, it's not what I find
What more could I say about Him?
My God is love
How great this love
Oh, it's faithful through my failures
It's trusting love
It's with me til the end
How great this love
Oh, it's closer than a brother
This is love
He died so I could live
This is enough to know, my God is love
I know my God is love
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