A few years ago I found myself unexpectedly without any ducks to line up. My job was gone, and a new journey seemed in order. I'm just entering (having finished the schooling) a new career as a nurse, and I’m dreaming about the new journeys that will open to me. A pierced nose, wearing scarves often and still dreaming of traveling the world, writing in European coffee shops, praying in South American ruins, and living somewhere warm enough to wear skirts with flip flops or really cute shoes year round remain high on my list of priorities! These days that warm place I'm dreaming about is Florida... maybe someday I'll escape my cold Canadian home for warmer climes!
This week I'm so in need of this reminder and this challenge from The Message:
Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Last Saturday my middle brother, J, married R, in a ceremony and reception perfectly suited to their personalities as individuals and as a couple.
True to form, they were surrounded by friends (6 attendants a side), loads of family and well-wishers, and one "flower boy".
You see, J quite seriously felt that he should be able to get married while wearing a panda costume. His sense of humor is like that. The need to interject a great deal of laughter into every situation is just who he has always been. When R informed him that a panda suit was not acceptable, he proposed the compromise of a flower boy. Lest you conjure an image of a small boy throwing rose petals, let me assure you that was what J had in mind was for our 23 year old cousin, M, complete with a mustache, tiara and flower adorned suspenders to fulfill the role.
And fill it he did! He entered the church to the song from The Lion King that starts the video below, and "delicately" threw rose petals down the aisle as he made his way into the church amidst much laughter. It was easily my favorite part of the day, simply for the way the laughter and the crazyness of the moment so perfectly reflected the qualities that come to mind when I think of J and R.
They topped their day off with an awesome reception, fun speeches (including a laughter filled one from our baby brother T, who served as best man), and a dance that kicked off with a live band, led by T. Around 10 pm, as they danced the night away, they arranged for a huge delivery of pizza, to curb the late night hunger caused by hours of dancing. The party wound down in the wee hours of the morning, when we finally turned the music off to finish the clean-up for the evening.
Other highlights for me included the chance to participate in their ceremony by reading scripture, watching J's face as he caught sight of R entering the church, the looks on my mom's face as she watched her son get married, and the moment during the ceremony, which my dad was officiating, in which dad choked up and spoke through tears as he described both the blessings and challenges of marriage. Knowing the many things my parents have walked through together in the last 33 years, that moment is especially poignant.
All in all it was a fun way to celebrate a marriage, and I wanted to take the time to tell you about it here. You can find an awesome preview from the professional photographers, Scott and Jaime Gage )who are both extremely talented photographers as well as dear friends of J & R) here.
I also wanted to share a few of the photos I took, but blogger seems to be temperamental today, so I'll have to share those with you some time next week! Make sure to check, since I definitely have some fun shots of most of my favorite moments, including the flower "man" as he preferred to be called!
