This past weekend I attended my youngest sister Lauren’s wedding. It promised to be an incredible event and we were not disappointed. While the snow did impact the day it certainly did not ruin it. There were still hundreds of us able to witness Lauren and Jeremy vow to one another their commitment to God and to each other.
I remember vividly when Lauren was born. I was 17 and working a part-time job when I got a phone call that my parents needed me to bring home the family car so they could go to the hospital. “It was time”. I drove like the crazy fathers they depict on TV—a total bundle of nerves. The idea of having a baby in the house was not foreign to us. Three years earlier my sister Valerie had joined our family (I was then 14 and my sister Sharon 12).
I didn’t get to spend as much time with Lauren as Val because I went off to college when Lauren was just 9 months old. Of course I was home a lot but it wasn’t the same as living there. I will note that I have logged hundreds of hours of babysitting in my lifetime. Perhaps that’s why I never had children!
Lauren was the flower girl in my wedding when she was 8 years old. When I watched her as she got married I had flashbacks of when she was just a little girl. I could not dwell on those thoughts long or else I was going to lose it.
Lauren got all of the artistic ability that I lack plus a huge measure. I tell people that I’m the accounting-type and she was an art major in college. When I am struggling with a situation I just mention it to her and she comes back instantly with an “out of the box” solution that would never have occurred to me. We laugh about it because I am amazed at the idea and she’s amazed that I’m amazed!
Lauren’s teenage years held much of the typical rebellion and challenges but during her early years of college she put her faith in Jesus Christ and found her way. Since that time we have had some treasured conversations about faith, life, and family with some silliness mixed in. I am so proud of the beautiful young woman that she has become.
The week before the wedding I cried all the way to work one day just thinking of the transition to this new phase of Lauren’s life. These were not sad tears because I am very excited that she is so happy. Some of the tears were selfish because I know that nothing will ever be like it used to be—nor should it be. My logical mind knows that this new phase is what God planned for Lauren from the beginning.
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Genesis 2:18-24 (NIV) Emphasis Mine
And I’m looking forward to see what He has next!