So, if you really want to know what I have been doing lately, it’s been some of this:

 

It goes without saying there is not a day that goes by that wedding plans are not discussed. There’s a lot of thought, & preparation, & planning, & sometimes tension. Because ya’ll it’s hard to decide if you want navy napkins with foil coral writing or coral napkins with matte navy writing & there are so many cute sayings they put on them now-a-days. Back in my day, when they used to sell a pair of curtains in the pack, you didn’t have to worry too much about things like that. But that was a gazillion years ago. Now that my little ones are tying the knot, it’s A LOT of planning & stress, I tell you. A LOT. It’s just that you have things thrown at you, that you just aren’t accustom to answering, like how much lace & burlap can you glue on a mason jar without it looking purely like our grandkids did them & what trim should you have the invitations in? Square, rounded, squiggly, the corners cut out, & other shapes that I have never really considered before. (By the way, the last 2 of those trims may or may not be actual descriptions. But you get the picture.) And DON’t get me started about fonts. Goodness gracious. Decisions YA’LL.

We do get to have a lot of fun conversations, while pouring over what size buckets we should put baby’s breath in. Some are about how much a responsibility it is to be married. You are basically becoming someone else’s caretaker. Because you know: MEN. And too, how you are in charge of feeding your family meals, washing the clothes & the dishes (even when you just don’t want to) & how they do get sick & it’s pretty much a guarantee they consider themselves much worse off than anybody in the ICU part of the local hospital. Then, how unselfish you have to become because real love has to do with sacrifice. You have to have a heart of a servant. And if all that’s not trying enough, you sprinkle some kids in the mix & wa-lah! You are full on loaded down with commitments & what have you. At some point she jokingly wanted to know was I trying to talk her out of all this?? Never would I. But ya’ll marriage is serious & evidently many don’t take it that way. Because hello, TRUE LOVE, ya’ll. Some of the stuff that goes with it like starry eyedness & ooey gooeyness, just doesn’t always last as long as it should. I just want some reality to be spoken. Sorry, I just don’t want her to be in total shock the 57.379^th time she has to remind her sweet husband to put his socks in the dirty clothes, that no matter how much you want to hurt him in a real bad way, you have to pick your battles. This will be a good time for her to practice up on her favorite songs from the song book at church. Because she will be needing to sing a few verses of Amazing Grace, to herself once her patience starts to run out.

The apostle Paul talks about what true love is in I Corinthians 13:4-7

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

That’s a lot of stuff! If we are going to love another, as the Lord wants us to, we have to be patient, kind, & put their best interests first. Our needs become less of an importance to us & theirs become more to us. We shouldn’t be jealous & want what others have. And we cannot be full or ourselves. That will never work. It may all seem like it’s too much, but it’s all a work in process, ya know? I know my daughter & her soon to be husband will be happy as larks, once all this wedding stuff is over. Just pray for them & their new life together. You can never get too much prayer.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. It’s been a beautiful Mississippi day. Why, it was 63 degrees this morning, as I drove in to work. I talked to someone this morning, in Houston, Texas. They said before 10am, it was already 90 degrees. Sorry, Houston. Maybe cooler weather is coming your way. Sounds like fall could be right around the corner for us! Until the leaves turn brown & the smell of cinnamon & apples is coming from my kitchen, again, I have be going because I should be washing clothes.