There are things in life that generally require, or strongly recommend, other peoples' involvement, whether it be for celebrating, remembering, or helping. But then a pandemic strikes and officials take precautions, severely limiting how we can celebrate or remember. Some guidelines seem valid, while others seem to miss important details and do more harm than good.
We've recently witnessed parents having to miss their daughter's wedding. She was a beautiful bride with a gorgeous, elegant, modest wedding gown. I was struck by the beauty of it hanging in her soon to be mother-in-law's upstairs foyer the day before the ceremony. The pure white color and style of the gown communicated a lot about the bride and her choices leading up to this momentous day in her life.
The wedding was supposed to be overseas, yet due to travel difficulties, all of the plans she'd made were changed. Not only was there not a college graduation ceremony for her family to attend here in the States, her wedding occurred here instead of in her home country, without anyone in her family attending. What should have been one of the biggest events for her parents, relegated them to a live stream participation.
As with many things where God is present though, there was a lovely take-away from the situation. This young couple's commitment to honor God in relation to the marriage covenant didn't need verbalizing. Circumstances changed everything, and the reality of being ready to marry took precedence over their secondary desires. It has served as a reminder to me that there are hard choices to make when you follow God; hard on one hand... but easy on another. As a follower of God, what we're to do isn't difficult to figure out. The obeying can still be tough, but when it is the Lord whom you serve, it is always right to go with God and He will bring blessings in His way and time. This situation has really helped us keep everything with this pandemic in perspective.
Contrasting the joy and sorrow of a wedding that happened very differently than planned, like many others in this nation, we have lost a loved one during the pandemic quarantine period. This past Friday, May 8th, we said goodbye, from afar, to one of our kids' grandfathers. Tom was a part of our family for nearly 20 years. I met him in my mother-in-law's kitchen and he quickly gave the impression of being a nice man that was easy to be around. His warm hugs and gentle demeanor were a blessing. He named our groundhog at Massanutten, and we can't go there without thinking about him and recalling some funny times. He loved animals and the simple things in life...the shore, crabs, time with friends, humor...I never stressed about making food for him, which is rare for me. He wasn't a hard person to please and he wasn't one to sit around complaining or gossiping. He was encouraging and put people at ease.
We couldn't visit Tom during the last two months of his life due to COVID-19 restrictions, and sadly the last time we did visit he may not have remembered. Now there is a funeral of sorts, a 'window visitation', and that is all the closure we'll get to have. How quickly life comes to an end, and not being able to remember together and honor the memory of one so loved is difficult.
I'm very sad to have not gotten to talk to one last time before the surgery that led to all of this.
We will miss you, Tom. And we love you.
We've recently witnessed parents having to miss their daughter's wedding. She was a beautiful bride with a gorgeous, elegant, modest wedding gown. I was struck by the beauty of it hanging in her soon to be mother-in-law's upstairs foyer the day before the ceremony. The pure white color and style of the gown communicated a lot about the bride and her choices leading up to this momentous day in her life.
The wedding was supposed to be overseas, yet due to travel difficulties, all of the plans she'd made were changed. Not only was there not a college graduation ceremony for her family to attend here in the States, her wedding occurred here instead of in her home country, without anyone in her family attending. What should have been one of the biggest events for her parents, relegated them to a live stream participation.
As with many things where God is present though, there was a lovely take-away from the situation. This young couple's commitment to honor God in relation to the marriage covenant didn't need verbalizing. Circumstances changed everything, and the reality of being ready to marry took precedence over their secondary desires. It has served as a reminder to me that there are hard choices to make when you follow God; hard on one hand... but easy on another. As a follower of God, what we're to do isn't difficult to figure out. The obeying can still be tough, but when it is the Lord whom you serve, it is always right to go with God and He will bring blessings in His way and time. This situation has really helped us keep everything with this pandemic in perspective.
Contrasting the joy and sorrow of a wedding that happened very differently than planned, like many others in this nation, we have lost a loved one during the pandemic quarantine period. This past Friday, May 8th, we said goodbye, from afar, to one of our kids' grandfathers. Tom was a part of our family for nearly 20 years. I met him in my mother-in-law's kitchen and he quickly gave the impression of being a nice man that was easy to be around. His warm hugs and gentle demeanor were a blessing. He named our groundhog at Massanutten, and we can't go there without thinking about him and recalling some funny times. He loved animals and the simple things in life...the shore, crabs, time with friends, humor...I never stressed about making food for him, which is rare for me. He wasn't a hard person to please and he wasn't one to sit around complaining or gossiping. He was encouraging and put people at ease.
We couldn't visit Tom during the last two months of his life due to COVID-19 restrictions, and sadly the last time we did visit he may not have remembered. Now there is a funeral of sorts, a 'window visitation', and that is all the closure we'll get to have. How quickly life comes to an end, and not being able to remember together and honor the memory of one so loved is difficult.
I'm very sad to have not gotten to talk to one last time before the surgery that led to all of this.
We will miss you, Tom. And we love you.
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