March 7 – “Three funerals and a wedding”

Three funerals and a wedding.  Sounds like a movie title.  In less than a week.  That would be taxing on anyone, I guess.  Today we are focusing on paying tribute to our dear friend Scott up in Houston.  Yesterday we did the wedding and made the trek to Highlands to visit with Christi and her family.    The wedding was kind of fun.  We hadn't heard, but there was kind of a 50's theme attached to it.  The bridesmaids were wearing what looked like those poodle skirts from back then.  None of them had pictures of dogs or anything, but the skirts pooched out and they had those little sweaters that were short sleeved and only barely fit over their shoulders.  Chris noticed that the Mothers of the bride and groom were wearing dresses that looked like something Jackie Kennedy would wear.  I'm not sure what makes something fit into that category.  The groomsmen had simple black suits on.  Nathan was one of the groomsmen, and he told us that it was ten dollars cheaper to buy the suit than it was to rent it.  That's why Chris had the honor of hemming the pants the night before.  The groom's Dad and Grandfather shared the honors of doing the ceremony.   Both are pastors.  It seemed like they were both kind of emotional about the event.  I know from experience that it is really special to be in that position.   The reception was not at the little church.  We had to go to a park a few blocks away.  So everything was set up outdoors for a "meet and greet" with the bride and groom.  We did go over for a few minutes, so we got to see the cake and sample the white grape juice mixed with ginger ale punch.  We snuggled with Cailyn for awhile, and then eased our way to the car for part two of the journey.   From there we drove out to Highlands.  It's a community near Crosby, where Christi's grandfather lived.  We had no trouble finding the funeral home, and ended up parking right next to Josh and Christi's minivan.  Just as we signed in Christi walked up and told us Josh and the boys were back in the kitchen.  So we made our way through the maze of people and corridors.  When we walked in Caleb was the first to see us.  It took a moment or two for it to register in his mind exactly who we were, but when it clicked, he stood up in his chair and squealed.  It's great to be recognized, especially by the little ones.  We did pay our respects to the family, but ended up spending most of our time with the boys.  I was able to work in some wrestling time with Caleb and some serious Batman comics reading with Zak.  We even joined them for a quick trip to McDonald's to eat burgers from Whataburger before we left for Galveston.  Hey, McDonalds had a playground.  And we did get the boys food there.  The rest of us just couldn't bring ourselves to stomach their Mcfood, though.    Isaiah 49:13 says, "Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!  For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."   Father, these two families have one more big hurdle to get over today.  Walk with them through the funerals.  And grant your blessings on the new family that began.  Amen.