more Wedding Reflections

The rehearsal dinner was at the Flying W.  When we arrived, the food had been out out buffet style and people were eating at picnic tables outside.  It was pretty informal and enjoyable.  Eventually everyone did introduce themselves and Hannah and the best man gave speeches.  Hannah told funny stories about how she mistreated Leah all her life and then said she looks up to,Leah because of the awesome choices she makes including choosing David.

The rest of the evening was spent talking with David's family and getting to know them better and reminiscing with the kids and Anna.  I am failing at putting into words how enjoyable it was to socialize with all of Leah and David's friends and family.  Most of the kids got into he hot tub.  Maggie and her new husband played some music.  

I loved spending precious time with the kids.  They are so witty and fun and just good people.  

Sunday morning we got up and had a leisurely breakfast and got showered and went to Camp Wood to set up for the reception.  Camp Wood is a YMCA camp and was an amazing facility for the reception.  There was so much to do but everyone pitched in.

Leah handmade such careful plans and everything was so beautiful! 

We then went back to Flying W to get changed for the wedding and the girls took special care helping Leah get ready.

One special memory is when everyone was ready, we went over to the other cabin where David had gotten ready and he was on the side porch having his picture taken.  Scott and I were with Leah and no one else was there.  I loved the look on David's face when he saw his bride.  One thing the wedding weekend solidified for me, is how special of a relationship Leah and David have.  They have a special friendship and love.  Some of the photos capture that well.

Post Wedding Reflections

Today instead of going to JC's wedding in Colorado(I'm still exhausted), I went to Newton to help Leah in her classroom.  Here is my beautiful girl in her adorable kitchen in her grown up house.

Here is her elementary classroom.

And here is some of the mess we made trying to clean and organize her middle school classroom.

She filled two large trash cans and made a giant give away pile.  I guess she went through about a third of what is there.  So wild to think she's going to be a teacher!  

On the way down, I had a chance to process some of the intense feelings I experienced the weekend of the wedding and since.  All weekend I literally had a huge lump in my throat as if I needed a big ugly cry and then tears would come to the backs of my eyes frequently.  Scott said he understood as it is such a huge life event but I didn't really understand.  Today I figured out that I feel intense joy and gratitude.  

So Saturday morning I got up at David's grandparent's house and Terri was getting ready and busy and Greg had left to go work more at the wedding site.  So I ate the chocolate croissant that Terri's cousin brought over on the front patio and shared it with a neighborhood cat.  Then I went for a walk on the cool trails in the housing area that I had never been on before.  It was amazing.  Then I showered and got ready.

I ran to Mojos to pick up the salad for the brunch and on the way to get gas, I saw a pretty girl walking.  Then it hit me that it was Hannah!  How strange to see her there in Newton!  

The girls all came over mid morning for a beautiful brunch that Terri had planned, a retro garden theme with quiche, fancy bread, salad and fruit.  The cool thing was, that I got to help with it and served the girls.  Poor Terri's brain was going a million different directions with all they were still doing for the wedding.  I loved helping with the brunch.  Terri had gardening gloves, retro aprons including one Leah had registered for, retro glasses, and tablemats the girls colored on with crayons.  It was lovely and special.

We then went to the house and packed up the rented SUV's and all the cars with wedding and reception stuff, suitcases and the wedding party, and made a long caravan about 45 minutes to the Flying W Ranch.

What an amazing place!  Three cabins including a large one that sleeps tons of people.  It was rustic and decorated with cowboy stuff and deer heads and stuff.  It had wrap around porches with big rocking chairs and a giant hot tub.  More about Flying W later.

Then we all loaded up and went out to the land.  I guess Scott and I also checked in to our hotel, The Grand Central in Cottonwood Falls about 15 minutes away.

At the land, the girls picked flowers for the wedding walking all around the prairie.  

The rehearsal was pretty straight forward, although later I didn't remember anything I was supposed to do!  I liked the officiant, Ruth Harder, a lot.  Leah had already told us that we were both walking her down the aisle and giving her a blessing.  

Leah had also told Joel that he was ushering and standing up with her.  He found out he was also going to take the microphone back and forth a bunch of times.

It really still hadn't all sunk in that this was really happening.  I think I felt numb.  I just enjoyed the family time.

The Wedding

I will post separately about my thoughts and feelings once I finally process them.  But here are a few photos and a copy of the reflection given by Reverend Harder.

I had the privilege of officiating at the August 3 wedding of David and Leah Gaeddert. The wedding was held in the Flint Hills near Elmdale, KS.

There we were in the GREAT company of grasshoppers, bumblebees, prairie grasses, limestone, and mosquitoes. There we were under the open sky, gazing out into the open horizon. (It must have been in the Flint Hills where someone came up with the KS motto: As big as you think.) And there we were, an amazing assortment of people, from a variety of places, ready to offer support.

While I’ve attended many outdoor weddings, I’ve never officiated at one. This means I had to think through what bug spray to wear, what dress to wear that wouldn’t blow every which way, and how to assemble my notes in such a way that they would be protected from sudden gusts of wind. And yes, I had to be prepared for what I thought would be THE WORST scenario: A bumblebee would land on me and make this pastor go screaming and running for (away from?) the hills. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

I received permission from David and Leah to post my wedding reflection. As you’ll notice, I am no stranger to the Flint Hills. In fact, I keep hoping to offer a Flint Hills hike some Sunday afternoon for those interested at Rainbow. It would be about a two hour drive, but look where we would end up! Stay tuned for details.

 

Wedding reflection:
David and Leah, here we are your wedding day, a day that you have looked forward to for some time now.

Here we are surrounded by some of your closest friends and family.

Here we are in the glorious Flint Hills of KS, a place that is infused with natural beauty: open sky, open land, unending horizon,….

And here we are to celebrate your beautiful, ever growing, ever deepening love  

And here we are to give thanks to God, the source of all love.

I don’t know if I ever told you this but I have spent a lot of time in these hills. A couple times a month our family would drive 15 miles east of Marion for walks and horse rides. And so as I prepared for this day I thought about what what this place, what these hills might have to teach us about God, relationships, and love.

During hikes in these hills and in order to keep up with my parents, I would often have to look down just to make sure I didn’t fall. And so from an early age I began to notice all of the delicate beautiful flowers and grasses, this understated beauty that you can only see close-up. As I got older I learned that prairie grasses, such as the great Bluestem, have an amazing underground web of roots. These roots sometimes reach 10 feet into the earth. It is this hardy system of roots that allow these grasses to survive in the harshest of conditions, especially drought. The prairie grasses are tougher than most of us realize. They persist year after year after year because of their hardy root system.  

And so what might this place, what might the Bluestem teach us?

I singled out the Bluestem because I think the two of you are keen observers. You seem to value beauty that isn’t just flashy, but beauty that has more substance. You have an appreciation for what is going on beneath the surface. Another reason I thought of prairie grasses is that my prayer for you is that you too will keep developing a hardy, sustainable, nourishing root system as individuals and as a married couple. I pray that you too will be able to withstand the droughts: the disappointments, the failures, the heartaches. I pray that you too will have roots that will help you weather the extreme conditions of life; roots that will help you grow in healthy ways; roots that will be life-giving providing you the necessary nutrients all year round, so that your relationship will also persist year after year after year.

Fortunately you both have had many people who have nourished your root system. You both have been nurtured in healthy soil with lots of nutrients. Many people have made it possible for you to be standing here today. Many people have taught you about what it means to grow and mature.

Now as a married couple you will begin to tend these roots in your own, creative way. You will find ways to nurture these roots making sure they get the necessary nutrients. You will find a way to surround yourself with friends and community and hopefully these friends or this community will help you to not only tend to the material or obvious things of life, but will help you see what might be below the surface, beyond what we can immediately see or know.

Over the centuries and generations, people have looked in part to Scripture as they develop this hardy root system. This of course is not the only source for developing roots that will last, but it is an important, life-giving dimension for many. And so in closing, I would like to share a passage from from a letter to the Ephesians. I think whoever wrote this must have had plant life around him or her.

I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:16-19

Pre Wedding Fun

I can't believe how calm Leah is being.  

I arrived in Newton yesterday morning after coffee at Terri's with Kathy.  As I talked about the wedding, Kathy teared up.  So many people have loved Leah for so long.  It was awesome to catch up with Anna on the way to Newton.  We ate lunch at MoJos then I spent some time on my own (at the pool) while Leah and Anna had some time.  

Then last night Anna, Leah, and David and I and I went to Chongs.  It is so awesome that Leah still lives in Newton so we can keep the traditions going!  I love this place and these people!

We had fun waiting up for Hannah and Joel to arrive.  We made little peppernut bags then went walking.  They got here at midnight!

This morning after sleeping in basement apartments where Leah used to live, we all met up and went to Mojo's for breakfast!  

Then we made more peppernut bags and Natalie arrived!  

Teri and Greg and Dave are working their hineys off doing various things for the wedding.  And Leah remains calm.  I feel kind of numb and blurry.  

Royal's Baseball

I've been promising Adelle that I'd take her to a Royal's game for at least two years.  Last night, in the midst of the wedding and end of summer craziness, and despite Adelle being out of sorts (aka challenging) lately, we went!  We invited my friend Tanya and her daughter Michela along.  Michela is also on the autism spectrum.  Neither Tanya nor Michela had been to a Royal's game, either!

The trip down was uneventful and the girls did well. We stopped at McDonalds in attempts to fill their tummies with lesser expensive food to keep the costs down.  Then we got to our seats in the K.  The weather was amazing, perfect.  The stadium has added a ton of entertainment throughout the game, lights, loud music and action, interviews, games so that made it fun. And the game itself was pretty action packed with a few awesome catches and controversial plays and one argument.  The Royals were down by 2 to the twins most of the night and then rallied at the end and got one, but not two runs.  

Adelle had an awesome time!  I wish I'd taken a picture of her every time the jumbo tron told us to get loud as she would stand up with her arms over her head and scream as loudly as she could!  Otherwise, she watched every second of the game randomly smiling and read all the stats on the scoreboard.  She was super bummed about not catching one of the shirts they launched and that the Royals lost but this only resulted in quiet pouting most of the way home.  She was begging to go to another game ASAP!

The girls ate a reasonable amount and no one got lost!  The way out of the stadium was expectedly stressful and Michela hit a talking steak just as the traffic was the worst but it was fine.  The long, late ride home actually went fairly quickly as Tanya and I always have plenty of work talking to do!  (Tanya is also a school social worker and we do clinical supervision together).

All in all a very successful night.

Ahhhh Summer

My wonderful summer days are dwindling by.  Today I got up at 8 ish and let the puppies out.  I always start my day with cuddles and scratches with Rex before we get up and now I have added getting Diego out of the kennel.  He is so delighted to see me!  He makes the cutest sound when he yawns and then he nibbles my ear as I carry him outside.  He always so obediently pees when I put him down.  Then I have my coffee and quiet time for over an hour out here on the deck.  It's been unseasonable cool lately, in the sixties!  I know when school starts and I have to cut way back on my morning quiet time I will miss it a lot.

Then I taught water jog.  I do enjoy that class, whether teaching it or taking it.  It's such a great workout and relaxing.  Also great to socialize and to encourage others in their exercise.

Then I spend the afternoon cherishing my free time.  Today I am reading while Rex rests and Diego plays nearby.  Scott is just inside and we chat every hour or so, too.

Today at five I'm picking up my friend who just got a new gym membership and taking her to step class with me!  Then since I ate dinner out last night (burger at Wabash with my friend Sarah), we won't go to Chipotle tonight.  Instead, I'm making ravioli and garlic toast, a carbalicious treat.  

Summer is almost over and it is gonna get wild before school starts!