7/31/11

Dear Max & Lilly,


Yesterday broke sunny and warm just as it did 34 years ago on July 30.  I remember it clearly, for that's the day Grandma and Grandpa Grover got married.  Even though I wore long sleeved AND polyester the dress was beautiful and the groom handsome as ever. Young love.

The wedding was in a small baptist church decorated with red pew benches light blue walls and a combination red and blue carpet.  Great Grandparent's Lloyd & Thelma threw a poolside lawn reception for family and friends.  Trendsetters.

A few high school friends, almost all the relatives, church family, and a ton of college friends came to enjoy the day.  Quite an eclectic group, to say the least.  Michiana.

Your great grandpa Lloyd sang, "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler On The Roof.  The congregation sang, "Great Is Thy Faithfullness" and we promised to love, honor, cherish and OBEY. Vows.

I know by the time you read this, we'll have already told you stories about this day as well as, August, 18, & 20 from '06 & '07, and it may be that you won't even care about the details until way down the road when you're thinking about your own wedding.  Sunrise, sunset.

But I just wanted to let you know that we've made it 34 years with the wedding vows, but we kinda fell in love all over again when you two came into our lives.  Milestones.
PS.  Max, here's a picture you can use if your bride wants to put up some generational photos, and Lilly, the dress is in the cedar closet at 5435.  Circle of life.

I love you both and I'm praying for your young lives,
Grandma Juls

7/15/11

There Will Come A Day

In my dreams, I’m always getting ready for something.  I’m either preparing to go somewhere or getting ready to come home from somewhere.

When it’s the night before I am shooting a wedding, the dreaming is almost ridiculous.  I’m forever plugging in and unplugging camera batteries, downloading, uploading, and deleting.

I gave in and joined ‘The Knot’ for my photography business and now I dream about e-mailing, phone calls, stamping postcards and label making.  Seriously, I dreamt about mail merge the other night?

Our big project around here this summer has been filling in the ‘ole swimmin’ hole.  One night, I was dreaming of tearing apart a swimming pool by hand, only to have the pool reappear by morning, looking more peaceful and calm than in it’s 1990’s glory days.

Someone’s coming over?  I dream about cooking and cleaning.  What a nightmare that is for me.

In my dreams, I’m always preparing. Getting ready.

We spend our days getting ready, no?  We prepare for work presentations. We get ready to go to school. We fix food at the holidays or when entertaining. We get a tan just to go on vacation. We get ready to party and/or attend church.  Some of us don’t even run errands without putting on make-up. Me included.

Jesus is even preparing. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? John 14:2

What are we doing to prepare for the after life?  The scripture likens believers to a bride and Jesus is the bridegroom.  Think of all the preparations that go into the planning for our earthly weddings. And yet, the heavenly Bridegroom waits for us to start preparing to meet Him.

This afternoon, you could be hit by a bus, while crossing the street. There could be a blood clot on its way to your brain, as we speak.  Or you could live to be 100; nevertheless, all of this will end at one point.

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Romans 14:11   I don’t know what else this could mean besides the fact that, there will come a day.

All the preparations for EVERYTHING will, one day come screeching to a halt.  There will be no more time to prepare.  His kingdom will come to earth and then, only what we’ve done for Christ will matter.
On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Matthew 7: 22-24

“I never knew you,” means He did not have a relationship with us.  We may have said a prayer when we were 6, we may have been sprinkled with holy water as a baby, or fully immersed in water baptism as an adult, we may have been confirmed or bar mitsvahed at 12, we may have gone to sunday school, church camp, youth group, and bible studies our whole lives and still never really “known” Christ.

Almost all wedding ceremony lingo includes, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let’s get ready for the great wedding feast.    Let’s prepare our hearts to meet and know the one true living God.  Let’s work on a radical and vibrant relationship with the son, Jesus. Let’s be open and filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
People get ready.

7/9/11

Summer Slideshow

Ok, not sure my Smile box, scrapbooky, watermelon eating slideshow really showed off my summer iPhone pics and was definitely not in keeping with my new motto: "less is more."  PLUS, blogger and me are just getting to know each other again and I fear it will be a long time until we're best friends. So summer slideshow post is now updated.