Josh and I (Jessica) just got back from one of the most delightful weekends of our year so far. The occasion for our travel this time, was the wedding of Peter Bradrick and Kelly Brown - a truly joyous and beautiful event.
We flew down on Thursday morning - well, we tried to fly down on Thursday morning, but we ended up instead with the opoprtunity to observe how travelers respond to being stranded/delayed in O'Hare airport for several hours due to inclement weather. But by evening, we did finally make it to North Carolina.
All day Friday and through much of Saturday, we enjoyed helping with clean-up, set-up, decorating, meal preparation, flower arranging, lawn work, and anything else that needed to be done before the wedding and reception. They kept us busy, but it is truly delightful to work with and for people that we love and enjoy. As an added blessing, we also got to meet new friends, and reacquaint ourselves with others that we haven't seen in years!
As the hour for the wedding drew near, those of us left at the reception site (aka the Brown's Farm) hurried around trying to get all the last minute details in place before we left for the ceremony.
The wedding itself has been well documented elsewhere (check here and here), but what a joy it was to witness the ceremony that united in marriage two people so entirely devoted to each other and to the glory of God, and to see the love and support poured on them by their families and by friends from across America.
The celebration continued the next day as many of the 700 guests remained in town and attended church together on Sunday - and then stayed and visited through the afternoon and evening hours and into the night. Many varied conversations (from theological controversies to favorite family recipes), and much rejoicing, laughter, singing, prayer, ah yes, and the tears of parting with those you love, filled the weekend, and our hearts, as we celebrated this wonderful occasion with the Bradrick and Brown families and friends.
Monday found us all moving a little more slowly, and in the early afternoon hours, Josh and I said our goodbyes and headed to the airport - where we had the opportunity to observe how travelers respond to being stranded/delayed in the Raleigh/Durham airport for several hours due to inclement weather in Chicago. By late evening, we did make it home, where Mom and Joanna had a lovely hot dinner prepared for us and where we stayed up late retelling stories and conversations from the weekend.
Looking ahead, we have longtime friend, Justin Kelly, here for a visit this weekend. Tomorrow a number of the men from our church will be getting together for a "serious" game of softball followed by a BBQ. I'm personally delighted that Nathan, Jeanine, Jeremy, and Sara, and their children, will all be in town this weekend and so am I! Can't wait to catch up with them again! (It will be the first time in over 2 months that we're all together.) The rest of September looks to be fairly slow and easy going - at least, compared to the last several months, that is! No major events or traveling on the calendar for us at this point.
Changing the topic entirely, as I started this post I was informed of the sad demise of our old frog, Bert, as he was found in his aquarium this morning looking, uh, very dead. However, he now seems to have revived - apparently having suffered a stroke, as one leg appears paralyzed. He was only supposed to live 1 year, and he was 2 years old when we got him... about 7 years ago. Apparently, if you don't overfeed him, he lives longer. He's escaped from his little home 3 times now, once bouncing around our house for over three days before we finally found him under the dining room table... and he lives on looking ahead to more adventures, no doubt!
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