This morning, my sweetheart and Dixie headed up to our little slice of heaven without me. I’m still battling with getting better from whatever I’ve had, and tromping around in the country didn’t seem like a good idea. Unfortunately, living with CLL is sometimes no fun. But we didn’t want to miss out on Beauty Berry picking, just because I couldn’t go. And Paul was on another mission equally, if not more, as important.
At the end of November, Thanksgiving weekend, to be precise, my daughter and her Sam are going to publicly declare what they privately committed to the same time last year. On their one-year anniversary, we are going to have a wedding! Maybe more like a reception…somewhere in between. But it’s going to be a CELEBRATION! She asked Paul if he could make her a cake stand in his classic Stump to Finish fashion. He knew immediately the “cookie” he would use. He had already cut two rounds of Sugar Berry, complete with it’s amazing spalting. All he needed was the right pedestal. Thus his hunt today is for just the right piece of wood to partner with the other. Hmmm. Isn’t that a picture?!
As I sit here looking at the intricate grain pattern traveling throughout this slice of wood, I can’t help but think about the journey that brought these two together and the intricate way God weaves His plan throughout our lives.
I had only been out of the hospital for a couple months when Bethany met Sam for the first time. Compared to other guys she had seen, this Sam wanted to talk to her mama and assure her of his good intentions. He had a voice as deep as the ocean, a heart as big as Texas…even though he lived in Oklahoma! (a mama can’t have everything!)…he liked to cook, and he knew how to fix stuff! Bethany…I like this one!
Time passed, others came and went, but Sam was always there being a friend…and sending songs. It became a “thing.” He would send her one. She would send him another. I told my girl that as a mama I prayed for one thing…that my children would know the kind of sacrificial, reciprocal, unconditional love that Paul and I have. All I wanted was to see her truly happy and completely loved before I left this earth. Then came another song…”Mama He’s Crazy.” I knew he was the one. Team Sam! Now what about them?!
Fast forward a few months later and she is going to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving! The kids were at their dad’s, and she had a few days to herself. (Now, I know this now…but did they call us? No!) Those two crazy kids weighed all the options and decided, “What the heck?!” Life’s short. Let’s do this! So off to the justice of the peace they went! Hand in hand. Heart to heart. Starting a new life together.
So yes, the Lord has answered my prayers. She is truly happy and completely loved. And while I didn’t get to see the first ceremony, I have watched them live and merge their families together. And in another couple months, I will get to watch them renew their vows, celebrate this love that continues to grow, this new family that God brought together for His glory and their good. And my sweetheart will cut, sand, and finish these two different pieces of wood and then join them together as one. What a perfect picture of my Bethany & Sam as they have been prepared, sometimes harshly, over the years, to be joined and are now becoming a productive, beautiful work of art.
And I got to watch.
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