Important Life Lessons Your Sons and Daughters Need to Know Before They Head Off to College
Tomorrow, I’ll help my second son load his belongings into the car and drive him north to college. The summer has been a blur of wedding prep and wedding festivities, potentially overshadowing this milestone in his life. During the past two weeks, we've had quite a...
No More Days of Wedding (Prep): How We Successfully Married Off Our Twenty-Year-Old Son
In which we perspired profusely, shed many tears, ignored Bacchus, and gained a daughter-in-law. Several weeks ago when I first posted on Facebook that my husband and I would be officiating the wedding ceremony for our eldest son, one friend asked, “How are you going...
Four Days of Wedding (Prep): Wasn’t He Born Yesterday?
In which I finish retrospective the slide show of Anthony and Kate's lives. Last year, I nearly lost my son in labor. He got stuck in the birth canal. Three interns and one doctor attached a plunger (OK. Not really.) to his head while the nurse pushed on my...
Five Days Of Wedding (Prep): The Peril of Prayer
In which sleep again evades me because I cannot stop thinking about what’s happening in Liberia. Normally, media scare tactics fail to pull me in. Try as I might, I cannot ignore what’s going on in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Last night, after hearing...
Six Days of Wedding (Prep): Details, Details, Details
In which I aim for good enough rather than perfect. I offer you a confession—I am a recovering perfectionist. As previously mentioned, I spent most of my life believing that in order to be liked and accepted, I had to be perfect. Like any other addiction, if I fail to...
Seven Days of Wedding (Prep): Hospitality
In which I plan the menu and shop for my largest dinner party ever. As the cashier was sliding my items across her scanner, I knew this was going to be my highest grocery store purchase ever. I even wondered if Mastercard would deny the sale—or at least call my...
Eight Days of Wedding (Prep): Using Gratitude as a Weapon
Anthony and Kate in Liberia last year. Photo courtesy of AJ Beephan In which I feel the familiar fear for my children's welfare creeping in but choose to fight back with gratitude. As each year passes, I become increasingly aware of the fragility of life. We’ve lost...
Nine Days of Wedding (Prep): Writing the Most Important Sermon of My Life
In which I finish writing the most important talk I've ever given. How do I summarize twenty-three years of marriage in ten minutes or less? How can I accurately and soberly prepare my son and future daughter-in-law—without scaring them off? How can I communicate that...
Ten Days of Wedding (Prep): The Hair
In which I cannot fall asleep the previous night because my legs are throbbing from the extended hours spent trying to whip the house, yard, and garden into shape. To pass the hours, I watch multiple YouTube videos on how to do a French twist. My preference would be...
Eleven Days of Wedding (Prep)
In which I face the all too familiar conflict between environmental stewardship and the need to remain within a budget. According to Green Bride Guide, a typical American wedding generates 400-600 pounds of waste. This includes everything from invitations, to single...