We Taste the Goodness of an Unexpected Wedding, and More

Common License photo

... memories of people we have  ... shared life with--we taste the goodness of those we now sit with, talk to, and listen to, in priceless moments. (Blog post, July 15, 2011)



On Saturday, July 16, one of the most eventful weeks of my married life began at home, at 5 a.m. I could not dream how truly right the day would be. It began with five a.m. excitement about an upcoming  three hour drive to the Lewes, DE-to-Cape May, NJ Ferry, and hit a big bump about halfway.

"You turned the blanket off, didn't you?" my husband asked. (Please don't ask why I had the blanket on in July.)
"No, I don't think I did." 
"You're kidding, right?"
"No."

Screech, u-turn, and over an hour's fast return to home, with a call to the Lewes-Cape May Ferry office as we sped back."We can fit you in on the 2:30 ferry."
"Will it reach Cape May before 4:30?"
"Yes, barely."

A quick call to daughters to reassure that we would probably be almost in time to change clothes quickly at address we already had set up for GPS directions. They'd asked us to be dressed and ready to go somewhere by 4:30.


At five that afternoon—12 hours after getting up, starting out, U-turning, saving our home from electric blanket fire, and crossing the bay on a later-than-ticketed ferry—we arrived with daughters, son-in-law, and three grandsons for the Saturday afternoon worship service at St. Peter's By-the-Sea in Cape May Point. 


It was our 50th wedding anniversary, to the day. At five o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, July 16, 1961, my fiancé Jim and I were being married in Durham, NC's First Baptist Church. 

How fitting, I thought, listening to the scriptures and singing, that Jim and I would be in this little church on the same date and hour  50 years later .

In background: St. Peter's By-the-Sea

After the service, the two officiates of the service came to speak to us, the only visitors. We had stood out, for only a few others were there for the service. After chatting with them for a few minutes, our youngest grandson, age 12, was sent to get the camera from the car, with a friend visiting with us for the week in NJ. 


What goodness we had tasted that day, in spite of a turnaround to save home from burning down. (Electric blanket fires are responsible for many emergencies, though I suspect rarelyl in July in Maryland!)


Yet more goodness was soon to come. We were talking with the evening service leaders when the boys returned from their camera errand. "We were married 50 years ago, at about this same hour...," I commented.

"Mimi?" I heard our youngest grandson, and saw him standing close to us. He was back inside the church (with  camera, I thought). "Would you like to do it again, Mimi?," he asked me.

I smiled at him, nodded "yes," at first thinking he was kidding; soon I saw something else in the expression on his face. And then he extended one hand from behind his back. He held out a wedding bouquet of perfect white roses, barely pushing out from the buds. Then came a single white-rose groom's boutonniere.

Online photo

Plans in the works for months continued to unfold. A wedding was about to take place, and Jim and I would exchange vows again, with our children and other family standing up front with us, on either side. Our oldest grandson accompanied me to my husband's side up front.

The schedule was not finished when we left the church about an hour later after vows and visiting with those who had been a part of the secret. We rushed to the beach for photographs to be taken by a professional photographer.

After that, we rushed to a gorgeous, large, Victorian vintage restaurant and sat on a wide front porch, where servers brought out champagne, juice, and sodas--and our older daughter's toast in honor of the day and its meaning caused tears to well up. But, not for long, because excitement of a big meal followed, after we were led to a long table prepared for us in a special glassed-in porch dining room. Music by the pianist at a formal grand piano in the entrance way wafted toward us. These memories I can only outline. Their details sparkle and blend in memory now. Like all treasures, these experiences live most fully in, between, and among us who were there. 

When I blogged about tasting the goodness the day before these events, the excitement about a special family week to begin the next day was a bit on hold, due to writing and packing. I looked forward, however, to arriving at a large, rented beach house. My husband and I knew something special was in the works and thought probably a very special dinner out for the nine of us. Daughters had told us to "dress for celebration." 

However, Jim and I could not envision what the day would hold of wedding, sand dune photographs together and with family, the restaurant veranda toasts, and a fabulous dinner inside. 

We owe to God in heaven all the strength, help, love, and goodness that our family, beginning with us two, has known and continues to know. Otherwise, we are like every other family. With God's help, we are uniquely who He has made us to be, become, and yet grow into...His people sharing His goodness.

We taste the goodness! We love the goodness! We share it, relish and revel in it! We grow within it! We build and reach out from it! Tides of life will bring more change of calm and storm. We need not fear this ocean of life. We know that Almighty God ultimately works it all together, for good. Faith has allowed this and by faith it will carry us through. 

We tasted the holy wedding words. We repeated and exchanged from first to the last of  our 50th Wedding Anniversary vows..."'til death parts us." I remember the look in my husband's eyes during our second wedding service, even dearer and more understandable than the first. By faith in Christ, I know that even death, the enemy that He defeated, shall not deter the lives of those who continue with Him.

Internet photo

A closing memory: We turned at the joyously loud sounds of the church bell, as the wedding service ended.  A slender woman was smiling broadly as she pulled again and again on the long rope that moved the bell. She stood at the open entrance to the church, and every pull and release sent another loud ringing sound from the church's steeple. Everyone at the beach must have heard it along with us!

Advent Writing

Writers, there is time to participate in poetry, articles, essays, or short dramas of Advent. Today is the second Sunday of Advent. There are two more, before Christmas Sunday. Perhaps your first step will be to learn more. For example, how and when did Advent come to be a special time in many churches, Catholic and Protestant?

Fulfillment of Scripture prophecies of a Messiah to come began to unfold when Gabriel appeared to the father of John the Baptist and to Mary, a virgin of Nazareth. Later, when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to be dedicated in the temple, God rewarded the faith of Simeon, who had been looking for the coming of the Messiah for many years. (See Luke 2: 25-40.)
When the church began to incorporate this anticipation, it chose a Latin word, adventus, for it. Adventus means coming. Advent, the Coming of the Lord to dwell among us, to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, declare liberty to the captives and the opening of prisons to those who are bound, as written by Isaiah (60: 1-3) and fulfilled by the Lord in the synagogue when he stood to read Isaiah's words (Luke 4).

To begin study or writing along these lines, Aquinas & More website has information, some of which I share below. Thomas Aquinas of the 13th Century and Protestants and Catholics today share emphasis on salvation, or justification before God, "by faith alone," through Jesus Christ.  O, Come all ye faithful...O come, let us Adore Him.

What is Advent? "...Advent is a preparatory season. It has significance because it is a season of looking forward and waiting for something greater; both for the annual celebration of the event of Christ's birth, and for the time when Christ will come again. "As noted in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, during Advent, the faithful are asked: to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love, thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. Origin and History of Advent "The exact time when the season of Advent came to be celebrated is not precisely known. Of course, it was not in practice before the celebration of the Nativity and Christmastide began; the earliest evidence shows that the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord was established within the later part of the 4th century. There are homilies from the 5th century that discuss preparation in a general sense, but do not indicate an official liturgical season.... "...it seems the liturgical season was established around the latter part of the 6th century and first half of the 7th century. For the next couple of centuries, Advent was celebrated for five Sundays; Pope Gregory VII, who was pope from 1073-85, reduced the number to four Sundays. Advent Today Since the latter 6th century or early 7th century  "...the themes and traditions of the Advent season have evolved....Today a penitential theme ... is blended with the theme of prayerful, spiritual preparation for the second and final coming of the Lord, as well as the joyful preparation for the annual festive remembrance of the Incarnation and Christ's birth. Advent Traditions "Advent celebration and traditions can vary from place to place, influenced by culture." Source/Reference: http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/The-History-and-Meaning-of-Advent/article/173