Reflections of the Father of the Bride - the FINAL Installment!

Now that a day has passed since the wedding, I thought I would share just a few final thoughts about the experience of being the Father of the Bride for my second and final time.





1. I have known many joys in life but the joy of knowing that all three of my children are now married to good spouses ranks up there near the top.

2. Putting together a wedding is far more work than I ever imagined. All the planning, running, phone calls back and forth, dress fittings, tux fittings, etc., etc., etc.. (If I had known what I know now, I think I would have upped the anty on my elopement offer I made to both my daughters! :) )

3. People really matter! What made all three of my children's weddings so special were the family and friends we were able to have present to share the day with us.

4. A wedding may be beautiful - but it is really the marriage that counts. Far too many grooms and brides have a happy wedding day and then lose that happiness somewhere during their marriage. I pray that my children will experience the blessing and happiness that I have enjoyed during my thirty years of marriage to my sweetheart and best friend. But a happy marriage just doesn't happen. It requires a lot of effort and work. Husbands and wives must make their marriage one of their life's top priorities.

I could say far more but I am still quite tired from the whole experience which I found to be emotionally and physically draining.

Today my daughter and her new husband are enjoying their honeymoon . . . and I am one satisfied papa!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Reflections of the Father of the Bride, Again (Part 4)

As I write these words, the big event that has been much planned for, paid for and prayed for ... is a mere four hours away! I am ready!!! Bring it on!

Yesterday's rehearsal ran very smoothly, putting the bride and groom at ease. I think the most nervous people today are the parents of the three year old ring bearer and the parents of the two and four year old flower girls. During the rehearsal, all three made it down the aisle on only the second try ... but today with a crowd of people watching, things might not go so well. But little ones can do about anything and everyone will ooh and aah at their "cuteness!"

As glad as I am for this wedding to be here ... I also have a touch of sadness floating around in my heart. Even though I will officiate many more weddings down the road (God willing), this will be the last wedding of one of my children that I will have the privilege of officiating. I certainly see this as a HUGE perk of being a pastor. Not many dads get to walk their daughter down the aisle and then lead her (and her future husband) in the exchange of their marriage vows.

Either tomorrow or Tuesday I will wrap up these Reflections of the Father of the Bride, Again. Right now, I have to begin getting ready - it's not every day that I put on a tux, and I think I might need some extra time to figure it all out. (Hey, honey, where is my tux?)

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

One More Day to Go!

When our daughter, Emily and son Tim were little, they liked to play "wedding." In this photo Emily is wearing Sharon's wedding dress and Tim the tuxedo jacket in which I was married (They also liked to eat cake!). Well, tomorrow Emily will experience the real thing (which my son did a little over two years ago).

So that makes today my daughter's "Wedding Eve." And boy do I have a lot to do:

- Pick up bagels and cream cheese at Panera Bread (for bridal party's wedding day breakfast)
- Stop at Starbucks (for a cup of coffee, what else?)
- Finish my wedding ceremony notes and print them out
- Help set up for rehearsal dinner
- Conduct wedding rehearsal
- Enjoy rehearsal dinner
- Clean up after rehearsal dinner
- A pile of other misc. tasks that I have forgotten to list (or do not at present foresee doing - which will have to be done. I know this will occur having walked down this path just 3 1/2 months ago!)

Although I will be busy today, I am going to do my best to "stop and smell the roses." I want to "drink it (today's experiences) all in" as this is my last opportunity to be involved in the wedding of one of my own children. My prayer is that this day will be a day of blessing for my daughter, her fiance, my wife and the rest of our family (and friends). God has been so good to us, but that comes as no surprise as He is in His very nature GOOD! Consider the following words:

"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100:5)

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

P.S. By the way, you know those wedding programs that I thought I was handing off to someone else to do? Well, somehow I got involved in putting them together. Just another "joy" of being the Father of the Bride!

Reflections of the Father of the Bride, Again (Part 3)

In just 56 hours and 9 minutes I will once again be walking one of my little girls down the aisle and giving her away to another man. On one hand, I will relish the moment. After all, this is the goal of parenting - to see your children grow up, mature, become responsible and then "leave the nest" to start life on their own. And since this is our third and last child to be married - it brings a special sense of satisfaction. But on the other hand, I am dreading the moment. It is as if the door to a major chapter of my life is now slamming shut - never to be opened again. I thoroughly enjoyed raising my kids and had a blast doing so (although there were THOSE moments!). Sunday's walk down the aisle will be a reminder that life is now moving on.

HOWEVER, I am more than ready for the next chapter in the parenting cycle -- that of grand parenting. As I see it, grand parenting has all the upside of parenting with little of the downside! I am going to love being a granddad!

But whether we are talking about our kids or our grandkids, we must always remember that these children and grandchildren do not belong to us - they belong to God. God merely loans them to us to raise them for HIM! Pslam 127:3 reminds us that children are a reward from God. Here's one dad who is VERY grateful to God for the three little rewards God sent his way!

More later. . .

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Reflections of the Father of the Bride Again (part 2)

Today I have not spent much time thinking about the wedding. Too many other things on the old "To-Do" list that have been screaming for my attention all day long. Yesterday, however was a different story. My daughter gave me her handwritten wedding program on Monday. I looked at it and said, "No problem! I can do this!" So thinking I could knock it out in a matter of a half hour or so, I went at it. It took all of about 3 minutes to realize that "no problem" had become "no clue!" But by the end of the day, someone who knew what they were doing rescued me .... and the programs were printed. Now they have to be assembled. But that is a task I am passing off to someone else to do!

This reminded me that I need to be more careful in "counting the cost." (Jesus talked about this in Luke 14). So often I start something before "counting the cost" that is involved in completing the task. I think if I were to SLOW down and "count the cost" involved before rushing into things - I might just save myself a lot of heartaches and headaches! And probably the same is true for you!

Thanks for stopping by ...

pj

Reflections of the Father of the Bride, Again! (Part 1)

In just five days I will be walking my daughter down the aisle. Where has the time gone? The following words of Bob Carlisle's song, Butterfly Kisses sums up pretty well how I am feeling about things today.

Butterfly Kisses

There's two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven and she's
daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."
"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today
She's looking like her mama a little more everyday
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls
Trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking
little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you
don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong I must have done
something right to deserve her love every morning
and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly.
Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not
sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair
"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have
done something right.

To deserve your love every morning and butterfly
kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.

I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Yet Another "BIG EVENT" Is Coming!

In just six days, my oldest daughter, Emily will be marrying her fiance, Matt (who apart from being a Cleveland Browns fan is a GREAT guy!). Having just gone through this process (back on June 29th my youngest daughter, Kate was married - to some guy named Ryan - whom we have grown to love very much!), it is with joyful anticipation that I look forward to Sunday!

Across the course of the next several days ... I will be posting some blogs again under the title of "Reflections of the Father of the Bride." You can consider it the sequel to my postings back in June leading up to Kate's wedding. I hope you stop back!

Until then . . .

pj