Wedding Showers
Dear Kara,
I wish you could have been at Michal’s shower today. What fun it was to be with the women of the church, laughing and teasing, talking seriously about marriage, and just generally celebrating the upcoming wedding of Ben and Michal.
I figured out why you and Kristen have such a low opinion of showers; it stems from your reference point being mainly the extended family showers you have gone to through the years. This one (and most of our church family showers) couldn’t be more different from those formal affairs at the country club or some fancy restaurant where we eat chicken salad and then oh and ah over gifts. (“Girly materialism,” as Kristen calls it.)
At Michal’s shower three women of different ages shared devotionals about marriage. Leslie T. started by reading a very funny piece on Men’s Rules for Women. (If I could have found it on the Internet, her source, I would have linked it here. I could only come up with some that were crude and less humorous.) Suffice it to say, the rule that got the biggest laugh (and some boos) had to do with that question women ask husbands, “Does this make me look fat?” Then Leslie shared some serious advice about marriage, talking about how in marriage you see each other’s sins more clearly than anyone else, and how to live with one another in love.
Next, Annie C., who as you know always smiles that beautiful smile, talked about how the day after her and Dave’s wedding her face hurt from smiling so much because she was so happy. But then she told how some years later she somehow “lost her smile”, due to being weighed down by responsibilities. Remembering God’s sovereignity helps to keep our perspective. She ended by reading this verse:
Proverbs 31: 25 “Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.”
Lastly, Mrs. Lois T. talked about four words from the marriage ceremony: love, cherish, honor and obey. As always, she had wise words to share from her long years of marriage and service to the Lord.
Even the gift opening has a different feel at out church showers than the family ones. There is more of a feeling of rejoicing and sharing in the upcoming marriage. And yes – there’s lots of teasing about “certain” gifts, like the that said something like this:
“Here’s something to help you and Ben wile away the tedious evening hours.”
(Inside was a Backgammon game set. OK – there was a second package with something else.) But as this giver, a certain professor of Michal’s, said, “You can’t make those jokes at a worldly shower, because they are already doing it.”
Well, that about sums it up.
Love,
Mom
P.S. While I was at the shower, Dad and the kids cleaned out the barn. Dad dislodged a mother and baby mice that were living on top of your sacks of fleece. Now the sacks are hanging, which should make it a bit harder for the mice to nest in. We're getting ready for Peter's new bantam roosters.
I wish you could have been at Michal’s shower today. What fun it was to be with the women of the church, laughing and teasing, talking seriously about marriage, and just generally celebrating the upcoming wedding of Ben and Michal.
I figured out why you and Kristen have such a low opinion of showers; it stems from your reference point being mainly the extended family showers you have gone to through the years. This one (and most of our church family showers) couldn’t be more different from those formal affairs at the country club or some fancy restaurant where we eat chicken salad and then oh and ah over gifts. (“Girly materialism,” as Kristen calls it.)
At Michal’s shower three women of different ages shared devotionals about marriage. Leslie T. started by reading a very funny piece on Men’s Rules for Women. (If I could have found it on the Internet, her source, I would have linked it here. I could only come up with some that were crude and less humorous.) Suffice it to say, the rule that got the biggest laugh (and some boos) had to do with that question women ask husbands, “Does this make me look fat?” Then Leslie shared some serious advice about marriage, talking about how in marriage you see each other’s sins more clearly than anyone else, and how to live with one another in love.
Next, Annie C., who as you know always smiles that beautiful smile, talked about how the day after her and Dave’s wedding her face hurt from smiling so much because she was so happy. But then she told how some years later she somehow “lost her smile”, due to being weighed down by responsibilities. Remembering God’s sovereignity helps to keep our perspective. She ended by reading this verse:
Proverbs 31: 25 “Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.”
Lastly, Mrs. Lois T. talked about four words from the marriage ceremony: love, cherish, honor and obey. As always, she had wise words to share from her long years of marriage and service to the Lord.
Even the gift opening has a different feel at out church showers than the family ones. There is more of a feeling of rejoicing and sharing in the upcoming marriage. And yes – there’s lots of teasing about “certain” gifts, like the that said something like this:
“Here’s something to help you and Ben wile away the tedious evening hours.”
(Inside was a Backgammon game set. OK – there was a second package with something else.) But as this giver, a certain professor of Michal’s, said, “You can’t make those jokes at a worldly shower, because they are already doing it.”
Well, that about sums it up.
Love,
Mom
P.S. While I was at the shower, Dad and the kids cleaned out the barn. Dad dislodged a mother and baby mice that were living on top of your sacks of fleece. Now the sacks are hanging, which should make it a bit harder for the mice to nest in. We're getting ready for Peter's new bantam roosters.
Comments
Thank you for your account of the shower. You must know how deeply pleased I am that Ben is marrying sweet Michal. Yet marriage advice and encouragement are as essential for them as for any others being married. They are both marrying sinners, and will need their eyes turned to the Lord daily. Knowing there are godly women surrounding them and looking out for them is comforting to a mother-at-a- distance.
Love, Jill