Wedding Wonders, Part Three

Love’s Mysteries
Our grandson Cadence visited for the weekend before his mommy’s wedding. I drove to San Diego on Saturday morning to retrieve him.

In the car, once we hit the freeway, he said, “Lala, let’s talk about weddings.” I said, “OK, what would you like to talk about?” “Tell me everything,” he said.

So I described his mommy’s beautiful white dress, explained that some people might cry from happiness, and told him we’d have a big, big party after the ceremony. “What else?”

I explained his role as ring bearer and described his friend Jez’s job as flower girl. “What else?”

I ran down a list of other wedding elements: cutting the cake, the bouquet toss, throwing the garter, dances…”What else?”

Finally I said, “That’s all the big parts of a wedding I can think of.” He asked, “Well, what are the little parts?” I stifled a groan and dredged up a few more details before distracting him with a hunt for white pickup trucks on the freeway.

The next day, we drove back to San Diego. He began as soon as we were rolling: “Lala, can we talk about weddings in the car like we did yesterday?” “Sure, Sweetie, what would you like to talk about?”

He zeroed in on his job with the ring pillow, Jez’s task of tossing flower petals, the bouquet toss, and how “Rob would throw Mommy’s boot.” I choked on a giggle and tried to describe a garter to him. “It’s like a rubber band, Cadence, but big enough to fit around Mommy’s leg, and pretty–it’s made of ribbon and lace.”

It was no use. In his mind, Rob would remove a boot from Mommy’s leg and toss it to the young men gathered at the reception.
I’ve written before about mysteries and our imperfect understanding of them. When I reflect on my conversations with my grandson about his mother’s wedding, I see how he was struggling to understand a bit more about this important event in his family’s life. He understood better after we talked, but he still didn’t grasp it all.
Unlike most adults I know, however, he was untroubled by his limited understanding. He trusted that he would be surrounded by big people who loved him and would care for him in the midst of the day’s exciting events, and that was enough for him.
I would do well to remember that Someone bigger than me is right there, loving me and caring for me even when I don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe you would, too.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Comments

  1. Richard Merrill

    Great Article Sheila!

  2. Thanks, Ricky!