Family Weddings are a Blast!

We have hit the era of weddings! Not of our friends - that ship sailed a generation ago - but of nieces, nephews and friends of our adult children.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a very fun, family wedding in rural Indiana. Our beautiful niece, Nicole was married to her fiance' of 5 years, Andrew, in a beautiful ceremony held outdoors behind a very elegant barn where later, the reception was held. 

I've had several friends tell me how much FUN it is to go to these big, family weddings. It's one of the only times the family is all together - dressed nicely and on their best behavior!

Our family wedding did not disappoint! From 80-something grandparents to 1-year-old grandchildren, the whole clan was present and accounted for! It was especially nice to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins - from as far away as Taipei - brought together again for such a festive event.

My sister- and brother-in-law spared no expense to assure we were well fed, entertained and.... "watered" as the evening's festivities pursued. 

The beautiful bride walked down the aisle at precisely 4 pm as the groom sang along with John Legend, crooning his current hit "All of Me". It was a sweet touch and knowing Nicole and Andrew's story, the lyrics were right on. Vows were exchanged as bridesmaids, groomsmen, family and friends looked on with love and pride and before long, the pastor was introducing the new couple!

As the ceremony ended (with thunder bouncing around the evening sky), the family members hustled into a side barn for pictures and the other guests jaunted to the main barn for a cold beverage. 

The storm passed quickly, leaving beautiful God-light to dance along the surrounding corn fields. Guests played lawn games and the photographer captured portraits of wedding party, bride and groom and family members lit by the soft glow of the waning sun. 

A lovely buffet, followed by the current sweet of choice - cupcakes - was heartily enjoyed by all as the DJ started to crank up the tunes.

Naturally, the bride and groom shared the first dance, then there was a special dance between grandpa and bride that left no eye dry. Following were more special dances, toasts and stories of the couple's meeting and early days together.

As the night progressed, we danced, laughed, discussed, lingered and learned about each others most recent adventures. The music varied from Mac the Knife to Hip Hop tunes I couldn't begin to name and to which the wedding party knew every word! It was such a blast to kick up our heals together - parent and child, uncles and nieces, friends and family, old and young - all as one big, happy clan.

All too soon, the last song played and it was time to round everyone up and head to a nearby hotel for the night.

As Nicole and Andrew move into the future together, I wonder what they will take from this day and evening where they swore to love each other "in sickness and in health, till death parts us."

I'm sure they will think about the months of planning and how quickly the big day flew by. It's likely they will reminisce about a particular dance or speech or pratfall and laugh together over the memory. They will pull out the wedding photos and chat about what's new in the life of each cousin, aunt, uncle and friend. 

But, overall, there is no doubt, they will remember the warm feeling of being surrounded by wonderful friends and family who love them with a huge heart and will be there for them in the good times and bad.

For that, I am sure they feel forever blessed.

With sore feet and a happy heart,

Miriam

Who needs google?

One of my hobbies/gifts is singing and for the past few years I've been blessed with the opportunity to lend my alto voice to the praise team at my church.

When I first started singing in front of the congregation with a microphone one inch from my face, I have to admit it was pretty nerve-wracking. That seems a long time ago now and I'm comfortable helping lead worship each Sunday.  Just don't ask me to sing a solo!

Each Thursday evening, the PT practices for one or two hours, depending on whether we are learning new music or just brushing up songs from our repertoire. This is a time of worship and fellowship and serves to prepare us for Sunday morning worship at 9:30 a.m. sharp.

This past week, our very gifted and hard-working director, Mary, was on a family vacation and her right hand man and jack of all instruments, Bill, had a last minute obligation and was not available to lead our practice. 

So Mary sent us an email with the song list for Sunday and a request that we arrive at church by 8 a.m. so we could prep before service.  In addition to listing songs we've sung many times, she also included this note:

"We will be singing 'Great I Am' for our closing song so if you need to brush up on it, be sure to listen on either YouTube or Spotify."

Well, her message hit my inbox on Thursday and by Saturday morning, I still had not done my homework. That morning, I had some errands to run and as I headed back home, the book I was listening to (on CD) ended.
 
I didn't have my iPod plugged in, so I was forced to turn on FM radio.  I'm not a big fan of listening to FM radio (too repetitive), but it's hard for me to drive around without listening/singing along to something!

My preset is WCSG, the local Christian radio station.  

As I caught the end of one song, I was reminded of Mary's email suggesting we look up "Great I am". Since I was headed home, I was repeating in my head "Google the Great I Am... Google the Great I Am," so I wouldn't forget. (Alas, the old memory is more a sieve than a steel trap these days.)

Then the next song started on the radio.... "I wanna be close... close to your side....So Heaven is real, and death is a lie."

Yep, you got it - that is the beginning of Great I Am.  

I sang along loudly and proudly all the way home, feeling confident that I was ready for Sunday morning.

Who needs google when you've got God?

With a song in my heart,

Miriam

Why I keep my camera handy

One morning last week as I was enjoying my coffee, looking out my window, I was thrilled to see a cardinal perched inquisitively on the deck railing. He was beautiful with the sun hitting his bright reddish-orange feathers.

He appeared to be watching something on the ground (Fledglings? A cat? An insect?), but I didn’t want to move enough to follow his gaze. I wanted to keep him in my line of vision as long as possible.  And then I reached for my camera so I could share his beauty with you … but it wasn’t by my chair! It wasn’t even in the room.

I waited for Mr. Cardinal extraordinaire to fly away, and then I marched around the house until I managed to find the camera. I sat back down and waited, waited, waited and then finally gave up on his return.

The good news is that since most days I start my day looking out my kitchen window, I didn’t have to wait too many days for him to pop into view again, this time even closer. And yes, I had my camera right there, waiting to capture his glory.

The sun was not participating in this event in quite the same way as the first time I watched him.   

God light notwithstanding, I think you’ll agree he is magnificent. 

Do you keep your camera handy? What is your favorite 'capture'?

Have an inspired day,

Miriam

The Alarm Clock Conundrum

When I first retired, I turned off my alarm clock and buried it under some bedside reading. I was not about to fill my retired awakenings with the harsh buzz of an alarm clock - or even the tinkling of my Sleep Cycle App, I wanted to drift awake and have a relaxing start to my day – no rushing around!

I awoke daily, happily refreshed a tad after 7 a.m., headed to my window, drank my coffee and enjoyed the view. After all, I was used to leaving home a little after 7 five days a week (and at 8 am on Sundays) so my body clock was ready to rock ‘n roll at what now seems like an early hour. 

Amazingly, that went on for over a year. Every once in a while I would sleep in until 8 or so, but really that was still OK. I had plenty of time to be amazed at the wildlife outside my window, eat my breakfast, check all communications channels and get to my 10 a. m. workouts.

Then we went to Hawaii for a vacation. We enjoyed a week in the paradise of Kauai and returned home rested and refreshed. (OK, I was already pretty rested, but it was refreshing to be far away from those floors screaming, “sweep me!”)

The next week, I slept until 8 or 9 every morning! I had to rush around to get to my workout on time – in fact one day I slept right through it! It wasn’t like I was staying up half the night. I’ve never been a night owl and maybe a couple times I was pushing midnight, but mostly I was in bed by 11. 

This did not sit well with my midwestern heritage and upbringing as the daughter of a self-made man. For goodness sake I was sleeping my life away! (Dad used to make my favorite puff pancakes on Saturday mornings just to get me out of bed.)

I told myself, I must need the sleep. I told myself I had earned the right to sleep as much as I wanted. I told myself I was giving hubby dear his own space to get ready for work.

But the reality was I had all these fun, interesting things on my list I wanted to do (once I finished my chores of course, dad) and there were not enough hours in the day!

So I’m back to the alarm… at 7 a.m. Hubby is already out the door to work and honestly the window view is better. Like a camera with a softer focus, there might be a slice of fog on the water. The dew is still glistening on the lawn and flowers and the birds are singing in a powerful cacophony of song that says, “good morning, let’s embrace a new day.”

Until next time,

Miriam

The View From My Kitchen Window... Step One in my Retirement Routine

They say when you retire, you should create some kind of daily routine to keep boredom and depression at bay. Guess what? THEY are right!

After a couple years of tweaking my Retirement Routine, I still start my days the very same way… enjoying the view from my kitchen window.

What I haven’t yet put into my routine is sharing my view as the seasons change and the world turns. That’s been on my “could be cool” list of creative endeavors but I kept getting lost in silly little things like sweeping the kitchen floor and let’s Face it… Social Media.

Then I read a post written by John Richmond on the Storyline blog (also part of my daily routine) titled “Are you the Assassin of Your Own Ideas?“  The gist is to stop focusing on all the reasons to NOT do something (it takes time, I’m not that creative, will anyone really read it, really Who Cares what I have to say?) and put one foot in front of the other and just start.

Others have given me similar advice, including Anne Lamott and OK, I have to say it – Nike. (My career in marketing causes me to notice such things as the Just Do It campaign, which has some tremendous legs.)

Then as I was in the middle of my morning walk/run/pray I was thinking I could start by showing a photo of the robin nestlings just outside my window – which made me think “Of course spring is the perfect time to begin anew… or a blog.”

So after my outing, a shower and a bit of floor sweeping, I started to write! 

That evening as God-light embraced the nest, I snapped a couple photos.

I wish I would have taken photos of the nest building process. What started as a few twigs mysteriously stuck in the elbow of a downspout, soon blossomed into an amazingly secure and comfy robin nest. 

Over the course of 2 weeks, the robin couple carried dried fibers of grass, small twigs and mud, mouthful by mouthful to the nest, making several hundred trips. I could hear them tamping down the mud with their belly, wing and beak. Slowly, what was just a messy gathering of twigs, became a perfect nest. 

During the  process they had to fight off a couple of mourning doves who were mighty impressed with the nest. But Mr. and Mrs. Robin were not in the business of flipping homes. At least not until their brood was ready to move on.

Mrs. Robin laid their eggs and she and the proud papa-to-be took turns sitting on the nest. A couple weeks later the babies emerged! Mom kept them warm while dad hunted worms and bugs to keep them well fed.  

What God has programmed into these birds is amazing! After the first brood hatches and takes off on wings of flight... they are likely to start over again building an entirely new nest, and maybe a third. All within a few week's time in the short spring/summer of Michigan.

Wow.

This is my first View From My Kitchen Window post. I see lots of nature from my window and it inspires me in many ways. So my desire is to share my view and the perspective it provides, with anyone who happens upon these pages.

I'm interested in your perspective as well, so please feel free to comment as the spirit moves you. 

This IS my first consistent writing endeavor. So...

I’m going to try what Anne Lamott tweeted: "Leap up!  Find notebook. Scribble. Wow. You don't write to be remembered. You won't be; I won't be. Write bc it's on your heart."

I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

Miriam

P.S. My first child was born on a Friday the 13th. Since then, I have regarded every Friday the 13th as among my luckiest days. So then... what could possibly be a better day for my first blog post?