My Son's Getting Married!
The beautiful bride-to-be arrives in about one hour, Lord willing! I'll run down the hall and jump up and down and scream like crazy just to see her alone, coming to find her groom. I've been a slobbering soul all this week, even as I write the first sentence. Lauren will marry Barrett this weekend. It's right. It's the moment we've raised Barrett for to seek God's will for his life and move on. It's just,--- he's my boy! I like that I'm gaining another girl though! I LOVE THAT! But something in me wants to hold on to that precious boy I so ADORE! Seems like I have so much more to say...ha. He has made some awesome choices to get where he is today.
I vividly remember the day he was born. 27 hours in labor at the hospital. I never thought I'd have a baby and a happy life but it happened. I remember his first word: lawn mower. When he was a toddler, we'd take lawn chairs and go to construction sites and sit and watch tractors do their thing for hours. He began memorizing verses, like chapters, when he was a toddler and I have it on tape somewhere. (I get so much grief from my kids for not having pictures and videos accessible---someday I will, ha.)
When he went to grade school, I remember a mission trip to Costa Rica he took with his daddy when he was in 3rd grade. It was really a vacation for him and he rode horses through the jungles, literally and scared me to pieces with his young brave self. He begged us since he was 5 to swim year-round and we finally made the plunge in 3rd grade and he trained every day with FAST for the rest of his life.
High school was such a joy and a whirlwind with 3 children in high school and a toddler at home. Barret's #1 goal was to be valedictorian and he missed it by a hair of a tenth of a point. Salutatorian. He walked out of the office when Mrs. Delp broke the news (and he didn't tell me for days). Barrett told us: I'll just set some more goals in college. And he did. He swam for Nebraska and when they unexpectedly cut their 80-year-old legacy men's swim team, he switched to triathlons. Didn't take him much time to rise to the top. He's traveled the world and competes on the U.S. National Olympic Development Team. He finished Nebraska with an MBA. It has been a storied life for him. His God has been very good to him.
Barrett came to Bob and me in May, right after my first surgery for cancer, and said he wanted to marry his college sweetheart and be with her for the rest of his life. I think I cried for 24 hours. That's why some of you may be surprised to hear today that he's getting married. I was in the middle of my own crisis and some things didn't get done or communicated. There were moments I didn't even think I would make it to the wedding.
So that precious boy who is forever imprinted in my mind and heart towing his little red wagon in the front yard, riding his bike relentlessy and continually is leaving his dad and mom and cleaving to the sweetest girl ever. Barrett & Lauren met 7 years ago at Nebraska but she's a Californian. She is one of the best swimmers Nebraska ever had. In fact, she won the NCAA Graduate Scholarship beating out all those Nebraska football players as the NCAA only awarded one full ride for grad school. And so, compliments of Nebraska, she just finished her Masters in Education. She also made Olympic Trials...and this m-i-l thinks she would have made the Olympics if she had not been hurt on the day of the race.
So welcome, darling Lauren, to our crazy loving family. We adore you and love you so much! And bye Barrett, my faithful son! I'll try to be a good mom to a married kid but I don't know how. I'll trust HIM! Isaiah 40:4. I'll pray for the both of you every day for the rest of my life as long as I have breath. I love you more than you will ever know! You've made this mom so happy and so proud. My everyday prayer for you and Lauren will be 2 Tim 4:7 Fight the good fight. Finish the race. Keep the faith. There is a crown being held for you---a crown for being right with God.
I am putting together a book for Barrett and Lauren with memories and quotes and would love for you to leave a word, a thought, a memory to add to the book if you know them or not. Thank you for all the parts you have played in the story of our lives! I had always hoped that we would have big weddings for all my children but I don't think we will. Next to follow is Blair! Our youngest daughter is getting married this summer.
Barrett and Lauren's wedding will be a beautiful intimate family wedding at a gorgeous resort. It would really mean something to me if you shared a comment for Barrett and Lauren here.
11 comments:
Oh I am still drinking in this post as I type, collecting my thoughts for you as the mother of the groom, tender hearted Bev, and picturing Barrett and Lauren growing old together. I know you are so proud of them and love them fiercely.
To Barrett and Lauren: I am asking God to give you much joy and blessing. Take a deep breath and enjoy the next few days. You all will be bathed in prayer.
Today’s culture teaches us such self-absorbed methods to find ourselves, to find happiness, and to be all we can be, most often at the expense of everyone else. We seek self gratification, self knowledge, self improvement; self indulgence while our families, our relationships, and virtually all that has and gives us true meaning in life suffers. I know this is an old song by now, but it is at the very core of the battle we are facing in finding true joy and satisfaction in our relationships.
Ironically, it is in going outside ourselves that we find our true selves. It is when we stop thinking about our own gain and concentrate on some greater good, some higher cause when we are enabled to find who God meant us to be from the beginning of time. That we could aspire to such heights, to see with clarity that which God has ordained for us and then fulfill it with His holy hand guiding every step, that is authentic understanding of finding ourselves. In this, we find meaning for our lives, joy of living, and peace.
Barrett and Lauren, may you run the whole race, and look back in fifty years, and say, “By God’s grace, we made it with such joy and purpose, with such fruit as children and grandchildren walking in His footsteps, and with each other by your side. May God continue to anoint you with His fullness of Grace and Mercy, Joy, Health, and the Peace that passes understanding.
That's wonderful! Congratulations to Barrett and Lauren! I pray the wedding weekend is spectacular and so much fun. May your family be blessed in every way.
Thank You, Lord, for bringing Bev to this moment. Thank You.
Bev, you will have a daughter-in-love to share your love for Barrett with! I love that term for a daughter-in-law. I pray for you to have the wisdom and strength to allow Barrett to cleave to his precious bride. I just love your sweet memories of him and his life thus far!
For Barrett and Lauren, love is a beautiful thing. I pray that you both would break the curse of the first Adam and embrace the blessing of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Eve was given a curse that her desire would be towards her husband and Adam was Lord over her. Our desire must be towards Our Good God and He alone is Our LORD.
Christ commanded the husband to love his wife sacrificially, like Christ loves His Church and gave His life for the Church.
And wives are commanded to love their husbands, too! Some days you're going to need to remember that, Lauren!
Through the anointing of God, may you both have victory over the fleshly desires of sin and embrace the pure love, the sacrificial love that Christ came and restored. Remember, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and live it every day!
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.
May the power of Jesus Christ fill your hearts with His Spirit anointing your love and your life.
Eternally...
Blessings~
Your post sounds so much like a letter I wrote to my son when he got married. He was my first born and only son....but I can tell you that now that I have a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law, its really like we have 4 kids now...We have such a blast together and seeing them happy and having their own families is the greatest feeling in the world, Blessings to your boy and his girl.
Teresa
Bev, I just want to tell you again that you are a blessing to me. I pray often for you. You will be a wonderful mother-in-law.
Barrett and Lauren my prayer for you is found in Numbers 6: 24-26:
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace."
God bless you all.
Love,
Deidra
My prayer for Barrett and Lauren is that their marriage will be like a three fold cord..The LORD and then the two of them. As it says in Ecc. 4:9-12....a three fold cord is not easily broken.
May the week end and wedding be full of blessings for all of you.
Bev, you are a special friend in the Lord and I pray God's richest blessings on you and Bob this week end and on the new young couple as they start out. May they be as committed to Christ and each other as you and Bob have been. Blessings...Love, Mary Lou
Bev- hope you are feeling great and totally enjoying this weekend!
Barrett & Lauren- May you be blessed in your marriage. May you be reminded by the Lord daily to choose to love each other as He has chosen to love us. May your life together be full of Christ Jesus.
Bev, by now you are probably totally exhausted from today. I cannot even imagine the thought of either of my children getting married. You are going to be the best mother-in-law ever! It is obvious you love Lauren and that is such a gift to your son. I wish I had something profound to share, but all I can offer is prayers. Prayers for Barrett and Lauren to always keep God at the center of their marriage. Don't forget to Pray together. Get on your knees and pray even when you don't feel like it! Be kind to each other and practice forgiveness about the small stuff, so that when bigger issues come your way you will know how to forgive!
Bev, I can't wait to see you next weekend! Bring pictures if you can!
Love,
Angie xoxo
Dear Barrett and Lauren,
We loved having you in Nebraska for a season of your lives. Even though we only got to see you a time or two, we feel a bond with you as Huskers. We know that you are the "fairest" and "squarest" of any we know! :-)
Barrett, I've watched you since you were in diapers and have never known a more determined person. I know that you are both incredibly driven, disciplined and committed--you have to be to accomplish what you have accomplished! And, as in love as you are right now, days may come when it will take all of that drive, discipline and commitment to choose love when you don't feel like it. I pray that when the times come, you will make the hard choices in your marriage, just as you have in sports and other areas of your life, to love each other well. You will never regret it.
May you continue to baffle and amaze each other for the rest of your lives!
Much love,
Lorrie Williams
Bev- you will be a natural MIL! Are you kidding? I always loved going to your house, because you treated me as your own! Don't worry....you will never lose your kids, you are just too special. :)
Barrett and Lauren: I truly think marriage is one of the greatest gifts! Enjoy your honeymoon year, and when times get tough throughout your marriage, be strong!
Lauren: Brooke was my best friend all throughout childhood, and Barrett was always a great "big brother". I'm so glad he found a wife as perfect as you! Take care!
Bev, been thinking about the wedding! I hope it was as beautiful and a blessing for your sweet family. Love your way! And many hugs. Will I see you this weekend?
Lindsee
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