Wedding Plans, Winter Sun, & Other Points of Light

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“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

~ John 3:27

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The hard and the good things in February:

Getting up early on potluck Sunday to put tomato soup in the crockpot

Jared picking out his wedding suit at Rainwater’s

Over the week we spent in the hospital with Jared’s grandpa, little points of light: a sunny spot in the cafeteria to work, earl gray tea from the cafe each day, running into church members who were visiting other patients in the ICU and having a little fellowship in the hallway, getting to know sweet Peggy, and very kind night nurses

The family in the waiting room who got good news that their grandma did not, in fact, have a serious heart attack, and how they cried and laughed and told each other, “It isn’t over”

So tired from a sleepless night and just sitting, shut-eyed in the sun

Looking through old photos and how Jared looks so much like his grandpa back when he was in the Navy

End-of-the-day texts with Janaya about what we’re grateful for

Parents who would meet me two hours down the road to drive the last, tiring stint home for me

Elsie, Elanor, Hudson, and Bennett trying their wedding outfits on: dresses, sweaters, brown vests, and rubber boots if it rains

A Barrett house tour

Night drive through the river town of Elsa, Illinois, tucked and sleeping in the hillside

An evening of 1920’s swing and learning to dance

Wedding gifts in the mail and left on the doorstep

A backyard game of flag football with all the siblings and kiddos on Super Bowl Sunday; the kind of cold that goes down to your toes

My last Sunday School lesson at First Baptist and the sweetness of those women who have shown me so much of Christ

Long afternoon road trip back to Arkansas, sharing coffees and French fries with Mom and Dad

Teresa singing the hymns beside me at her dad’s funeral

Jared preaching his grandpa’s funeral sermon, and his uncle Johnny’s hopeful words

Meeting more family, who welcomed us right into dinner in their home

A cold rain on the windshield, Glenn Miller through the car speakers, and a Valentine’s date to Olive Garden

Church bowling day and little girls in pigtails

Visiting Bobby

Moving books and setting up our home library

First fire in our hearth

Sewing and ironing wedding projects on a quiet day of ice and snow; Jared dictating his sermon in the other room; making homemade lattes

Painting the bead board in our dining room, scooting furniture back into place, filling the glass hutch with blue China, sweeping, and folding towels in a patch of light

A phone call with Mrs. Mavon about the winter freeze, planting potatoes, the wedding, and how she prays for the animals to survive the cold

Hosting the first birthday party in our home, on our own dishes

Soup, sandwiches, tea, and a London fog birthday cake

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