SECOND IN A SERIES…

My mom was wonderful.  I loved her dearly.  And, though she came from very humble beginnings….she grew into quite a proper lady.  Oh she loved fine things and fancy things and right things.  She was never uppity or anything like that, and she never would say something to embarrass you (on purpose). And, she never thought she was better than anyone else.  She was most willing to serve whomever, whenever a need arose.  She was instrumental in much of the missions history of our church.  She truly lived her Christianity. And she loved to sing!  She sang all the time.  No matter what she was doing, you would hear her break out in song.  She sang church music…hymns…and special songs.

But, it just bothered her when things were not done ‘correctly‘…meaning ‘in the way in which they should obviously (to anyone who knew anything) be done.  She may not tell them they were doing it wrong, but you can be sure she told her 2 daughters…so we could be sure we got it right!  And, once told, we were to do it correctly, too.  Because she said so.  And, she just so happened to be right!  And, we were always most obedient daughters!  🙂

And one of those ‘things that bothered her’ was when some music minister/song leader/ music director/ department director in assembly time would say,  “Turn to page 123  in your hymnal and let’s sing all 3 verses.”  What bothered her about this simple statement was that it was incorrect.   It would be correct to say, “Turn to hymn number 123 and let’s sing all 3 verses.”  Because the page numbers were not what we were going by…we were going by the hymn number….who knows what the page number was…but I am sure as can be that it was NOT the same as the hymn number!    See, even though most pages had only one number, on some pages there were two numbers and on some there may be 5!   To reassure myself before I posted this and brought disgrace to the family name by being wrong, I checked in my old copy of The Baptist Hymnal.   This hymnal was presented to me in 1964 (I was 11 years old).

As you can see, it says ‘Revival”, but we were not in the habit of presenting hymnals at revivals, as I recall.  Perhaps I invited people to sing in the choir, or some such thing.  I do remember that I took my own personal copy of The Baptist Hymnal, to church with me for a while…along with my Bible and offering envelope.  Then Mama found out I was doing that and she said I was acting boastful and that was not why I was given it.  So, I began to use it when I took piano lessons from Aunt Eunice.  Truth be told, the only reason I even wanted to take piano lessons was to play hymns and play for church.  I can still see Aunt Eunice Williams’ (my teacher and dear friend) handwriting all in this hymnal.  Quite a treasure to me.  (For those friends in SBC, the hymnal was also signed by Bill Buchanan and Rev. Sidney Sample.)  I did end up playing some here and there at church as I got older …for Sunday nights and Wednesday nights…and for choirs and VBS, but the piano talent in our family was given to my sister, Joy.  She is our church pianist at SBC and does such a beautiful job at it.  I love hearing her play.

And, this is the honest truth, I promise you!  I can remember my Pop leaning over to me when some song leader or music minister  would get the hymn number thing right and saying ,”He knows how to do it right!”  And I would “Shhh” him because he never learned to whisper….especially in church!  And still can’t! 🙂

Another thing that bothered Mom was pronunciation.  She was a stickler on that!  As I look back on it now… this was such a big deal to her.  In speaking and in singing.  But, I remember it more in the singing because…well, I don’t really know why.  It just made an impression on me as a child and I found myself stressing it to the children I’ve worked with in music through the years, and to my children.  I can hear her voice in my memory, even now, and I know every word will be perfect!

A perfect example is Silent Night.  It would ruffle her very last feather to hear someone sing “Si-lunt Night”…instead of “Si-lent Night”…pronouncing the short ‘e’, as it was meant to be.  And really, if you see the word ‘lent’…you don’t pronounce it ‘lunt’.  (Oh, you would never know she was displeased with your pronunciation…unless you were her daughter, or her husband..and perhaps her grandchildren…she held them to very high standards, as well.  But,if I were sitting by her in church, I could almost feel her cringe…ever so slightly.)  Same thing with ‘heaven’.  It is hea-ven…as in been…..not hea-vun!  Try ‘angel’…an-gel (gel)…not an-jul!    “When we’ve been there ten thou-sand  years”…not thou-sund.”  And, I could go on, but I won’t because I think you get what I’m saying.

Way back when we used to sings only hymns in the Baptist church, there were certain rules to follow.  This was way before we had the big screens at the front of the church with all the words on it.  Back in the old days, we would use our hymnals for the words.   If there were 4 verses in a song…we sang 1,2,and 4.  (Or just 1 and 4 if the song service had run long or there was a testimony or something.  You just didn’t cut in on the preacher’s time…he had to start by 11:30!)  I don’t know why it was done that way…but it must have been a Southern Baptist Convention rule.  Didn’t matter where you went to church, in town or out of town…that’s the way it was.  I  always wondered if the third verse just wasn’t as as good as the rest.  But, why would it be in the song if it wasn’t?  Now if there were three verses…we sang all 3.  Or occasionally 1 and 3…for the same reason as above!

Then there were those few that were half page songs.  We rarely sang those, though.  They had the same amount of words, but by stacking them like they did, they could get two songs on one page.  (There’s that rule…2 hymn numbers on 1 page!)  I always felt like the printers of The Baptist Hymnal just threw those half page songs in as filler.  That’s just some Tonja logic…not necessarily true!

None of the rules about verses held true when we had revival services, however. Because that music evangelist would make you sing every. single. verse. of every. single. song.  And, some of them had 6 verses!  Of course, we didn’t sing a lot of hymns in the revival services, because there was all the special music.  He had to sing.  And, he and his wife had to sing.  And, if he had any children at all…regardless if they could sing or knew the words or could stand and hold the microphone…would sing, too.  Then the choir would sing twice.  That’s because he always met with them 30 minutes prior to the service to teach them their part.  He had the solo, however.   Either that or he had another solo after the choir finished and immediately prior to the sermon.

[I can remember some of the guest preachers or music evangelists showing up in big busses and they would live in the parking lot for the week.  I have no room to judge anyone, as I’ve had a few ‘moments’ myself,…but some of these guys were st-raaaan-ge.   They would show up in these flashy suits and poufed up hair…and that was back before men used styling products and hairspray!  It was unheard of in our little town.  There was even one who wore makeup…so I heard.  I was just a child, so I can’t say for sure.  However, I heard my Mom and some of the other ladies talking.  Dothan was just not a ‘poufed up hair and man make up’ kinda town.  I even remember whispers of talk about one of the men who wore a girdle!  Times do have a way of changing, though, don’t they?]

Really, friends, it was hard to get all the music into a service because…even though we were used to having perfectly lovely instrumental music played while the offering was being taken up…there had to be some time allotted for the selling of tapes…and later CDs, of all their albums…and the very special Christmas album…and the children’s album!   And, some of the evangelists had even felt called to branch out into books and t- shirts.  Their spiel generally took the whole offering time.  They would have one of everything up front with them and tell just a little bit about what made it special and what they were going through when they recorded it or wrote it, whichever the case may be.  And, how, in his humble opinion, you needed to have this in your possession so that you could continue to worship at home or in the car.  And, his wife would be in the vestibule after church.  Cash or checks made payable to the church. I can remember being ready to make a bee line to my Pop to ask for $10.00 to get a cassette…or a T-shirt.  And, he usually said “yes”.  Well…he said “yes” if he liked the music, too.  I got nothing from the guy who wore the make-up.  But, strangely, I did manage to end up with a cassette from the guy who traveled in a bus with his wife and 3 or 4 children.  They all lived and traveled together in that bus, too.  That was the first time I had ever heard of homeschooling.  The chlldren, as I remember, acted like little soldiers.  Which may have been why I was allowed one of their cassettes!

Back then the music minister would stay up on the podium while the preacher preached.  If it was especially hard hitting on a certain subject,  you could see the music minister furiously flipping through the hymnal to find the appropriate song to use during the invitation.  Of course, Amazing Grace was always the fall back song for the invitation time.

 

Is there any song, any where, that has touched as many people as this song?  People everywhere, even non Christians, know at least a portion of it.  Revival services tended to have fairly long invitation times, and it was during these invitations that I learned the words to all 4 verses printed in our hymnal at the time.  I only found out later that there were 2 more verses.  And, as I did some reading up on this song, I learned some interesting things about this hymn.

The tune to this song is a traditional melody…listed in our hymnal as ‘Early American Melody’.  Actually it was the melody of a song that was sung by slaves as they sailed to America in the hold of a sailing ship.  Turns out John Newton was a big time slave trader.  During one of his voyages, he was in a terrible storm and cried out to God to save him.  He promised God that he would serve Him, if He would save him.  He lived, but, he did not stop his slave trading at once.  He waited until he was forced to quit due to illness.   It was much later in his life, after he had become a Methodist minister, that he penned these words.  They were used as a chant in his services.  Later his words and ‘Early American Melody’ came together to be sung today as one of the most beloved of all hymns.  It is interesting to think of his life as you reread the words.  Most accounts state that he wrote this as his own life history.

 AMAZING GRACE

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

According to Wikipedia, it was added in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  A character in the book sang two of the original verses and she added this verse as the last.  Isn’t that interesting?  There is no mention of that in the hymnals.  Don’t know if there is in any new printings of it in recent years.

Church was a very important part of my life growing up, as it is now.  And, I’m sure some of the things I think happened one way could have just been the child in me…but these things I’ve written are all true in my heart and memory.  Isn’t it strange, sometimes, the things that stay in our minds and make an impression on our hearts?  I in no way am making fun of my church.  I love that Southside Baptist Church has been a part of my life since I was 10 years old.  The people in this church today, and those that have gone on to Glory, are the salt of the earth.  Who I am today is due in part to the countless adults who felt called to pour their lives into children…rowdy, ungrateful, disrespectful children.  But, the lessons took hold in so many of us who, like myself, have carried on the legacy that is a great church of God.  We who were taught, then taught ourselves.  We who were led, became leaders.  And, we who were served, serve even still.

THIS VERSE OF SCRIPTURE IS ON THE PAGE PRIOR TO HYMN NUMBER ONE IN THE BAPTIST HYMNAL, 1956 EDITION…(whatever that page number may be…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST IN A SERIES…

While doing some reading on the Internet, I ran across the title of an old hymn I remember singing…All the Way My Savior Leads Me.  I stopped for a minute and closed my eyes.  Yes, I remember that song.  Immediately the phrase came to mind…“for I know what ‘ere befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”  Wow!  I didn’t even remember that I remembered those words.  But, there they were.  I tried to think of the rest of the song. And, I could recall those sweet words…the whole first verse was as clear to me as if I sang it last Sunday.  Which sadly, I didn’t.  Next I googled the lyrics and as I read them, they were refreshed in my memory as well…all 3 verses….and I could recall all the words to the 3rd verse, as well, once I got a little push!

If you do not know of this old hymn, read these words below as a poem…they are beautiful…

(there is NO reason for the extra space between the first line and the rest of the lines…stupid computer won’t let me fix it, either)

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

Frances J. Crosby

———————————

All the way my Savior leads me,

What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

 

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

 

All the way my Savior leads me,
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

(Copyright: Public Domain…..Scripture: Revelation 7:17…..Robert Lowry, pub.1875Copyright: Public Domain…..Key: G…..Meter: 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7)

Revelation 7:17  NKJV “…for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 

 

Puzzles.  Puzzles are fun.  Puzzles are educational.  Puzzles are entertaining.  And, there are plenty of them at my house.  Well, to be clear…the ‘plenty of puzzles’ we have at my house are for Levi.    None for me, thank you very much.  I get all twitchy when someone opens up a box of those 400 pieces of cardboard.  Probably the hardest thing on this planet for me to do would be finish one of those puzzles.  Little irregular scraps of cardboard that fit only to another irregular scrap and there are 8 different color combinations on one piece and only 1 color on the matching piece.  Maddening, I tell you!  My OCD kicks in when I even see the box!

Being involved in preschool education since I was in college,  I have seen my share of puzzles.   I loved using them in my teaching all through the years.  In school, in church, with my own children.  I used puzzles that were bought and many I made myself.

*****A QUICK PUZZLE*****

Take 6 wooden craft sicks…(use the large size like a tongue depressor).  Lay them side by side and use 3 strips of masking tape to hold them together on one side.  Turn the taped sticks over and design your puzzle.  Markers seem to work the best for this project, with crayons next.  Sometimes I had large stencils for the children to use.  Sometimes they made up their own designs.  Sometimes we used only the words of a Bible verse.  If it was fall, we may have traced a leaf and colored it in fall colors.  The possibilities are endless.  Be sure to extend the design to cover a bit of every stick.  Then pull the tape off and put  it on the front of a ziplock bag (sandwich size is just right).  Use the tape surface to write child’s name. And, this is a good place to include a Bible verse that relates to the puzzle…such as “Work with your hands…”1 Thessalonians 4:11  Then the puzzle pieces are easily taken home in the baggie and kept together.

That’s just a little freebie for you grandmothers out there! 🙂

I was taught, not in college, but in training to be a Convention Approved Preschool Teacher by the Southern Baptist Convention, the proper way to  work a puzzle.  It’s really very sensible and very logical.  It should be taught in early education classes in college, and maybe it is now…but they didn’t when I was there!  I have tried, in every setting I have ever been apart of, to share this info with teachers, as I taught the children the proper way to do the puzzles.  Always, they said it makes perfect sense…but carrying it out was another story.

If you go into any Sunday School class with little ones and you give them a puzzle to work…how are they going to get the pieces out?  Right…they are going to turn the puzzle over and make a loud noise when all the pieces fall out.  Then some will fall on the floor, so they will have to get them.  Then they still have to turn them over.  And if Timmy is working next to Emily who is working next to Mary…all the pieces are going to get mixed up!  Yuck!  Confusion and chaos!  There IS a better way.

Every child should place his puzzle in front of him.  Then take the pieces out of the frame face up, one by one and place them on the LEFT side of the puzzle,  face up.  (They may be too young to know’left’…but if you put a red dot on the outside of the puzzle, it reminds them where the pieces go.  Now the puzzle is ready to go…no turning pieces over, no looking for lost pieces , and no mixed up pieces.  If all the children follow these rules…several can sit at a table and work and no one will mix up their pieces.  This works in another way also.  It reinforces looking left to right, which is the way they will learn to read.

As hard as I have tried, it has not always worked.  Children do it the wrong way so often at home or other places that it is hard to change this habit.  I tried through all the years I worded with preschoolers to teach them the proper way.  But, unless you get a child when he is working his very first puzzles and teach the right way, it is hard to get them to change.  My 3 boys did them correctly. And, I have shown this way to Levi ever since we got his very first puzzle.

Today, he wanted to get out the puzzles so I laid one on the floor for him.  Imagine my delight when I looked down to see the puzzle ready to be worked…all the pieces were face up on the left side!  He’s got it!

 

So, nothing big or exciting to anyone but me…but it makes me happy.  It goes to show that in most things, we can make a difference in the way a child does things if we set the example very early.  Much easier than changing behavior and habits later.  What we give our time to when teaching will become what the child will excel at.  To Levi, this is not even a conscious decision anymore, it’s just the way to do puzzles now.  How many other things could become second nature to a child if we took the time to focus on it.  I am reminding myself of my priorities here!

“Train up a child…”

Now for a laugh…

Two good ‘ole boys went into a restaurant for a  celebration.  

The waiter asked them,”What’s the reason for the celebration?”  

One of the guys answered ” Well we finished a puzzle we were working on.  It only took us a month to complete it !  

The waiter said, “Wow! That must have been some puzzle!”  

The other boy replied, ”  It sure was!  The box said it would take ‘from 3 to 6 years’!!!”  🙂

 

Hope there is nothing in your life that is too ‘puzzling’ right now!

 

 

Oct 26, 2013…….Part 3 of a story in 3 parts

 

A photo of all the helpers!  (Tina D, Joy, Tonja, Shirl, Patty…minus Suzanne, who was wrangling Levi)

 

 

2:00…..Adam began pictures of the Bride and Groom and Jackson…(All the photos were made on the wooden bridge on the road where I live…just 2 doors down.  The remainder are in my backyard)

 

 

 

 

 

 

4:30  All the troops were back, everyone was taking care of the last minute things they saw.  Time for family pics.  Adam set up camera.  Don didn’t like the background, so Adam moved it.  Someone else didn’t like that. Adam was very patient, but finally he put it where he wanted it and we all got in place.  SMILE!   He had to do them quick before Levi jumped again! We managed to get one or two where everyone was looking in the right direction!.  Then the individuals.  Then a few that I wanted.  And, that’s it!  Adam said we were finished!

 

 

 

 

5:30…time for food… it should have already been delivered.   All guests were arriving and people were milling around and visiting.  Shirl and Tina D lit all the zillion candles, as dark began to descend.  The minister arrived.  The food still is not here.  Don called the caterer.  No answer.  Must be on their way.  Whew!  Tina and Shirl began to lead everyone to their seats, and the food is not here.  Don was still on the phone.  No answer.  Bro. Billy, our minister, was in the other room with Tina and Ian and Jackson.  Everyone was seated.  They say I have to sit down now!   And, still. no. food. “Lord, what am I going to do?  All the food we have is what Suzanne prepared and some crackers and dip that I prepared.  That and a can of nuts.  You know all about it.  Help!  Fix it for me, Lord.  I want this to be perfect and now it is falling to pieces!  Help me, please!”  I went and sat down with Don.

 

 

 

6:00…Brother Billy and Ian walked out the side door and got in place.  And, then came beautiful Tina in her gorgeous dress with sweet Jackson holding her hand.  She walked to stand by Ian and Jackson sat in my lap.  Here we go!

 

 

Patty went to join Billy to sing a song that I felt would start the evening off and set the mood for the service….”Surely the Presence”

“Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

I can feel His mighty power and His grace.

I can feel the brush of angel wings, I see glory on each face.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.”

And friends, even though I intended this to be a duet…everyone there joined in and by the time we sang the words through a second time, there was no doubt the angels were circling round and God, himself, was right in our midst!  I was covered in goose bumps, but not from the cold.  From the fact that with much help from many friends, we had created a little chapel right here on my porch!

“FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM.”  Matthew 18:20

Lights twinkling in the trees, with their tall, tall branches silhouetted against a purple sky…candles surrounding the little area and flickering their little wicks…a fire gently burning in the background behind the minister with the coals already beginning to glow a festive orange and red.  And, Ian and Tina standing , surrounded by friends who have loved us and cared for us, and gone through life with us, supporting them with their love.  It was perfect.  It was just the way I wanted everyone to feel…. warm and peaceful and happy…. and they did.  And I did.  And Ian and Tina did.

 

 

The “I Do’s” were said.  And the vows were spoken.  The promises were made and the rings were exchanged.  And the kiss.  Then the pronouncement…Mr and Mrs. Ian David Owens.  And, it was done. They made their way back into the den and I stood up to give further instructions.  I had nothing prepared to say, but I had called on God earlier, so He took over.  I reminded them, as they sat there, that they were invited specifically because of who they were and what they meant to us and that they were an extension of our family.  And, then I told them that since they were family, I felt like they would forgive us for not having more food…because the caterer NEVER SHOWED UP!  So, we would put out what we had and share it and please know that we planned on having a much bigger meal. Suzanne and Joy and Otelida took the extra plates off the table and we replaced them with 2 of everything we had and we had plenty!  Everyone ate and ate and ate.  And then there was cake!  So, it turned out OK…and everyone understood….and we saved a ton of money that would have gone to the caterer!  There’s always something to be grateful for! :).  But, I’ll never use them again…for anything…ever.  (Edited to add:  When Don finally did get in touch with the owner, the excuse they gave was flimsy and not at all acceptable.)  Oh! Well!  Live and learn!  And, besides, it makes for a great story!

 

We cut the cake and the bride and groom tasted it!  Ian had a few words to say of appreciation and thanks to Don and I and the gathered friends.  Then, to the shock of a few…Shirl started singing (to the tune of “Going To The Chapel”)  “Going to the Creekhouse and we’re gonna get ma-a-a-rried”  I joined in “Going to the Creekhouse and we’re gonna get ma-a-a-rried…”  Joy and Patty and Tina come in with harmony…“Going to the Creekhouse and we’re gonna get ma-a-a-ried…Going to the Creekhouse of Love. Whoa-whoa-whoa… Fa-all is here, The-uh-uh sta-ars will shine. Whoa-whoa-whoa… I’ll be his And he’ll be mine! We’ll love until the end of time, And we’ll never be lonely anymore! Because we’re going to the Creekhouse, And we’re   gonna to get ma-a-a-rried. Going to the Creekhouse, And we’re  gonna get ma-a-a-rried. Gee, I really love you and we’re   gonna get ma-a-a-rried. Going to the Creekhouse of Love … Whoa-a-whoa-a-whoa-whoa Going to the Creekhouse of Love …Whoa-a-whoa-a-whoa-whoa Going to the Creekhouse of Love! And, I tell you, everyone in the room was singing and clapping the beats of the song and having a great time, serenading the newlyweds!  It was the best!  And, I am so glad we did it!  Our little flash mob at the wedding!  (Corny, for sure, but memorable!  And, I don’t think we embarrassed the younger folks too much!)

 

   

 

So much fun! So much love in the room.

 

 

The cousins…Ian, Lori, Alex, Tara, Adam

 

Everyone visited with each other and caught up on all the news.  But, slowly, it became time for folks to leave and they began to drift away.  First one and then another and another until the only ones left were Don and I, Ian and Tina and Patty and Mike.  I insisted that Joy and Suzanne leave.  They did a lot before they left, but we finished up the rest.  Don was leaving the next morning for a trip to California for the week and I knew that I was going to be sacked out for a day or two…or three.  Mike offered to take all the rentals back, which saved me from loading and returning them.  That was wonderful!  And Otelida washed the last dish.  And we were done.  She and Yazzmine, her granddaughter, left.  Ian and Tina were getting Jackson settled. He was going to stay with us while they went to a quaint little B&B in a neighboring town for the night.    Jackson was on my daybed, watching cartoons.  I got on the couch.  Don and Adam and Alex were watching a ballgame.  When that was over, Alex came and got in the bed with Jackson, because he had promised he would stay right with him all night.  And he did. Good night!  I’m too tired to even dream. Don left early the next morning, and Jackson and Alex and I had breakfast.  He played and watched TV till Ian and Tina came back around noon.  They opened some gifts and said their goodbyes and headed off to Birmingham to begin their lives together!    And, I climbed into bed! It was wonderful!  It was fun!  It was nerve-wracking!  It was blessed!  I am so thankful Ian and Tina decided  to come here and have their wedding.  It popped up out of the blue, but that’s OK.  Surprises are wonderful!  My hope is that when they look back on this night, in years to come…they will remember it as warm and cozy, glowing with good wishes and happiness…and filled with love for those they love and who love them. We felt that God was in our midst and that He blessed their marriage. I was reminded later, as I  pondered the events…we can plan and work and plan and work…and it still may not go according to our plans.  And, so what?  Isn’t life best when the unexpected pops up to surprise us?  That’s when we are our best, really.  Because it’s then that we lean on family and friends and God, most of all.  That’s when we work together and even out the rough spots and laugh about the rest!   “It was a perfect weekend!

“GOD HAS GIVEN US THESE TIMES OF JOY!”  Nehemiah 12:43  To Him go all the thanks and honor and glory!

 

 

 

 

Friday……October 25, 2013…….Part 2 of a story in 3 parts

There is a lot that needs to be done to get ready for a wedding…even if you have a whole week to plan for it!  (That’s a joke, friends…must be a luxury to have 6 months!)  I have spent all the past week getting things together.  Tina Davis (not Tina Cooley, the bride-to-be) came over and helped me get the things we would need to get the house decorated out of the storage room.  We have it all out and sorted and ready.  My house looks like a staging area.  A lot in more around this house  has to be decorated for a wedding than for just our little family.   All of this has me feeling just a tad bit overwhelmed.

 

Tina reminded me that this WAS the 3rd wedding the the Royal Design Team had done!  And, I think she and I had done a couple more, and I know Shirl had…so we were good to go!

I spent the week getting last minute things…ordering supplies, a few more decorations to buy, checking on the cake and the flower order…and getting all the food ordered from the caterer.  And, all my helpers were ready to go.  My housekeeper had been here on two days prior and she had everything cleaned and ready.  My dear friend, Patty, went and picked up all the rentals for me…chairs, cake stand, drink dispensers, etc.  She had to borrow her husbands truck to get it all.  Joy and I were sweating it out because we were going to have to split it between our two cars and hers is small!  But, Patty to the rescue!  Shirl left her house in Moultrie and drove the 2 hours to Dothan…arriving here around 8:00.  Joy got here soon after and they set about working out a plan of action.  I left to do the really last things and when I came back, they had things well under way.  The front porch…..

 

 

Joy worked until early evening and had to leave, but Tina D. got off work at 3, and boy did she and Shirl get busy!   They worked until Don came in bringing supper, but I had to leave it with them…I could not bend my back or take another step on my feet.  I rested while they all ate.  Ian and Tina and Jackson all came in around 10:00 and everyone went to bed soon after in anticipation of the big day ahead!

IT”S HERE!………….October 26, 2013

Today is the big day!  My baby boy is marrying the love of his life…and I intend to make sure everything is perfect for them!

You know, no matter how adept you are at decorating and no matter how many weddings you have decorated for in the past…when it is your own child…you brain turns to mush!  Or maybe it had something to do with a week’s notice and it being at my house!  I knew the look I wanted.  I had conveyed the look to all my helpers.  We were all on the same page.  And, I wanted to be doing something, but everytime I tried, it just wouldn’t work.  And, so, I left it all in their hands.  And, I had no doubts that it would all be just as perfect as I wanted it to be!

Sweet Joy.  I tried all day yesterday to get 2 makings of a recipe the kids all love…chess squares…made.  But, it never happened.  So, she took the whole shebang…pans and ingredients and such…home with her last night and had it here before 8:00 this morning for all the troops to enjoy through the day!  Thanks, Joy.  You are the best!  (I actually think that is a perfectly logical wedding breakfast, don’t you?)

The crew arrived and set about finishing the decor and the bride-to-be left to go and get her hair and makeup done.  Suzanne came in and fixed all the chicken salad shells, and worked on her pasta dish.

Dear Suzanne.  She worked on this pasta dish, Chicken Milano, for 4 days prior to the wedding.  She did all the chickens on one night.  And she did all the tomatoes and fixings another night.  Then she did all the pasta the next night.  She was making a HUGE amount.  But we wanted to make sure we had enough!  Then she brought it over and put it all together.  Thanks, Suzanne, your ease in the kitchen and with the food made it much easier on me.

Below is the mantel inside the house, beside the dining room table.    Don’t you love the chalkboard?

2:00…Shirl and Tina D  left to get ready…Joy left to get Tommy and Pop and take a breather…Suzanne went home to change and get Levi.  Ian and Tina and Jackson were on the bridge getting pictures made.  And, now, they moved to the backyard and around the pool and in the swing.  Adam is so good at what he does!  No one here but me and Otelida, my housekeeper.  Don came in and started to get ready.  I reminded him to hurry, the family pics are next.  Where was the cake?   It was now close to 4 and the baker was to have been here by 2:00.  Called her, no answer.  Called again…no answer.  Suzanne got back here and she called her…baker said she’s coming soon.  The food was to be here around 5:30 and all was well.  Table is laid out with labelled dishes to hold all the food.  I sat down to breathe.  Or not.  The baker came, huffing and puffing, with the cake.  It was very pretty …but not like we ordered it.   At this point, I was not going to fuss. It would do fine!  I wanted the rest of the food to get here so I could relax.

5:00…”It’s going to happen.  And, everything is ready.  Well, the main food is not here yet, but it should be here any minute.  The wedding is going to take place on the outside porch in front of the fireplace…sort of our own little chapel.  Here’s what it looked like before it got very dark. Twinkly lights all out in the trees in the backyard.   It’s beautiful.  Simply beautiful!”

And, all the chairs are gathered round and ready for our guests!

Gotta go get the family gathered!  Stay tuned…the best part is coming up in the next section.