A birthday, a wedding and a trip

A birthday: Today is officially Anya's birthday, and while we had a party last weekend, we still had to recognize the day. She got the game of Life from us 'rents, as well as some simply fabulous, creative, festive cards from her sisters. And woke up to a delicious breakfast of G'ma french toast (it's kind of like a cross between french toast and a cinnamon roll; you don't put syrup on it, unless of course you have some desire to slip into a hyper-glycemic coma).

A wedding: I am headed out this afternoon to officiate a wedding for a couple in our church. I love doing weddings, and I've really enjoyed meeting with this couple over the past months as we've headed toward this day. If only the actual day could be as relaxed as all the days we've had leading up to it. I ache for the bride, because I know she (like every bride) wants this day to be special, memorable, enjoyable, but all the details of planning during this last week only seem to provide stress and emotion. I'm praying that once we get to the ceremony this aft, there will be simplicity and joy, and that they can truly focus on this covenant, and sense the presence of God as they join their lives together.

A trip: As I mentioned in a previous post, Karen is away at a conference today. She tried to lessen my sadness at her absence by leaving this on my pillow: It definitely doesn't replace her, but it certainly makes the time we're apart taste better!

She's at a Beth Moore conference this weekend, along with a friend from here. For those of you unfamiliar, Beth Moore is a Christian writer and speaker, founder of Living Proof Ministries (http://www.lproof.org/). Weird, random event that happened to us back in Oct 06: We had taken a trip down to Moab, Utah and were hiking through Arches National Park, when we come upon a crew doing some filming. The ranger asks us to wait a minute, and when they stop filming for a moment and we hike by, it's Beth Moore recording some of the intro footage for an upcoming Bible Study series! We talked with her for just a minute and snapped a pic or two.

She mentions meeting Karen and our family in one of her studies...can't remember which one, 'cause I haven't done any of them. If Karen was here, she'd know; but, she's with Beth...again :)