The Wedding

My dad, brothers Rusty and Darrell, Cindy, me, Harris and David

Okay, sorry I've made you wait almost a week for a post about the wedding. I am usually just too brain-dead to blog at night anymore, and that's really the only time I have these days to do this.

The wedding was beautiful! Cindy, my sister-in-law :D, had no wedding planner, and yet what she pulled off on her own looked like something that could be featured in a Southern Bride magazine! Darrell and Cindy were married at a place called Capps Cove, in a little country church that looks like something you would see in Cades Cove up in the Smoky Mountains. It was a gorgeous location with woods all around - perfect for a Fall-themed wedding. Cindy was a gorgeous bride, too. She is naturally a pretty woman, and her sweet spirit makes her beautiful, but when I saw her just before the wedding, it literally took my breath away.

The boys did very well. They were excited to wear their suits once they saw Uncle Darrell was wearing one. They did get a little tired of all the pictures they had to pose for. They were getting pretty hyper with all the excitement and commotion going on, so just before the wedding started, I reminded them of what they were supposed to do and went and sat down. They did the walk down the aisle perfectly!!! I was SO proud of them! They went and stood exactly where they were supposed to as well. David got tired pretty quickly and decided to cop a squat right there on his spot. At one point he fell over backwards while squatting and hit his head on the floor. It made a loud thud on the wooden floor, and he would have started crying except that everyone giggled when it happened, and David LOVES to make people laugh, so he was quite pleased with himself over it. He did finally melt down and start to cry, so my mom just took him and held him on her lap and that made him happy.

Harris did great the whole time! He stood and held the ring box (David had the ring pillow) the whole time. He did keep turning around at me every few minutes to make sure he was doing the right thing. I made the mistake of giving him a thumbs-up one time, so then he would turn around and give me a thumbs-up every few minutes. When it came time for them to exchange rings, the preacher came and took the box from Harris, instead of just taking the rings like they had rehearsed the night before. Harris put his hands on his hips and was quite indignant for a minute, but he got over it and stood there tall and still until Darrell and Cindy were pronounced husband and wife, at which point Harris runs to me and says, "Mommy, I did it! I did it!"

Amy Beth sat in my lap the whole time. She was trying to get fussy a couple of times, but nothing too disturbing or distracting. She was very good considering she missed her afternoon nap all-together. She did spit up all over her pretty dress, but fortunately it was after everything was over and we were about to change the kids anyway for the trip home.

It was as perfect a wedding as you can hope to have, I think. God had His hands all over it. Everything came together like it was supposed to, the boys did great, as did the flower-girl (Cindy's neice). God even let the rain cooperate. Just as we were finished with the combined family pictures after the wedding and heading in to the reception area (up the hill a little bit from the church), it started to sprinkle. It apparently rained pretty good while everyone was inside eating at the reception It ended in time for Darrell and Cindy to get in their going-away clothes and have those pictures done and to drive away.

A couple of funnies from the weekend:

1) At the rehearsal, Darrell was standing at the front, along with the pastor who was walking them through the process, and Cindy and her dad came up to the front. As they were all standing there listening to the pastor's instructions, Harris turned to me and said, "Mommy, which one is she gonna marry?"

2) At the reception, the boys found some other kids to play with and took off. I wasn't too concerned because it was a small place. However, we couldn't find David. Someone said he was with Uncle Darrell who was changing clothes getting ready to leave. Preston and I went to the van to start putting things away and get ready to leave ourselves. Suddenly David comes running up as fast as he can go and said, "Mommy, Daddy! I knew where our car was! I found it, 'cause I was lost, you know." He said it so calmly that I thought he was just pretending or that someone had told him to find us before he got lost. However, the more he talked about it, the more I realized he really had been lost. After telling us all about it he said, "Being lost is no fun. I don't think I'll do that ever again."

Harris and David hanging out at the rehearsal

Cindy's neice, Annaka, who was the flower girl.

Annaka loved my boys. Harris was very sweet to her right away. It took David a little bit to warm up to her. Here they are all holding hands at the prayer bench.

Harris sitting in Aunt Cindy's lap. He LOVES her, so much so that he chose to sit by her instead of beside Grandma at the rehearsal dinner. That has never happened before.

My mom with my 3 children. They were just hanging out, but the colors were so pretty that I had to take a picture. Amy Beth thought the bow on her dress was very tasty.

Darrell, Harris and David are waiting for Cindy. Darrell is such a good uncle, I can't wait to see the kind of father he will be one day.

This is just one of the times that Harris looked back at me to make sure he was doing the right thing - and that I was paying attention to him. He was so proud of himself.

I love this picture of David. All dressed up in his little man suit, but just a-swinging those legs like the little boy that he is. At this point he was getting tired of having his picture taken.

Mother and daughter. Before I know it, it will be her wedding I am attending. **tear**

Day Over

So today was Darrell and Cindy's wedding. It was the sweetest, most beautiful wedding I have ever seen. Knowing all that my brother has been through, and how long Cindy has waited and prayed for God's choice to be her husband made it all the more special. Prayers were answered, and God was glorified. I think every family member - from both sides - got teary-eyed at least once. For Darrell, it was when he danced with our mom at the reception to the song, "Hello Mama" by the Kingdom Heirs. It's sung from the perspective of a man who is thanking his mom for all her prayers, and telling her that she doesn't have to worry any more because he has found Jesus and all her prayers were answered. Mom and Darrell both cried through the whole thing. (Now I'm crying.) How good God is to have answered all those prayers in such generous ways. As dark and hopeless as things looked sometimes in Darrell's life, God used ALL of it for Darrell's good, and for His glory. Mom, if you read this, thank you for praying and never giving up on him. Darrell, I am so proud of you and love you so very much. Cindy, thank you for being the answer to a lot of those prayers, and for making my brother the happiest man alive. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

I will post pics and funny moments later. But it has been a long day, and church is tomorrow, so I need to go to bed. My sweet David said it best as I was getting him ready for bed (and he couldn't hardly hold his eyes open), "Day Over."

Happy Birthday Darrell!

Today is my brother, Darrell's, 29th birthday! I have two brothers, Darrell and Rusty, both younger than me. Darrell is the middle child of our family. Growing up I had a love/hate relationship with both of my brothers - meaning sometimes I loved them and sometimes I didn't. (I really never hated them - that's much too strong of a word.) But no matter how irritated I would get with them, if anyone messed with them, or if they needed me for anything, I would be there in a second.

Darrell's life is a testament to the amazing, transforming work of God's grace. In his late teens, he got involved in alcohol and drugs. At that time, our paths didn't cross very often, and when they did, it was awkward at best. I always prayed for God to bring him out of that lifestyle, but I also always prayed that God would protect him. Darrell had a couple of run-ins with law enforcement (that's part of the reason our relationship was so strained - I was married to a police officer!) and he had a gun pulled on him a couple of times by dealers or buyers who didn't like what he had to offer. But he was never jailed and he was never harmed.

Until one night he was arrested for stealing a car for a joy-ride. He was high on something at the time and later told me, "I felt invincible and invisible. Nobody could see me, and if they did, they wouldn't stop me." Well, reality hit him when he was arrested that night for grand theft auto - a felony. I can't remember if he called and told me or if my mom told me. (the weird thing is that I had had a dream not too long before that about Darrell stealing a car and getting arrested for it.) I told mom I wanted to be with her at his court date. There were 2 or 3 court dates, but in the end, he only had to pay a fine, do some community service, and be on probation for a couple of years. He had been so cooperative with the police after his arrest, that the arresting officer actually testified in court to ask for leniency for Darrell! The other reason he was able to get off so light was because it was his first offense. Well, I praised God for that and thought this was the wake-up call he needed. However, Darrell later told me that, "At that point my eyes were opened, but I was still headed down the same path."

Finally, on New Year's Eve 1999, I was at church for a candlelight service when Darrell came to my mind so strongly. I started praying my usual prayer for him - save him, but don't hurt him - when God clearly spoke to me and said, "If you want Me to save him, you're going to have to stop asking for his protection. Allow me to do what needs to be done to get his attention." Well, that scared me a lot because I knew what Darrell "deserved". But I also knew that God had spoken to me, and that He wouldn't allow unnecessary harm to come to him. So I prayed and said, "Lord, right now I am giving you permission to do whatever it takes to get Darrell's attention and to turn his life around. Just please don't take his life - but anything short of that that You need to do, please do." (Yes, I am aware that God doesn't need my permission for anything, but sometimes He gives us exactly what we ask for - in my case, Darrell's protection.)

So, the service ended and a couple of friends and I picked up some pizza and took it to my house to play games, hang out, and bring in the new year. Just at the stroke of midnight, my phone rang. It was one of Darrell's friends calling to tell me he had been arrested again - this time for a failure to appear warrant. Unlike last time, though, when the combination of friends and parents were able to bail him out immediately, there was no one around. His friends were too drunk to care. Both of our parents were out of town, and besides that the banks were closed. Darrell ended up spending 4-5 days in a Hueytown jail because of a misdemeanor. Where before he had committed a felony and walked away. God was letting Darrell know right away that this was His wake-up call. Darrell also had a bad head cold at the time, which made his situation that much more miserable. He called me later that night (I was up because I couldn't sleep once I heard he was in jail), and I had never heard him so broken and miserable. On Sunday we went to see him, which was a horrible thing, to see my brother behind bars. On Tuesday, he was finally released on bail with a scheduled court date to pay off the fines. Darrell came out of that cell a changed person! He immediately quit the drugs, shortly thereafter quit smoking, started going to church (at a place that used to be called the Crossroads Community Church but now is the Downtown Church), and got a job. He gave his life completely over to God! As he describes it, "After the first arrest, my eyes were open but I was still headed the same direction. After the second arrest, God picked me up and made me do a 180." Hallelujah!

Today, 8 years later, Darrell is a sold out God-follower. He has been instrumental in bringing some of his friends from that former lifestyle to Christ by inviting them to church and being a consistent testimony of God's amazing grace. The last 8 years have not been easy on him. He's been through the ordeal of our dad's heart attack and later his stroke, and a couple of years ago he suffered one of the biggest heartaches of his life. But through all of it, he never doubted God's faithfulness and kept his eyes on Him during the long and torturous storm. God brought him through that, too. Today he is a hard-working man with a God-given passion for working with young teenagers, a beloved uncle to my kids, a caring son to his parents - especially to our dad who is now disabled, and he is a brother whom I admire and respect. He's also the funniest person I know. And he is getting married in September to a wonderful, sweet, and godly girl. Only God could have done such a marvelous transformation. Glory to God!!

Darrell, I'm so proud of you. You have been so faithful in your walk with God and trusting Him always. You have been a help to me and an encouragement to me so many times. I am thrilled for you to be marrying such an awesome girl as Cindy, and I pray God will bless the both of you as you seek Him together. Happy Birthday, little brother. I love you!