Wedding

I have written a couple of things, but then never quite got to posting them and now they are on the other computer in another town in this transient life we are living. We've only been in the states for two weeks and haven't stopped moving yet.

We just finished the wedding weekend and my youngest daughter is now a Smith. It was a beautiful Christ-centered affair and we had dear friends from all over the country come to celebrate this wedding with us. We had people from Pittsburgh, Mozambique via Colorado, Mozambique via Chicago, [former missionaries to Mozambique] Alabama, Idaho, Tennessee, Georgia, all sorts of places. The wedding was outside at a nearby farm and absolutely lovely. The rains came in the day before and cooled things down a bit and the wedding day was beautiful and much cooler although still a bit toasty.

Tomorrow at zero dark thirty I take my oldest to the airport so she can return home. We have especially enjoyed

some 'alone time' with her today - it has been a long time. I really miss spending time with my precious girls. She is on the right in the above picture.

In the above, precious daughter Lynsey on left, me, Allison (bride), Byron, beautiful Ann, and precious Krista. Daughter 3 of 4 (Sarah) is in Nashville and we just got the call - a baby is coming this week, so we are on our way to Nashville right after our next transitional workshop session on Wednesday. So, the first grand baby will be here very soon (she is being induced on Thursday).

I didn't cry too much at the wedding - As with my other Son's-in-law, when you just really like them, you don't have a problem with the wedding. We're very fond of Byron and they are a good match for each other. I did fine until I walked Allison to the altar to pass her to Byron and have to admit that I shed a few tears at that point. Allison was so beautiful and your life passes by your eyes in a moment as you see your baby daughter now a beautiful bride - it is quite moving.

Our sessions with Godspeed Ministries have been very helpful to us as we re-enter this culture. It is hard to explain to someone how 'shocking' it is to re-enter our home culture after being in a developing country for four years. I really should try and write more about it and after we finish with our debriefing sessions - I will try to do that a little later.

The wedding provided a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with dear friends from Pittsburgh and with distant family that we haven't seen for quite some time. But, it is also a time when we are spread pretty thin so we never get to spend the one-on-one time we would like to have with our friends in the wedding environment. It really made us look forward to being with our friends again in a few more weeks.

Thank you for standing with us so faithfully!

Dave (& Ann)

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united (some versions use the word "cleave" which I like a lot better) to his wife and they will become one flesh." Gen 2:24

Weddings are a wonderful celebration in any culture!