When we moved to Villa Rica in 2012, it was under a bit of duress. The downturn had all but bankrupted us. Our three sons were married, two of them not long before we moved...and our daughter was away at college. They were all devastated at us selling our lovely farmhouse out in the country that they had helped us build with our own hands. Elizabeth resisted the idea of the beautiful, shabby Victorian that we bought with our life savings. It was if she couldn't commit. As we strolled through the yards, I said, "Wouldn't this be a perfect place to have your wedding one day?" She said "Never! I never want an outdoor wedding. There's too many things that could go wrong." I mentioned this to her occasionally over the last eight years, with the same kind of response.
Enter her engagement. We planned for a huge wedding at the chapel and school in Cave Springs, which was very affordable and pure magic. Many days and nights of strategy ensued. We made several trips out there, to see the possibilities. I drew diagrams, we began constructing flower arrangements and buying up decor, dishes and sparklers. Friends contributed items. I cleaned all of our 30+ lanterns and carefully placed them back in their boxes in the barn. We were ready, three months out. I figured it would lessen the wedding stress to have most of it done as early as possible.
Enter Covid-19. The world shut down like a nervous clam. Not only were we scared to death to venture outside our doors, the venue sent back our money. I cashed the check and put it in a safe. We were having a wedding, somehow, some way, and that money wasn't going for bullets or groceries. When some time had gone by, the folks at the venue thought that we would still be able to have the wedding there. We plowed ahead, learned a new calligraphy font, addressed about 200 invitations, stamped them with wax seals the old-fashioned way and mailed them off with lots of hope. There were ooohs and aaaahhhs, plenty of questions and many well wishes.
My heart was broken for my daughter, as all of those special bridal events that a girl dreams of began to be cancelled as well. The possibility of postponing the wedding was simply not an option. These were Christian young people and had waited and remained pure for their day. None of us wanted them to wait any longer than they had to. But as each week passed, the bad news just seemed to pile up. At first, we watched the reports, the deaths, from remote places. Then we watched it draw near, mild in some cases and deathly in others. There were tears and dread. Surely Jesus is coming back soon, many said.
All this time, our hearts were thick with prayer. I prayed for her and her fiance constantly. I was amazed at her calm and thankful attitude. Drama was all around, but she kept her heart steady and fixed on the truth. Presents began arriving, first in a dribble and then a stream. Her matron of honor arranged a delightful social-distanced shower, then as things began to open up, a bachelorette weekend at the beach. Her originally-scheduled showers were squeezed into the last few days before her wedding. The only venue available to us that didn't cost an arm and a leg was yes, our backyard. Then we began to watch the weather predictions. All was looking dour -- 50%, 80%, 40% -- it changed every day, but always looking like rain. We ordered tents, made contingency plans, prayed more, cried more, rearranged every possible scenario that had conspired over the last six months.... to be continued....
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