Cutting into the cake using the same knife as for our original wedding cake.
A great gift - an enlargement of our wedding picture with messages written on the mat board.
Home and Garden: February 2004 Archives
Sunday morning, we got to church even earlier than usual to talk to Father about the renewal of vows. He had told us that it could be either during Mass or right after, but since it was a special anniversary he would love to do it during. So we met with him and learned that he wanted to segue from the homily into the renewal - just be standing at the foot of the center aisle during the homily and he would call us up.
So we went on up to the choir loft and after the Gospel, we shrugged out of our choir robes and walked back down the stairs. Father gave an excellent homily on the gospel, especially about the true nature of love and the command to love and pray for all, including especially our enemies. I remember that he challenged us to pray for our enemies by asking "When was the last time you prayed for a terrorist?", and I found myself thinking about how St. Blog's has challenged me to live out the tenets of Christianity with courage, including praying for terrorists and abortionists, and all the other 'ists who make life terrible.
So we walked up that aisle and stood at the foot of the altar facing each other and holding hands. Father made a comment about "Thirty years, and they still look at each other and hold hands". He then read aloud a LONG exhortation about marriage and fidelity and added in some words of thanksgiving for the Christian witness that a marriage is. He pointed out that he was sure that we had had rough times in our marriage but that we had been able to utilize the graces of the Sacraments to keep it together (those weren't his exact words, though). He then invited us to repeat after him the words of our wedding vows, and we did that. We then walked back down that long aisle and disappeared back into the choir loft. After Mass, we had lots of parishioners stop us and say God Bless and Congratulations. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate this special event within the Sunday Mass in the Real Presence of Jesus.
My son took a picture as we walked back down the aisle. I will try to post it when I can get it to load to my computer.
This is not our actual car, but a picture I found on the net that looks just like it. John decided that he could live without 4 wheel drive since he can use the work Jeep for the remote sites. We had been talking about possibly renting a minivan for the few days that our children would be home - but this is the car that my salesman had just taken in trade when we showed up on the lot. It all fell together way too perfectly - and once again, St. Mary's bank came through! So thanks for all the prayers.
I don't know how much time I will have to blog the next few days. Any of you who are nearby, feel free to drop in Sunday morning at our renewal of vows. 1030 Mass at St. John the Baptist parish in Suncook New Hampshire.
I don't know if anyone has been reading this blog lately - no comments have been made so I can't really tell. We are in the last few days of trying to get things together for our upcoming anniversary party. I may post one of our wedding pix just for the heck of it.
Today was very stressful. I was at work sitting in a meeting and I got a page from my husband. He had been in a near miss (almost hit by a car that didn't yield the right of way) while taking our child to school, and afterwards the clutch on his car was acting weird. Turns out something sheared off, and to make a long story short, we are in the position where we are having to replace his 1985 Bronco. Meanwhile, I have to drop him at work on my way in tomorrow. Prayers appreciated. I guess that the tax refund will go for big stuff, not little stuff.
I did nothing that most people would consider romantic yesterday. I got up early, kissed hubby good bye, got in the car and drove the hour to work. Well, I guess that some would consider it romantic that just before midnight, I helped usher baby Thomas into the world. I am pretty sure that his mom and dad (fairly new immigrants from SouthEast Asia) are rather excited about how they spent their Valentines day. But I did not go to a movie, have a special dinner, or any of those things.
I have found over the years that I am more pragmatic than romantic. My husband is far more likely than I to cry at events. I don't know if my emotions are in deep-freeze, or just the expression of them. I can be deeply moved - but that deep stays inside. I am not really into the celebration of most national days of emotion like Valentines, Mother's day, Father's day, etc. I cherish the religious holidays and I do follow many traditions for Shrove Tuesday, etc. But I am just not into the 'feeling' part of it. More intellectual, I guess.
So when I read about dinner and gushy movies, about chocolates and jewelry, my response is along the lines of "That's nice". But it just doesn't touch me.
I wonder how I will react to our anniversary celebration? I wonder if I will disappoint those around me?
My 15 y/o daughter has about a dozen friends over right now for a "We aren't watching the Super Bowl" party. It is a kick to listen to these kids. First off, all but one of them play music on a regular basis, and of course the first thing they do at a party is to pick up some of the instruments around the house and start playing. One of them brought over a DVD of Bela Fleck and so on, so we had to hook up the DVD player our oldest son gave us for Christmas. It was a great collection of music to have in the background, but I was really blown away by the rendition of Copeland's Rodeo.
I am so blessed by the kids my daughter calls friend. Polite, loving, with good parents as well. They have even been a source of positive peer pressure, as in persuading her to sign up for confirmation classes.
To think what we would have missed if we had stopped at 5 kids!
