Posted in Family, General, Marriage, Photo, wedding, tagged Christ and His Church, Commitment, Marriage, Road Trip, wedding on March 24, 2020|
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The final one of my 5 children to get married was scheduled for the big event on April 4. Travel restrictions were beginning to be talked about and even instituted in one state. They decided to get married two weeks early. I got a call at 8:15 in the morning and was on the road by noon.
Long distance travel; distance working
There were hours of good conversation and plenty of drivers to make the 15 hour trip seem shorter.
sunset over Alabama
We arrived at our destination in Texas at 2:45 AM. The next day was rest, a little distance, online work, getting to know people, and setting up for the wedding. It was surprisingly cool and rainy.
Set up for the Reception Dinner
The venue has everything you need for a beautiful wedding. There is a two car garage full of props (everything you see in these pictures and more).
making an aisle
talented and generous bride
cozy
well equipped
Preparing for a reduced crowd
The owner told us that this venue had been the home of her family of 7. It would be roomy for a family of twelve, I think.
- former roommate
Almost time
The Bride’s Parents
The commitment is both a serious and joyous event.
The Happy Couple
Her family
coats after the ceremony
The couple, in God’s providence, instrumental in bringing them together:
Rose Petals instead of rice or birdseed
going away now
A wedding before a pastor who reviewed the challenges and joys of the commitment of a man and woman before they made their vows and signed a covenant is a Christian event. The whole ceremony points to the larger event one day when the Bride of Christ, the Church, will be presented before the Groom, our Savior and Lord, Jesus. He has and is doing all of the work in presenting His Bride in pure white, purified from all spot or blemish. It seems odd that the One due all of the glory is pictured as standing in duller tones of attire, waiting for the glorious procession of His Bride. But He receives all of the glory for going to the extreme degree to bring about this transformation to present her in this fashion. A lifelong commitment lived out in marriage is the stronger picture of an eternal life lived with the glorious Savior in the abode He has prepared and to which He will whisk away His Bride for the Wedding Feast and life together.
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From last Thursday until Monday afternoon I either drove or rode in a car for about 35 hours. The reason for the trip was well worth the effort and the company and conversation were stimulating and substantial. But it did remind me of a time when I could aptly describe the a trip as purgatory.
When I was in college I studied spiders.* Deep into a research project, my major professor realized that she needed some DNA samples in order to verify her hypothesis and realization that she was dealing with two different species of spiders. It was not the field research season- Summer- so she decided to send me on a Kamikaze bus trip to collect samples.
I took a Trailways bus from Knoxville, TN, to El Paso, TX. Wait, it gets worse. I slept overnight in the Trailways headquarters bus terminal in Dallas, TX. I carried a box of the approximate dimensions of 18″ x 18″ x 36″ tall containing a DeWar flask full of liquid nitrogen. The purpose of this container was to quick freeze collected spiders at my destination, Southwest Research Station (SWRS) in the Chirichahua Mountains of southeast Arizona. I could not flip the Dewar flask on its side since this would lose its contents. Bus drivers wanted to insist that I put it in the undercarriage luggage compartment, but it was too tall to stand upright. Much of the trip it sat upright in a seat beside me, but when the long distance bus became a commuter bus from Memphis to Little Rock and beyond, with standing room only, I had to hold it upright in my lap. Drivers and riders alike must have thought I was carrying a bomb. In every little town across Texas we would stop under a street light where the many insects circled around, waiting for a new driver or passengers to board. In El Paso I had to catch a taxi to the airport in order to rent a car for the remainder of the trip.**
My previous visit to SWRS had been pleasant and un-rushed. This trip was during colder weather at a station without heat, quickly collecting and marking specimens and returning to El Paso for another taxi ride back to the bus terminal and more time aboard a bus. The green of the East never looked so good, the Mississippi River so welcoming, or Knoxville so beloved. I felt as though I had escaped the dark tunnel of purgatory for real life again. I like adventures, even those that are spontaneous, but sometimes one gets more than he bargains for.
*That could be the beginning of many of my stories.
**It was not possible to transport a full Dewar flask on an airline.
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