Dear friends,
Michael and I were wonderfully overwhelmed with your kindness and love this weekend. Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our wedding, in ways large and small. It was truly a community event with a real family feeling to it, even though there was only one blood relative in attendance (Michael’s twin brother Brian). From the children who participated in the service, through the youth who arranged flowers and climbed ladders to hang crepe paper, to everyone who came and brought food, drinks, cards, gifts, and goodwill, it was a home-grown production and we are so grateful for all you gave us. Especially given how sick I had been the week before, we really needed help getting everything together, and you all came through for us! Although we are geographically far away from most of our family, we feel supported and loved by this faith family, and the friendships that have come to mean so much to us. Knowing we are surrounded by so much love makes it easier to put down solid roots here as we get ready to move into our house (our manse!) in November.
At our wedding, Ben preached about the story of Jesus turning water into wine, and how the best wine was saved for last. He encouraged us to believe that the ordinary can become extraordinary. Unfortunately I’m not sure if I’ll be able to use that particular wisdom for a while, as I haven’t seen many “ordinary” days in the past few weeks and I’m not sure when they might return to my life. But the other part of the message was simple: just enjoy it. Jesus transformed water into wine, not grape juice and not two-buck-chuck, but the finest of wines. If that isn’t a theological mandate to sit back, sip, savor, and enjoy life, I don’t know what is.
So I’m raising a glass to all of you, our extended family, our church family, and our friends. Thank you so much for all the love. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Every Blessing,
Talitha (&Michael)
And a few photos courtesy of Lee Aurich:
