Back From The Wedding

We're back from a very long but quick trip to Nashville this past weekend. As I may have mentioned before, my mom was getting re-married to a great guy and she wanted her kids (and grandkids) to be part of the ceremony. It was an incredible wedding, full of music, laughter, tears and worship. Music has always been a big part of our family, with all of us singing in choirs, groups or solo at some point, as well as playing instruments like piano, organ, trombone, drums, etc. Now, we're not the Von Trapp family singers by any stretch, but we love music and we love to sing. So it was only fitting that my mom had several songs sung by family & friends. She'd asked me to produce a video and narraration for her as well so I rummaged through as many pics as I could find of the various family members on both sides, laid down the music bed "When God Made You" as well as my voice and my grandparents reading some scripture. To me, having them read from the Bible really made that video shine. I notice my mom's eyes (as well as my sisters' and other family members) welled up with tears as the video ended. Funny how poignant pictures can be in the right setting.

My mom & her new hubby took off for an Alaskan cruise yesterday and I don't think we could be any happier for them. He is a great guy and the entire family has welcomed him in with open arms. I think his spirit and his incredibly good sense of humor make him a natural fit to our little group. He and my mother love to laugh and joke with each other as well as other people. In fact, whenever our family gets together, as in grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings, there is at least 2-4 times when there are laughing spells that literally cause tears and gasping for breath.

Saturday was no exception.

My aunt, who is an incredible soprano, sang a couple songs. One of them she was going to sing was "More Than Wonderful" by Sandi Patty & Larnelle Harris. She was going to do a duet with the song leader from my mom's church, who also is an incredible vocalist. So the two of them doing that song had everyone waiting in anticipation and excitement as we waited to hear them perform during rehearsal that day.

Except we had a little surprise for Marvin.

Little did he know, but as the kids say nowadays, he was about to get "punk'd". That means he was about to be part of a joke at his expense.

On the first time through "More Than Wonderful", the vocalists sing in harmony. Now as I said, both my aunt and Marvin are incredible singers, both of whom have sung this song before and know it inside & out. There was no fear or trepidation on either one of their parts as to whether or not the other singer could sing in tune and harmonize correctly. So here comes the chorus...

"For He's more wonderful..."

However, unbeknownst to Marvin, Dianna was going to intentionally sing off key and tank the harmony. BIG time.

And she did. Man, did she ever!!

And as she strainded to sound horrible, Marvin's eyes got big as saucers. He waved his hand up in the air and asked the sound guy to stop the tape and please start over, ever the consumate professional.

My mom, sisters, grandparents, Aubrey, me and everyone else were on the floor at this point, laughing in hysterics. It took Marvin a few seconds to realize what was going on. My aunt, through tears & laughter said "they put me up to do it" to which Marvin replied "well don't do everything they ask...especially Cheryl!"

Laughter ensued and then turned to peace and worship as Marvin & Dianna sang in perfect pitch those incredible words of praise and adoration to our Lord.

"For He's more wonderful, than my mind can conceive
He's more wonderful, than my heart can believe
He goes beyond, my wildest hopes and fondest dreams...
He's everything that my soul ever longed for
Everything He's promised and so much more
More than amazing, more than marvelous,
More than miraculous could ever be
He's more than wonderful
That's what Jesus is to me."

Yes, He is. What made that wedding so special to me and to many others was the spirit of worship that permeated that church that day. It was a wedding and a celebration for sure.

But it was also a worship service, a service of thanksgiving to God for bringing 2 incredible people together, blessing their lives and uniting them as one.

Mom & Aubrey, if you have stopped by to read this while on your honeymoon or when you get back, we love you both and pray God's richest blessings upon your lives together.