4.09.2006

Weddings

Well, earlier tonight many of us witnessed the wedding of Mark and Missy here in Houston, Texas. What a wonderful wedding! Everything was, quite literally, perfect. It was a bit surreal finding Horizonites here in Texas, but I think we all fit in pretty well... perhaps minus the two-stepping country music (or was that just me? lol). The weather was unnaturally arid, and beauty surrounded the Parador in the full bloom of spring. Wonderful.

On top of this, I found myself on the top of Mt. Hood, Oregon - literally two weeks ago today performing another wedding (though in Mark and Missy's, I simply read Scripture). That, too, was a fantastic wedding of another kind - this time in a winter wonderland. All of us stayed in the Timberline Lodge on the side of Mt. Hood and then traveled a couple of thousand feet higher by snowcats to reach the Silcox Hut where the wedding took place. This, of course, was quite a sharp contrast from the spring wedding here in Texas.

Still, as both weddings differed in look and feel, there is one common thread through each: JOYOUS CELEBRATION. Each couple just brimmed with excitement and joy; each couple allowing friends and families to experience their own unique version of their dreamed wedding celebration. While one met in the warmth of the south, the other met in the cold of the north. While one played music from irish pipes and fiddles, the other pumped out traditional wedding tunes, and later... a splash of Usher and 50cent. :)

One thing that I take away from all of this is the fact that I have forgotten to celebrate. I need to do that more often. Kimme and I need to do that more often. My friend, I can only guess that YOU need to do that more often as well.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!" -- The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 4.4.

4.05.2006

No home to speak of

I have done a good deal of traveling as of late... from being a guest speaker at a conference in the SW to performing a wedding on top of Mt Hood in Oregon. All such trips lead me to casual conversation in which the normal string of questions ensue:

Where are you from? Where did you grow up? Etc.

Oddly enough, it is so hard for me to truly answer that. In fact, it feels like I have never truly had a home. When I was a kid I moved almost twice a year. I remember switching schools all the time, having to rebuild relationships, friendships, all from scratch. Is it any wonder that I am a church planter? lol -- But still... only one place was ever truly home for me growing up, and that was the Cowan house. I never lived there, so I guess it was never really a home, but it's the closes thing to stability that I have ever had. When Captain died in 2004 (and grandmother 2 years earlier), that "home" was gone from me as well...

All of this helps me hold loosely to this world and life here. Wherever I am, that is home. Whoever I am with, that is family. And, of course, my real home is heaven. It's a place I have never been but know I will see someday. Jesus is already preparing a place for me, as he has for every believer before me and as he will for every believer after. Thank God that THIS home will never fade away or die. Heaven is an eternal home, and my life here on earth as I follow him is preparation for the next chapter or phase. Thank God life does not end here. Thank God for eternal life...

"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

--

PS: I will be in Houston this weekend for Mark's wedding (more travel, and KC after that. lol) Being in Houston will mean catching up with old friends and family. I will return to my aunt's home in which Captain died. I suppose this will be sort of a final goodbye for me... if anyone reads this, please pray for me on that. Thanks...

DCC