Wedding goes on despite minor mishaps
It’s Thursday, the day before my wedding.
Everyone is busily preparing for the next day’s event. As the bridal party starts to arrive, folks warmly embrace each other, some meeting for this first time. Our Marriage and Family Life pastor, Ron Hitchcock, corrals the gang and moves everyone to the ceremony site. There, Eric and I formally introduce our family and friends to one another. Pastor Ron begins the rehearsal with prayer and then explains the Journey to Oneness.
Scream. What was that? Everyone tries to remain focused on Ron’s teaching, but it’s too difficult. In the background, we hear faint cries. It’s coming just beyond the garden but before the barn. There, in the entrance, we see my cousin carrying her crying daughter to the ceremony site. Lauren. My beautiful Lauren was running with excitement to see me. As she skipped and frolicked across the lawn, she lost her footing and fell. Her mom continued to comfort her as did my mother and then her sister.
The rehearsal continued. We completed one walk-through and Lauren completed nearly 20 minutes of non-stop crying. This wasn’t like her. She cries, but not like this. I went to comfort her and kiss the “boo-boo.” I bent down to kiss her arm as the tears continued to stream down her face. I removed the ice my mom had placed on it. Um. Yeah. It wasn’t a boo-boo. Nope. Girlfriend broke her arm. This is for real. She really broke her arm.
I called her mom, one of my bridesmaids over to the side. Before I said anything, she had already decided that she was going to take her to the hospital. She knew something was wrong, but she was trying to be present for at least one walk-through before the big day. You know…mommy instinct and mommy/friend guilt all combined in one big ol’ mess. I smiled, hugged her and said, “Let’s go now instead of after the rehearsal.” She saw her baby’s swollen arm and they jetted off to the hospital. The staff at our venue were amazing. They helped get her to the best outpatient/ER facility that was closest to our hotel.
After they left, we continued with the rehearsal, prayed, ate a great meal and prepared the venue for the wedding. Later that evening, I headed over to the hotel and noticed the biggest, closest full moon, like ever. It was so bright and really felt close … almost too close. As I unloaded the car, here comes smiling Lauren and her mommy. I asked her how she was feeling. She smiled and lifted her cast up to show me. I asked mom how she was doing, she responded with, “OK, considering.” Then they told me that while in the hospital Lauren told her mom, “Mommy. I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I promise, I will never run again. I will listen. This is the worst day ever.” We laughed, hugged and went off to our rooms to get a great nights sleep before the big day.
About 17 other wonderfully humorous, ill-timed, near-death, potential wedding-blocking events happened before 1 p.m. on Friday. You name it and I bet it happened just before our wedding. I won’t go into detail about those incidents. It’s not necessary. Because even though Lauren broke her arm and nearly 20 more potentially life-altering things happened in those 24 hours, they had no power. They did not stop us from getting married, nor did they stop us from enjoying the day.
Now many of you might be questioning my melodramatic approach to today’s article or wondering how could Lauren’s broken arm or the other 17 things that happened keep you from getting married. Roll with me on this. You know I always have a point. Let’s take Lauren’s broken arm experience. She experienced five stages — joy, shock, pain, reflection, and joy. At 5 years old, girifriend is about to teach y’all something. I hope that you’re tuned in.
How did Lauren break her arm? Well … simply she just wasn’t listening to her mom. Her mom told her several times to stop running, but the joy and excitement of seeing her family and friends and participating in the “girliest thing ever” — a wedding — she just couldn’t contain herself. She falls. She then experiences shock. The waterworks begin because she can’t believe what just happened. I’m sure she thought to herself, “I just fell. I fell in front of people at a farm. And now I’m crying. They are gonna hear me. I’m embarrassed.” All of those thoughts and emotions are running through her head while at the same time, the pain of the injury is settling in. Girlfriend went through thre stages in about 1.5 minutes. You with me? Let’s keep going.
After the many attempts that everyone gave to comfort her, the shock and pain of what happened overwhelmed her and she couldn’t calm down. Finally, she gets to the hospital. Her injury is diagnosed and she receives confirmation that her healing is on the way (aka cast is on arm). By 8:30 p.m. (2.5 hours after the incident), she is smiling again. And the next day, she never stopped dancing. In her purple dress, sparkly silver shoes and brand new cast, girlfriend was working the dance floor. She had her joy.
Now if you read this … you should be doing laps in your house right now. You should be jumping for joy, cause Jesus just spoke some things to you through this little girl named Lauren. Next time, we’ll finish talking about Lauren and her joy. For now, you go find your joy and make sure you never lose it again. Count it all joy my friends. All joy. Read James 1:2-3 and I Peter 1:8-9.
Gina Jones is a former resident of Fayette County, now living in Columubs, Ohio. She serves multiple communities as an advocate, educator, and leader. Follow Gina on Twitter @professorgmarie.