There are all kinds of occasions which bring people together. One of the happiest events can be a wedding. Now, not all weddings are happy. A recent wedding that occurred live on T.V. was annulled before the ink was dry on the pre-nuptial agreement! Some weddings are cancelled at the last possible minute by one of the parties involved. Perhaps you’ve even attended a wedding or two where it would have been BETTER if the bride and groom had left the building BEFORE the ceremony! (g)

Pat and I recently drove to northern Georgia and attended the wedding of our daughter, Kathleen, to William. I’d already made two trips up there to meet and get acquainted with this man who wanted to marry our daughter. Believe me, he got scrutinized, organized, unionized,and checked out! William and I have a very similar and compatible sense of humor. He could have been one of our sons! Of course, if he were, he couldn’t have married our daughter! (g)

Kathi is a high school teacher. William is a middle school teacher. They met while both were in the same class pursuing their master’s degrees. It took William quite awhile to track her down. I think it was pretty much love at first sight!

While visiting Kathi, I got a late night call from William. Kathi wasn’t home. He asked if he could come see me. That required an hour drive – each way. I figured something was definitely in the wind. When he showed up, we had a neat conversation. Toward the end, he asked for her hand in marriage. I suggested he might just as well have the rest of her at the same time! (g)

February 12th was rapidly approaching. Lots of stuff to do on the Georgia end. Both had incredibly crammed schedules. I suggested putting the wedding off for a year or two, but got no takers! (g)

Pat and I left on the 9th and holed up in a motel. We tried to help with last minute details. On Friday night, February 11th, we were under a tornado watch. (The next night, tornadoes did strike in southern Georgia and killed 21 people.) The rain began to come down. It came down pitchforks and hoe handles, and cats and dogs (oops, I almost stepped in a “Poodle”). Kathleen had the room next to us. She came over and said that she would appreciate prayers for the ending of rain for her wedding day. I told her that I would pray that not only would the rain end, but she’d have a sunny day.

The next morning at 9:00, Kathi came to our room. It was raining harder than ever! We could hardly see Tonka 02 in front of our room. Kathi’s brother, Mark, flew in from Colorado for the wedding. We discussed grabbing a bite of breakfast. Kathi’s hair was impeccable. Imagine what the rain would have done to her hair just getting from the room to my truck. We decided that we couldn’t put off heading out past 9:30. When we opened the door at 9:30, the rain had stopped! Kinda like God turned the faucet off! (g)

When we left the restaurant at 10:15, there were little peek a boo spots of sunshine sneaking through the clouds. We drove to the church and went inside. The ceremony was great. I had the opening prayer. William’s father had the closing prayer. In between, cousin Rob led them through the vows and promises.

At the very moment he pronounced them Husband and Wife, Pat grabbed my arm. There, much like an enormous spotlight had suddenly been switched on, was a shaft of sunlight streaming through the stained glass window. It illuminated the wedding couple perfectly.

What a gift from God! Not just “no rain”, but sunshine! I thought to myself, “Daddy really cares. He cares about the tiniest little details of our lives. It must have delighted Him no end to answer that prayer. Thanks, Daddy!

BTW, I may write more later about our visit to New Echota, site of the birth of the Cherokee Indian Nation. It was from New Echota that the infamous Trail of Tears began. Or, perhaps I’ll tell you about the U-Haul truck driver who almost sent us down the mountainside in a rainstorm. Just maybe!

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