Singing a Song of Celebration~A Wedding

Having Zach in our life has been a series of firsts. He was our first child. First (only) boy. He had his first car accident at 2 yrs. old when he drove our car into the garage door. He was the first to be taken to emergency 3 yrs. later when he crashed his bike and fell face first on the cement. He was the first to break an arm, first to get glasses and braces, and get a driver's license. First to home-school, graduate high school, go to college, get arrested :) and leave home. Now he's our first to have a courtship, be engaged and on this Saturday, he'll be the first of our children to get married.

We're leaving tomorrow to travel to Arizona for Zach and Andrea's wedding !

We've known it was coming for six months, but our living far away, having him in Arizona, has made "the wedding" seem remote somehow. This week, however, the idea is becoming a reality. The big letters on the calendar "ZACH AND ANDREA'S WEDDING" are now not just a date that's 6 months away, but a day that's almost here.

We've been busy packing, planning and preparing for our trip: buying wedding attire, having fun dress and shoe shopping and picking out just the right jewelry. The girls are very excited, they haven't been to too many weddings and none have been so special.

But beyond all that, we as a family have had time to celebrate. We're celebrating the first of five weddings in our family. We're celebrating growing up, coming of age, rites of passage. It's been wonderful having late night talks with the girls about dating, courtship, engagement, weddings, marriage, family, etc. This has led to conversations about what character traits to look for in a man, how to prepare for marriage, what to focus on now as a teenager or a twenty-one year old.

As we're celebrating Zach's wedding and rejoicing with him, we're also celebrating our family, rehearsing family stories and memories, remembering growing up together and recounting all the changes we've gone through. Celebrating this milestone in Zach's life causes us (his parents) to reflect on our own wedding/marriage and remember the joys of building our own family over the last 26 years.

And now, we're anticipating with joy this new phase in our family and looking forward to future additions... (sons-in-law!).