Wedding Preparations

So, I lay awake through part of the night trying to construct a list of foods for a rehearsal dinner buffet next month. I awoke tired and weary from making apple/bramble crumbles and wondering how to cook a whole salmon. And popped into the shop on the way to my regular blood test to pick up another couple of bottles of prosecco which has been on sale half price for a few weeks now.

Robbie and Emma are in full wedding planning mode (I sincerely hope...). Guests who can come will be looking for accommodation in the area. 

So far I’ve bought two things which might be ok to wear for the wedding, and my sister-in-law is coming round today with a third which she has seen. I’m concerned about keeping warm in the November crispness of a castle, while still looking presentable. Hire a hat? Buy new shoes? Or wear those which are comfy? Not yet sure.

But I aim to have answers to all my questions by the time we pack the car and head off for the wedding. I want to relax and enjoy the celebration.

It’s all about preparation. 

How much we can enjoy and participate in what is coming up often depends on how well we have prepared for it.

Jesus likens heaven to a wedding, with its wedding feast, and tells a story which indicates that what you wear to his wedding feast is important. Of course he’s not talking so much about the clothes we wear as he is about the attitudes of our hearts, which should be shaped by our passion for Jesus and our desire to serve him here on earth before we get to the wedding feast. Our passion to serve him should result in our service to others now, today. 

Be alert, he advises. Notice the signs of the times. Get ready.

I’m just off to read my Bible, to get to know him better.

Curtains

           

The last gasp in redecorating our bedroom is making the new curtains. The others have done service for 27 years so it’s time...

We’ve had the fabric for a few weeks now, and finally today I got down to it. I have been avoiding tackling the job because it involves sewing two curtains each one and a half widths wide – meaning I need to be careful about getting seams matching, nap going the right way, and so on. 

Somehow I wasn’t as careful in my preparation as I intended to be, and spent several minutes pondering which was the outside, which the inside, of the fabric. Eventually I decided that if it is that difficult to tell, it can’t really matter much! And anyway, we’re the only ones in the bedroom usually, and usually we’re asleep when we’re there.

So, I’ve now done the cutting, done the machine stitching, and am about to iron in the hems and sides for both curtain and lining. Then I will sew the curtain hems by hand, because that’s what I always do. I know it takes longer. I know it means my left hand, already prone to carpal tunnel, will be wakening me up in the night with ‘pins and needles’ – as they say in the UK – or ‘asleep’ as I would say. But I will do it anyway because that’s the look I like.

Preparation is crucial. I know that from many years of painting rooms. I know that from cooking. I know that from sewing curtains. 

How much more should I know that in spiritual terms? Now is the time to prep for eternity. If we’re going to be able to discern between the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’ side of many decisions we have to make, we need to have something to distinguish them by. It would have helped in cutting the curtains if I had marked the ‘right’ sides with a pin. It helps me in my lifestyle choices to know what God thinks about things. 

There is always a right and a wrong side. It’s not always easy to tell the difference. But unlike for my curtains, in life, it always does matter.

Prep

My life seems to be one of constant preparation.

We had eight overnight two nights running this weekend, and ten for dinner. I wanted to enjoy them, to be able to sit with them and get to know this team of theology students who are studying with our son. I wanted to hear what they are thinking and participate. 

But I also needed to feed them and have beds ready. So that required prep.

I wanted to be Mary, but I had to be Martha first. 

It worked, though. It was fabulous, fun and – exhausting in a good kind of way! 

And now I’m on to the next prep. My mother and daughter flying in together on Thursday. Eldest son getting married on Saturday. In an outdoor ceremony, and the forecast is for rain.

Prep. As long as we have prepared for all contingencies, we can enjoy the festivities.

So I will bustle off again to be Martha. But my plan is to have plenty of Mary time, soon.