That was June!

 I keep hearing about extreme hot weather in various parts of the world but Lincolnshire has missed out on the heat - I had the heating on for a brief period this morning as I was so uncomfortable.  

But June has been quite a good month.  We had our annual family picnic at Clumber Part.  Four more people had planned to come but chickened out because the weather forecast was foul.   As it happened the five of us and Zola the dog didn't see any rain.  

My weight loss has continued at about a pound a week so I am happy about that.  I haven't tried to walk much as I await surgery but as yet I don't know when that will be.  

I've been very busy decluttering and have disposed (by various means) of six hundred items since March so the house is losing weight as well!  

The garden is flourishing thanks to You Know Who.  At the moment I'm harvesting just spring onions and salad leaves but soon there will be more.  Yum!!

I've been venturing out a little more and have visited friends as well as going to a few shops.  I had the privilege of taking the funeral of an old schoolfriend's mum.  This lady was wonderful and she used to hide us in her house when we bunked off cross country running all those years ago.    What's more she lived next to the headmistress!  The funeral was my  thank you after all these years.  

I also helped a couple re-affirm their vows after twenty years of marriage.  And at the same time I blessed their baby granddaughter who has a great grandad you may have heard of - Jack!  

Courage, determination and love

I don't usually officiate at many weddings but by the end of the month I will have done five this year.  They're quite stressful occasions as everyone wants their wedding to be "just so" and some are even more "just so" than others.  

Yesterday I conducted two weddings and one of them will live vividly in my memory.  Like most of my favourite weddings it was on a very limited budget.  These are often the best because they allow family and friends to give of their time, their skill and their love to make the day special.  

Tilly has had a sad year.  They had hoped to get married a few months ago but the wedding was postponed because her father was ill and sadly he died.  However a few weeks ago she and Pete named yesterday as the day.  I knew Tilly slightly and was delighted to be asked to officiate.

Tuesday morning I got an e mail telling me that Pete had an accident on Monday evening and had suffered severe burns to his legs.  He wanted to go ahead so he was well dosed up on morphine and together we worked out the best way to do as elegant a wedding as possible given his limitations.

He was at church in very good time yesterday but he and his best man had managed to leave the rings at their hotel so we waited outside.  Then we got a message to say that the photographer who was also at the hotel had parked her car in such a way as to block the bridal car and she had managed to lock the keys inside the car so not only no rings - no bride!  Eventually she smashed a window and got into her car, bride and rings arrived at church, and the wedding took place.  Pete was obviously in pain but nothing could hide the love which they have for each other.  

There was another sign of love.  Tilly sings in the church choir so all the choir members came and sat in the congregation and sang their hearts out for her.  Not only that they wanted her to have a beautiful wedding so on Friday night they had all nipped into church and filled it with flowers. 

God bless you, Pete and Tracy.   

Something blue

A few weeks ago I baptised a lovely little baby called Freddie and today when I returned from a few days away this card was waiting on the door mat.  It was from Freddie's mum thanking me for the care I take in such things and also thanking me for their wedding which I conducted four years ago.  Things like that warm my heart and make me rejoice that I am a (retired) vicar.

Seventy six years ago as this week my parents were married.  I know I've shared this photo before but I love it.  Things like that make me rejoice that I come from a loving family and had a secure childhood.

Yesterday I went to the wedding of a cousin's son.  I had to drive six hours each way to get there and I am now shattered.  However I just had to share with you this view of the bride's blue socks worn with her sparkly trainers.  Things like that just make me rejoice!!!!

A village wedding

In my time I've married enough men to set up a sizeable reverse harem for myself.  However I've married the same number of women!

Hydrangeas given by an elderly gentleman
who wants every village girl to have the perfect wedding

Yesterday I married a delightful couple who have just come back from a few years travelling the world and they came back to her village to get married.  I love the sort of wedding where love and thoughtfulness are more important than money spent.  Yesterday was a glorious wedding.  Bride and groom were both relaxed and happy.  Each had learnt their vows by heart, a wonderful wedding gift to give each other.  The flowers in the church were from local gardens and arranged by their friends.  There is a talented organist living in the village and the music made my heart want to dance - my feet wanted to as well so dance I did - well jiggled around a bit. 

Retirement means I can spend time with "my" couples, doing my part to ensure they have the most wonderful day possible.  They will be in my prayers for many a day to come.  

A Bit of a Shock

I had a bit of a shock today – in the nicest possible way.  At about half past eleven I phoned a childhood friend to arrange our annual lunch out.  She was lovely as ever but there was something in her voice which wasn’t quite herself.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries then she said, “I can’t talk long, I’m getting married at twelve o’clock.”  You could have knocked me down with a feather!

Jane is a bit older than me and I’m not exactly in the first flush of youth.  Her news took me right back to the first wedding I ever conducted.  There the groom was eighty and the bride seventy two, a bit older than Jane and her new husband.

 

It is an enormous privilege to conduct weddings but I think it is one of the most stressful aspects of being a vicar.  Everyone wants the perfect day to happen and everyone has their own ideas about what the perfect day would be.  I often have a sneaking sympathy for those who go and tie the knot quietly and then let their families know what they have done!  Jane is lucky in this respect as older brides usually have more modest ideas about wedding days and they want to enjoy it rather than be a princess for the day.

I usually get several months’ notice that I will be conducting a wedding and as soon as I know of a new couple they are in my prayers.  Jane and her new husband will be in my thoughts and prayers too.

And so will the new baby who won’t just have a day of being a princess but a whole lifetime of it.  May she too know happiness and the blessing of God.