The Wagner Family

And so the house is quiet. The girls are out for a final night of celebration with the bride. The remnants of their existence are all over the bathroom; five girls today, sharing one bathroom. Makeup and curling wands and straighteners and clothes littered everywhere...

Tony has given up. He is holding his tongue, and navigating his way through the clutter, using the other bathroom, picking up tables, and hanging lights, and painting boards, and figuring out how to make Every Impossible Thing Happen.

"We need to hang this fabric from that tree....no, that one...yes...the higher one...right..."

"We want to make a fence. Out of tulle."

"Can't you get 100 cars in this field? I know you can..."

"We need more money."

Et cetera. He smiles and nods his head and makes it happen.

My brother and his family have arrived; the little joys of a scant 45 minutes together for conversation outside of the wedding chaos were duly noted, and precious.

Everything is a mess. I am tired. Tomorrow, we start early with creating corsages and flower things and pulling together all the random things to make tables beautiful. We need to mow, again, because it rained (thank you, God) today and things are growing. The list is still long, though many boxes have been checked.

New talents have been discovered: Sydni is an artist of some exceptional and surprising depth. She has
hand-painted watercolors and graphics for signs and tables and all sorts of beautiful, lavender things. I am amazed by this young woman.

Sarah continues to cook amazing meals, under pressure. She's thriving on the hungry mouths.

There are two ginormous wooden pallets in the kitchen; it's like Pintrest, except for reals, in my house.

We've come to the end of the planned expenditures, and undoubtedly there will be a few more in the next 36 hours, but we made it. Mostly. Slightly over budget, but we made it.

And so, they will be married soon, and I'm too tired right now to notice much of anything other than the gentle rhythm in the house, the life sneaking into my ears as the guys watch a movie. The dim glow of the lights on the porch and the sound of the bullfrogs in the pond, if you listen at the window.

The faint smell of food in the kitchen; the scent of coffee waiting for the morning.

Clutter, everywhere - but purposed. Not just the laundry and the leftover shoes, the plates and glasses (like all the time), but veils and wedding shoes and boxes from Crate and Barrel and paint and easels and glue guns. Arms full of flowers crammed into the fridge. Tuxes hanging from the door jambs, and soft, flowing bridesmaids dresses hanging everywhere else.

There's a reason for all of this, from the tired, aching muscles to the piles of slate on the table. We're moving towards a moment, a celebration; a covenant that will take the purpose and intention of all that two families have poured into this young man and this young woman. It all gets poured into a promise and becomes a new thing, a new bond.

A family.

One of my jobs today was to take their new Bible up for an imprint. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done; the cover was too thick, and the sales clerk shook her head sadly and apologized. I carried it home, knowing that this minor glitch would be a disappointment.

She had asked for three words on the front of the Bible: The Wagner Family.

Purpose. Intention.

Whether the words are embossed on the navy blue cover of this Bible or not, it is so. The clutter will be gathered and gone, and they will go on their way and begin this new branch of the family.

I am so looking forward to this celebration with friends and family!

But tomorrow is going to be an incredibly busy day...