The Wedding We Didn't Attend

Missionary colleague Becky Kerr and I had planned for some time to attend the wedding of former administrative assistant Donella Shirley and her fiance, Don Sweazy, held in Omaha this past Saturday. I, probably more than Becky, was really looking forward to this opportunity to get out of town. (She has been to Africa in the midst of this very snowy weather. I've been in Grand Rapids since returning from my nephew's wedding near the end of December.) We were both looking forward to attending the wedding and had made reservations out there, bought the gift from many at Bibles International, and printed out the maps. We were ready!

On Wednesday afternoon I began coming down with a nasty cold. Then, just before leaving the office, I got a call asking me to proofread/scan a Bible between Wednesday and today, Monday. I'd not gotten a call to do any proofreading for more than two months, so I felt I could not turn it down! Add to this the fact that Becky had 200 pages of typing due today, and you can begin to understand the dilemma we faced. But we decided we would work on our projects in the car and in the motel, and would continue with our plans.

On Thursday the weather forecast was beginning to sound a bit ominous for that part of the US. Should we go, or not? We continued to follow our plans, asking the Lord to stop us if it was not His will for us to go. Late that evening Becky got a call from her dad, telling her of the weather in Oklahoma, with threats of it moving up north into Nebraska and Iowa. I was feeling kinda rotten that evening, but still wasn't ready to call it off. But the call from Becky's dad made her very uneasy. So we decided at about 10:45 Thursday evening that we would not leave as scheduled at 7:00 the next morning.

In my head, I think we probably made the right decision, but in my heart, I'm so sorry we couldn't do it. I would have enjoyed seeing the wedding and spending the time away so much, as well as the fellowship with Becky for the three days we would have been gone. It's a rare privilege for me to get to spend that much time with a dear friend or family member. So I grieve the lost opportunity, but am thankful that the Lord kept us safe in our homes, giving us enough time to get our projects done without difficulty.

I spent the marjority of the weekend lying around, recuperating from the nastiest cold I've had in about 18 months. I'm on the mend now, I think. If you were praying for us to have wisdom to know what to do about making the trip, or if you were simply praying for us/me for some other reason, thank you. The Lord answered prayer!