Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! What a wonderful wedding weekend.

Today has been a rest and recovery day, a day to savor the celebration, the time spent with friends from past eras of our lives as well as Emily and Sheldon's friends who came down from NYC (three jam packed carloads!), the time spent with family from out of town. It was a four-day celebration, including an open house yesterday morning for breakfast, before folks got back on the road to go home. In fact, yesterday was my mother's birthday. I gathered everyone together and said, "Sheldon and Emily's wedding isn't really the big deal here. We've thrown this whole party because my mother is 80 years old today!"

Many, many people have talked about the wedding service itself: the prelude music by Michael Monaco and by three of Emily's opera singer friends who sang "I Want To Praise The Lord All My Life" from Telemann and "Lift Thine Eyes" from Mendelssohn, the way Emily and Sheldon's pastor, Elise Brown, led the service, her homily. And the hymn singing! I can't tell you how many weddings I've officiated, when a bride and groom has chosen a hymn, and I've found myself singing a solo while most others in the congregation have murmured -- because so many of the guests have not been church people. At this wedding, though, the pews were full of regular worshipers -- including six pastors and two former pastors and many who are choir members at their congregations, along with those three opera singers. Whenever there are a lot of pastors, there is great singing. Have you ever worshiped at a Synod Assembly, or at a seminary worship service?

That's what was special: this wedding was a true worship service, giving thanks for God's blessings.