Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person.  My dream weekend is sleeping in as long as I want to and staying in my pj’s all day.  Lazy I know, but my life is seldom lazy.  During this time of year I tend to get to school while it’s still dark and leave as it’s getting dark.  But once in a while I get the opportunity to see a spectacular sunrise.

We boarded the plane very early this morning and de-iced in the dark.  I was all set to sleep but for some reason I was wide awake so I read for awhile with the overhead light on.  As it began to get light outside, I turned off the light and looked out the plane window.  The cloud cover below me looked like a solid, slightly fluffy,  gray carpet but the horizon was on fire.  The color was somewhere between fuchsia and blood red as the sun rose in the sky, a long line of color for as far as I could see against the gray.  As the sun rose higher in the sky, the fuchsia turned to a burnt orange, then a tangerine, then became lighter and lighter as the sun finely rose above the clouds, a big ball of orange sitting on the edge of those clouds.

If only I could capture this in a photo or a painting.  I quickly realized that nothing I could do would do it justice, so I made the conscious decision to just sit and look at it, marveling at the creativity of God, wishing I could do something more creative.

Today was a day where color brought a little room at an old church to life, bringing back memories of a day 60 years ago.  The tables were covered in white table cloths, red and white flowers, greenery, red berries, and silver sparkles to remember a wedding held in that church so long ago.  A simple white dress, hat and gloves were displayed along with pictures of a couple whose family has grown in size and in love.  There was thought and creativity displayed in the decorations and in the choosing of just the right pictures to place on the tables, alongside wedding gifts that are still being used.

Tomorrow we honor and celebrate the commitment of my mother and father in law to their marriage and family.  I’m not sure either wanted all this attention but their children certainly wanted the opportunity to bring friends and family together to celebrate. As we were talking tonight in their living room, they were kidding each other, she saying that she wasn’t sure she had wanted to get married.  He said he did and the smile that popped up on her face made me imagine the 19 year old girl she must have been, grinning at his silly jokes.

In them I see a glimpse into my own future, my husband being more like his father than he dares admit, both with the same quick wit and sense of humor, both compulsive, both quietly in charge, both marrying women named Judy.  Both Judys maybe wishing they hadn’t gotten married so early, but both knowing they wouldn’t have married anyone else.  It’s not a bad future but truly another God thing, much like the sunrise this morning that brought such beautiful light to the world.