The Important Things In Life

“While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.”
~Angela Schwindt

My family and I attended a wedding this past weekend, and during the ceremony I was thinking—“Is there any single event in life that produces a wider range of emotions than a wedding?” There’s the excitement the groom feels as he waits to see his bride. There’s the sadness a father feels as he gives away his daughter. There’s the nervousness of the wedding party, hoping everything goes smoothly. There’s the awkwardness of half the children in the church when the Pastor gives the ok to kiss the bride (my 8-year-old-son buries his head in his lap and refuses to look). Think about it—nearly every emotion imaginable is present in one way or another at a wedding.

A popular thing to do at weddings within the last ten years or so is to show a video of the bride and grooms lives from birth to present. And that’s the part that always gets me emotional. It’s not the vows, or the daddy giving away his baby girl, or the bride’s tears of joy (although someday when that’s my little girl up there, I will need six or seven boxes of tissues)--it’s the video. Why? Because it reminds me just how quickly my time with my children disappears. All those pictures of the bride and groom when they were babies, then toddlers, then teenagers. All those pictures of their special moments with their moms and dads and brothers and sisters, shooting baskets in the driveway, celebrating birthdays, taking vacations, and the like. It reminds me of the important things in life, that regardless of my selfish desires like my own hobbies and my career, I need to spend as much time with my kids as possible. It’s been said that when one is at the end of their life, they never wish they would have worked more, they wish they would have spent more time with their families.

My mother-in-law has a framed quotation hanging in her living room that I absolutely love. I thought about it a lot during the wedding the other day, especially during the video presentation. It says, “Don’t be too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” It’s a great reminder the next time you’re having a bad day at work, or feel a little overwhelmed by the anxieties of life. Families are one of God’s greatest blessings. Enjoy every second with them!

Did you know???
--June is the most popular month for weddings.
--The wedding industry is a 70 billion dollar a year industry.
--The average cost of a wedding is $22,000…guess I better start saving for my 4-year old daughters wedding right now!!
--The average age for the bride/groom is around 26 years old.
--The average bridal gown costs $800.
--67% of women continue to wear the same fragrance they wore on their wedding day.
(All information taken from the National Association of Wedding Ministers)