considering the lilies

It's wedding eve! I'm pumping so much adrenaline this morning that I can barely sit still! I've been puttering around the house tidying up so that I won't be humiliated if Bryan and Candice come by. I may still be a bit embarassed but... eh... they know me.

Yesterday was my first real wedding crisis. See... I've really kept out of the whole wedding planning process. I have a tendency to take over any creative project... and I have a tendency to be sort of strong handed about my ideas... and bad about getting my feelings hurt when people don't like my ideas... so I've really held back and let this be Marquee's mom's deal. I just haven't had the resources - time, energy, money - to contribute much to this process...and I want this to be what the kids want.

So honestly... I don't know a lot about the wedding. I didn't know who was in it until a few weeks ago. I figured they were using some of Marquee's extended family for the flower girls because I hadn't heard anything different and... well, I didn't ask. Then on Sunday Angie asked me what the girls are supposed to wear to the wedding. I was clueless. It didn't cross my mind again until yesterday when I was talking to Cody... and he said that he had told Angie on Monday to just let them wear something white or yellow. *gulp*

Did you notice that *gulp*? Here's what I know... my sister in law lives her life with her schedule maxed out. I also know that here in the boondocks we have great views and great friends but very few options for shopping. And if she just found out this week... that the girls needed matching dresses - dressy dresses, which they don't wear often - of a certain color - I knew that would not be quite as easy as it would for any normal suburban housewife.

I called Angie and asked if she had found dresses yet. She hadn't. I offered to go by the ONE place in the county where decent childrens clothing can be had at a reasonable price. She was relieved. She's also planning a big birthday party for herself this weekend... lots on her agenda. This was something I could do and this was something I would have wanted to do anyways, right up my alley!

I prayed. I'm not kidding. I prayed that God would lead me to the right place to find what we needed. I needed two yellow dresses in sizes 6 and 8. I went to Belk in Cornelia. The only dressy dresses in the store were on two clearance racks. I found two reasonable possibilities in sizes 8 and 10. Maybe. Could work. The smaller dress had a brown mark on the hem of the dress... so I talked the cashier out of another 10% of the cost. Originally these dresses were $58 each. (who pays that much for little girls dresses? seriously?) I got them for $8 and $7.20.

The dresses were long and had about a 3 inch lace trim so I thought I could just remove that last tier of lace and shorten them enough to fit. I decided to get the contrasting wedding color and trim them out with it. I ran by Walmart and was soooo relieved to find that they had the perfect color ribbon - same color as the wedding but in a pale (little girl appropriate) shade. I bought all they had. Angie brought the girls to the office as soon as they got out of school... we tried the dresses and *gulp* THEY FIT! The length was fine! The both needed a little alteration to the fit in the top - easy enough - I just took a few tucks in them. I used the ribbon to trim the hem and cover up the brown mark on the one dress. I wanted to make a big ribbon sash but there wasn't enough ribbon so I just trimmed the waist with what I had and left enough to go in their hair.

I think they turned out beautiful and I was so glad to have a project - to have a part in things.

Today we're heading down to the southside to help set up and then we're driving back home tonight. I decided that I really needed a good night's sleep and I really need my own "glam station" to get ready in the morning. It will mean a lot of driving but I don't mind driving.

I guess it would be easy to say that it was just fate that those two dresses were there, cheap, and easy to alter into what we need. But... I just like seeing a bigger picture. God tells us to consider the lilies... they do nothing except exist and yet God clothes them in splendor. I love shopping. My experience in theatre has taught me to look behind the article of clothing in it's current state and envision what it could be. Finding the perfect base dress... the perfect price... exactly the color ribbon I needed... I believe that *someone up there* likes me. Or likes Cody and Marquee and wants them to have a beautiful wedding. Or likes my redheaded girls and loves seeing them dressed up as much as I do. Or maybe He just knew I needed something to do. I don't know. I praise God for those dresses and for how he cares about every detail of our lives.

Time to glam and head south! Love and hugs!