in praise of hobnobbing, and the chocolate fountain

Wow. Have things been busy lately.

(audience responds) How busy?

So busy, I'm about to write a post about something that happened a week ago.

During this busy time, several people have written informative emails worthy of replies. Some have gotten short, uninspired replies - and they were the fortunate ones. I apologize to all.

Anywho...

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Last weekend, we made a quick trip to Illinois to attend the wedding of our good friends, Benjamin Watt and Kristina (White) Watt. Benjamin is youth pastor at El Vista Baptist Church, and over the course of several years of trips together and time in the trenches of youth ministry together, I have appreciated his friendship.

In addition, I just totally dig weddings, mostly because it's a chance to see lots of people I know. I don't even mind the wedding party holding things up for three hours taking pictures, 'cause I just run around catching up with everyone. And this time, I had a camera phone!

Our chronicle actually begins with the accidental kidnapping of the number 72 from the neighborhood Culver's. It remained on my dashboard for some time, and I had grandiose visions of ransom emails and a travel photo journal featuring the number 72 in various locations. Alas, the digits met with an untimely demise shortly after this picture was taken, the details of which have been supressed by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. (Don't ask.)


So the wedding was beautiful, and moodily lit, as you can see. (I didn't say it was a perfect camera phone.)


I got to catch up with my brother Matt, who is a member at El Vista and ran the sound system for the wedding. He's as good a dude as they come.


Here are Matt and his oldest son, Nick, with their friend Keith. Keith is the whitest black dude in Peoria, a fact verified by all who know him (and love him, 'cause he's the best!).


This is Corena, the mother of Matt's children, in a familiar pose.


I got to catch up with Chris McCoy and his wife Charlie. Chris is another fellow youth pastor, and I also worked with him at Samaritan Ministries. It was great to catch up with him, and it sounds like God is allowing him to move in some new directions, which is exciting.


I grabbed a quick picture with the groom as he went to take pictures, then continued hobnobbing. (Asking random people to take the picture has advantages and, well, non-advantages.)


I got to catch up with Adam Watt, youngest of Benjamin's three brothers. I'm pretty sure we're still waiting for Adam to emerge from adolescence.


Famished from all the hobnobbing, I headed to the reception, which featured a chocolate fountain. (Totally awesome, by the way. I highly recommend it.)


So before we left, I went back to the auditorium where they continued to take pictures. They asked me to snap one of them with one of the kids from their church, which I gladly did.



Benjamin and Kristina have known each other for a long time, but it wasn't until fairly recently that he considered the possibility of her being God's will for his wife. So in the time leading up to the wedding, and even during the ceremony, Benjamin took a healthy portion of good-natured grief from, well, just about everyone for finally getting his act together.

But in thinking about it, it occurred to me that, though they had known each other for a long time, they were not the same people then that they are now. None of us are: we change, we grow, we learn, and for those of us who are Christ-followers, we work at infusing more of His ways and values into our lives.

Which is to say: if they had gotten together back then, it wouldn't have been the same. So cut the guy some slack, people. My brother Opey got married when he was 19 or so, and I can say with the utmost certainty that if I had married when I was 19, it wouldn't have been pretty. On several levels.

Speaking as someone on the outside of things, my observation of Benjamin in the time leading up to the wedding was that, while he was totally happy being in love, he was trying out some new things, and maybe not quite comfortable in his own new skin. But all that seemed to vanish on this day. He looked supremely happy and at ease, and I couldn't have been happier for him. I'm thankful for their friendship, and I wish them all the best in everything that lies ahead.

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Another great thing about this particular wedding was that Kristy and I were able to enjoy it together, alone. That was due to the fact that the kids stayed with Meemee, and played, and generally wore themselves out.

I was happy that Kristy and I got to spend some time together, but I was also happy that the kids got to spend time with their grandmother, playing around the house.

Far too soon, the time came to head back home, and Gracie had to say her tearful goodbyes to Meemee.

The whole trip, including seven hours of driving, took about 28 hours or so. We packed a lot in, but it was still an enjoyable and refreshing time.