The Wedding

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”  I saw freedom on display that night…

We were invited to the wedding of a sweet, young couple last weekend.  I believe it’s the first wedding Grace has attended, so I had to explain:  “we’re going to dress up like church…there will be lots of people…you’ll have to be still and quiet for a little bit…then we’ll get to eat!”  She seemed content.

We arrived a bit late, and a bit frustrated, but my heart began to melt as I listened to the groom’s Dad with quivering lips lead his son and new bride in their vows and a heartfelt prayer.  It was beautiful!

As the reception started and people began to mingle, Grace was ready to eat!!  We got our food and it wasn’t long before the bride and groom re-entered the room.  There was applause and they announced that it was time for their “first dance.”  Then, the groom invited his mom up for a dance.  It took me back to the night I danced with my son at his wedding.  Then, it happened!  Everyone was invited to join in the dance and Grace said, “Mommy, I want to dance!!”  Ashleigh, a friend sitting with us and the sister of my son’s wife, Katie, heard her and said, “come on, Grace, we’ll go dance.”  I had to follow with my camera…

It was the sweetest thing!!  Grace, with not a single inhibition, joined in the dance and began to move and sway and twirl as if no one else was in the room!  The longer I watched, the more my heart was moved.  She was having so much fun and it was such a picture of freedom to me.  I guess I’ve always worried what other people might think if I couldn’t do something well; or maybe it’s that I’m often (if not always) afraid to try something I’ve never done…not Grace.  At times it seemed everything else around her…and me…went dim as she danced in her own little world.

She didn’t want to leave that night.  Her little feet were sore when we got home but she wouldn’t have traded it for the world.  As I tucked her in bed she said, “Mama, I want to go to the wedding again!!”

I long for the day when she experiences complete freedom, true freedom that only comes from giving your heart and your all to Jesus.  What a day THAT will be!  I also pray she never loses her childlike audacity…I need some of that myself.