The wedding dress
As some of you already know, my soon to be mother in law is very sick. She has been in the hospital a while, but when we got there today things were not looking good. Caleb and I had planned with BG (Caleb's mom) to have an early wedding ceremony so that we were sure she could be apart of it. BG wanted it to be on Saturday at 6:33 on their back patio at their house. It would just be Caleb, BG, Randy, BG's sister, BG's brother in law, the paster, my parents, and I. We would have a miniature version of our wedding cake, and BG would get all dressed up. It seemed so perfect. Today, we realized our plans would probably have to change. Caleb asked her if she wanted us to get married right there in the hospital, but she shook her head no. He then asked if she wanted to at least see me in my dress. Her dress. Our dress.
Long before Caleb proposed BG asked me if I wanted to try on her wedding dress before we had a silly girls day at a bridal show. Of course I said yes! My mom and my friend were there and we had so much fun. It fit PERFECTLY. While I was wearing the dress, she told me if Caleb and I ever got married she would love it if I were her dress. Caleb eventually proposed and of course, I decided to wear her dress. We knew we were going to alter it and update it some so we sent it to a dear friend of ours.
Back to tonight. The sweet friend that was doing the dress for us hurried it up to the hospital. My dad brought my veil and shoes, and we put it all in the car. Just in case. A few hours later we decided it was time for her to see the dress. With the help of two sweet ladies from BG's Sunday school class, I put the dress on. (Caleb wasn't allowed to see it yet of course.) I said her name and told her I had the dress on. She got wide-eyed and woke up. She had only opened her eyes for a few seconds at a time, squeezed hands, and shook her head since about 9 that morning after an unfortunate episode. She kept looking at the dress, touching it, reaching for me, and hugging me. She had both arms around me and was patting my back. She actually told me she loved me. The first words she had spoken in over nine hours. I promised her I would always take good care of Caleb and she thanked me. I asked her if she still wanted us to get married on the patio on Saturday and she shook her head yes.
After more sweet moments and pictures taken, I decided to get out of the dress so she could rest. She would lay back for a few minutes but she kept looking around, scratching her face, and trying to communicate. After getting stuck in the dress for a good five or ten minutes (the zipper was hung), I put my clothes on and rushed to tell Caleb and Randy about our special moments. I told them she was still awake when I left so they ran in to see her. For the rest of the night, she continued to be alert. She would still sleep some, but we got to have so many special moments. She hugged Caleb and Randy, told us she loved us, and even took her breathing mask off for a second to kiss Caleb. Before we left, I blew her a kiss and she blew one back. The nurse told us that her recent X-ray even looked better! Of course, we are trying not to have false hope, but the improvements and sweet times we were able to have are so priceless.
To tie God, the dress, and our family together even more, I received this text from the lady that was working on the dress along with a picture of the bodice not even attached to the skirt. "Sara!!! <3 I just have to share this with you- This was your wedding dress on Tuesday.... As in yesterday! The dress still has a lot to be done on it of course (like a new skirt and the zipper and buttons and more lace etc...) but it was all Jesus that got the dress together as much as it was today! There were several times this morning when I almost left to run an errand or teach and something(JESUS) stopped me every time so that when you called, I just happened to be home and working on the dress. So I crazy fast sewed the skirt on the bodice and sewed on all of the lace on the back of Brenda's "jacket".... I tell you all of this to say that the Lord cares so much for you and Brenda that he made it possible to have this incredibly special moment- of all of the things God has to do in this world, it blows me away how much he cares for every detail. It has really effected me today and I'm honored to be a part of it. Thank you!!!
Love y'all!"
This dress has been a huge tool God has used to communicate to us with. He is still with us through this time. He is directing every detail. I am blown away by the power God has shown us, our sweet times today, and this dress.
My dress. Her dress. Our dress.
(I will post the picture that we took after the wedding so I don't have to worry about Caleb seeing it.)