the Wedding War Room

it’s a 3hugs&blessings thursday and even though the blessings exceed far beyond the required 3, it is the perfect day to share this post because…

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Today

the page officially turned…

with a tiny-tidge of sorrow & a heaping portion of joy,

the entirety of the Wedding process has been completed!

(However) this doesn’t mean it’s the last time I will write about it, as a few of you have requested information about particular items from that day; which will spill out like sprinkles from time to time…I promise!  (Giggles.)

Over the course of the past several days we watched as the after-wedding brunch tent, tables, & white garden chairs were removed from our backyard. Cuppycake, our youngest son, and I picked up all the items from the Reception Hall and returned them to their rightful places. Dresses & a very suave tux were sent off to the dry-cleaners. Bills were paid, appreciation gifts delivered to our vendors, and today the final and last task necessary, to complete the Wedding planning/preparation/procedural process, was accomplished!

You see my friendly friends, today the Wedding War Room has been deconstructed!!

(Can you hear the sound of the Heavenly trumpets playing???)

“What is a War Room?” you might ask.

In business terms a War Room is a command centre which is any place that is used to provide centralized command for some purpose.

While frequently considered to be a military facility, these can be used in many other cases. Simply put, it is a room (or facility,) where people meet and exchange plans, ideas, information, etc., in an active way.

In governmental or military terms it is a room where battles are planned that is specially equipped with maps, charts, and computers showing the current status of troops in battle and how they are maintained.

In spiritual terms there are War Rooms as well!

They are the spaces and ways in which we centralize our prayer efforts. Spiritually, we have three battlegrounds: our own hearts; the spiritual realm (against spiritual forces, and where God works on the spirit of others); and the physical world where we interact ourselves. Prayer engages the battle in the spiritual realm. And it prepares our hearts to participate in that spiritual battle. But it also prepares us to engage in the physical world. Prayer War Rooms help us to activate and intentionalize our prayers and monitor how they are maintained and through the grace of God, answered!

Our Wedding War room was all of this (minus the battles) and more, wrapped up into one centralized effort…storing everything necessary to prepare/provide for The Wedding!

Normally, this particular room serves to house our youngest son during his time home for an occassional over-night visit. But he graciously surrendered this space during the many months we plotted and planned!

(Rest assured there was still another place for him to sleep, should the need occur!)

And so it was,

month after month,

that we stacked and stored and constructed!

Neatly arranging everything

to be ready

for the Wedding Day!

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But today

piece by piece

what little remained

I put away.

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First I sorted.

Then sifted and carried.

Returned items to their former homes.

Placed what could not be reused/repurposed in the trash.

And collected a sampling of all important items to be kept for the new

Mr. & Mrs.

in a forever box.

Until all that remained was just a tender reminder

of the only thing missing on that special day.”

-Said I to Cuppycake.

Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. -Romans 12:12

So with this last little item tucked safely away, (for another day when we shall play,)

the need for a Wedding War Room

was no more…

and in it’s place is,

once again,

a comfortable space for our son

to lay his head!

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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

hugs n’ blessings

to all who have succeeded 

by the efforts of what was activated

in their War Room!

And I hope-itty-hope and pray you too may find 3hugs&blessings this day!

wedding crumbs…

Does anyone know how my apron got on the floor?

“Apron?  What apron?”

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SO….I was thinking…maybe today we could bake some cookies?????

Helen has patiently waited for me to publish this (particular) post on my blog.

Why?

Because, like myself, she is super-da-duper excited to share a few of the awesome cookies we’ve seen being baked for WEDDING DAY!

Both the bride & groom’s families have a time-honored tradition of baking cookies for friends, family and loved ones to be served on their wedding day.  When people attend a wedding in Northwestern, Pa they don’t ask “How was the wedding?” but rather,

“How was the cookie table?”

And our bride & groom have been blessed to have so many loved ones participating in this long- standing tradition.

Without further ado,

here are a few cookies for you…

to view!

Helen and I promise, after the wedding, to share more of the details

along with a recipe or two!

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Pink Lemonade Wedding Cookies

nibble, nibble, nibble…

crumbs on the plate.

nibble, nibble, nibble…

it’s almost too late!

Hurry-Up!

Or you’ll miss the last bite

of something that is great!

(And THESE particular cookies have been baked for a special Wedding date!)

 

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these hugs n’ blessings go out to all those who are baking up batches of love!

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…”

Matthew 25:35

itsy-bitsy-spider.

it’s the monday giggles…

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Why does this always happens to me when I’m outside raking?!?Photo courtesy of Pinterest

(Fingers-crossed) Spring sprung this Weekend in our NW area of Pa!

And in my local neighborhood…

kids were outside playing until way past dusk,

people of ALL ages were seen bike riding,

every breed of dog could be found being walked,

and Cuppycake raked the yard!

(Yep, it’s official…the rake is out.)

I wish I’d have taken a picture of He and Helen out there together…

Cuppycake would rake a pile of fallen sticks & Helen would carry the pile, stick by stick,  back out into the yard to be scattered once again.

(As you might imagine Helen & I were the only two who thought it was adorable.)

Yard work is a serious order of business in our household.  Every member of our family owned their own personal rake while living at True North.  Most kids around the age of 3 or 4 get a red-rider wagon in the fall…ours received toddler sized rakes instead.

We had them in every size & width. Flat edged, scooped, tightly tined to loosely fitted, (which always had a nice bounce as it scraped across the ground surface I might add.) I never knew they made rakes in so many different materials either until I met Cuppycake.  Metal, plastic, willow, & bamboo to name just a few.  And every year, without fail, he’d arrive home from a hardware store visit with “the Best Rake ever invented.” Guarnateed to cut yard-work in half (for all of us…)

Things have improved, mind you, since our move to North Star…we have downsized to 3 hand-chosen rakes which remain.  But not to worry, Cuppycake makes certain the matter is still handled with authority & laser-beam focus.  You can always be assured that at the end of the day’s task there will not only be neatly raked, all in a row, perfectly-proportional in every way piles, BUT there will also be another compiled list of 3 more (until recently unthought of) NEW projects to complete this summer as a result!

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This year it looks like concrete will be involved.

I think I need to begin training Helen to carry the rake away instead….

hugs n’ blessings to all the idea makers out there!

(And those who contend with them all!)

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