Weddings and Redwood Reflections



Last Friday afternoon Katy and I drove three hours to Heber Springs, Arkansas. I don’t think I had ever been there. It is located an hour or so north of Little Rock, but from Ft. Smith you veer north at Conway. It has a small downtown with cute shops. I had heard of the Red Apple Inn for years, but this was my first visit. I was the wedding coordinator for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. I have known the Parke’s since Laura and Sarah were in kindergarten together. Unfortunately, Sarah was not feeling well and unable to attend.



Laura graduated from Southside High with Sarah in 1998, then from Texas Christian 2001, and taught school in the Dallas area. Laura’s fiancé is from Texas. They will make their home in Austin. They seem very well suited for each other. Laura has lived several places and bonded with many people. For a destination wedding in a tiny Arkansas town with no large highways leading to it, Laura and Ben had over two hundred people attending. Only one hundred fifty had rsvp-ed. She had nine bridesmaids. It took both Katy and I coordinating together to corral this bunch. Everyone had been in weddings before, all were approaching thirty and everyone had an opinion about my job and what everyone else should do. They married in the First Baptist Church Heber Springs. Katy was indispensable help.



The rehearsal dinner was at a beautiful vacation home in hills overlooking Greer’s Ferry Lake. Rebecca’s sister, Janane and David, her husband, call it a cabin. Their grandparents farmed in Heber Springs and part of the wood for the present cabin came from the old homestead. Janane and David hosted, the dinner for Laura and Ben. They hired a chef from Little Rock. I never caught his name and he brought a crew complete with tall white chef hats. It was fun. David is a physician in Little Rock and three of his sons are presently in med school in Little Rock. Some may already be in their residencies. Janane tried not to be too proud as she discussed them, but obviously their boys have done quite well for themselves. We sat with them and another couple who are long time friends of the Parke’s, the Baldwin’s. David’s nurse, her husband and some other friends or maybe staff members served the guests as waiters. Everyone was giggling in their new roles. Janane cut tall branches of dogwood with berries and all kinds of other wild branches for decoration. She did beautiful arrangements of freshly cut hydrangeas, roses, cedar, and other things that had berries. Candles glowed, wine and ice tea flowed. Our menu was pork loin with a sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans (long perfectly cooked, but not overcooked), hot rolls and a ganache iced three layer chocolate cake. I resisted nothing.



Katy and I had a lovely room at the inn. In the morning we realized we had a balcony overlooking the beautiful hills. Laura’s wedding reception was to be held in Red Apple’s dining room with a gorgeous view of the lake. Katy and I shopped the downtown area that morning. We were supposed to help with the flowers at one, but when we got there, Janane and her daughter-in-laws had already done everything. Everything…so Katy, Renee Baldwin and I went to the Aromatique show room. Aromatique originated in Heber Springs.



By the time we finished shopping fragrances and stopped at the Sonic it was time to get dressed. Everything went according to plan for the ceremony. Rebecca looked lovely in a greenish blue long dress. Laura sparkled and glowed like a newly crowned queen. I only had to run a thirty second half mile (good for me) to reach the groomsmen and tell them to go in. The violinist did not play their cue correctly and those poor men were totally baffled. It took a few seconds for me to convince them I knew what I was talking about and they needed to go in, but from the audience no one knew anything was amiss. I thought the pastor did an excellent job of giving wonderful marital advice during the ceremony. He called them challenges and it took everything I had to not keep poking Katy and saying, “Wow that was good advice.” I am getting a copy of the ceremony, because I would like to email his thoughts to all young couples I know. He is the father-in-law of one of Janane’s sons. He was a Baptist minister, but now works or run what they call the Baptist Foundation in Arkansas.



The reception was fun with delicious hors devours, meats and lots of young people dancing. Rebecca and Stephen went through the line after Katy and I and the waiter told them the food was about gone. It was OK everyone had been served. You may expect ten extra people, but you certainly don’t expect fifty extra people. They had a ton of cake. In fact, Rebecca had the waiters cut the cake and start carrying it to people. No long lines. That was nice. She wanted it eaten! No one minded accommodating her, because both the chocolate and white were wonderful. I think the white was Italian cream. Deliciously edible!



Next morning Katy drove me to Little Rock where I caught a flight to Sacramento. Wendell picked me up at the airport on the motorcycle to the amusement of bystanders. We drove up to Redding and over to Eureka (actually north of there) the first day. It was gorgeous. Along that first leg we first thought it was a cloud then realized it was a very big snow capped mountain. Figured out it was Mt. Shasta. Our only difficulty of the trip was getting caught in some rain. We stopped in a tiny town to wait it out and had a wonderful chili dog. We spent the night in Eureka. Next day we drove the coast through the redwoods to San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped in the San Marento area at Alice’s Restaurant for a late lunch then back to Sacramento the next afternoon and barely caught our flight to Dallas. We got home late Wednesday night.



Thursday morning I was up and at my Bible study by nine. It was the last time we were going to meet before Christmas. We had a festive brunch and concluded our Beth Moore study in Esther. I made Haman Ear cookies. I followed the recipe in the back of the Bible study booklet. Thursday afternoon I began cleaning house for a shower I hosted Sunday afternoon. I had a friend pray for me, because I had created a huge mess for myself before I left trying to clean out one closet, but with Katy’s help and three days I was able to get the house in shape.



Late Saturday night Wendell hung a chandelier for me over my dining room table. The ceiling is fourteen feet high. He had to stand on the top of a very tall ladder to drill the hole. He had to tippy toe and do yoga ballet maneuvers in the attic over the rafters to pull the wires. Thankfully he did not crash through the ceiling. Think Fred Flintstone and twinkle toes. He finished right at midnight.



The shower went very well. This was for one of the Asbury triplets, Leslie. Her wedding is December 15th. Both Leslie and her fiancé, Ian are members of First Baptist Fort Smith so we had a great turnout. Leslie and Ian have dated since eight grade. I am so happy this day is almost here for them! One hostess couldn’t be there at all because her daughter went into labor. Another came toward the end, Brenda Phillips. She’s been fighting ovarian cancer for a year. Despite her weakening frame, her spirit and love for God was abounding and encouraged everyone she spoke with. She has an angelic smile. Pam, the groom’s mom, is a picture taker. She has faithfully photographed her childrens lives. We were joking about her having to go through all the old photos for a wedding video show, but knowing Pam she will get a wonderful one together. The bride’s mother is a walking buddy of mine. As the mother of seven children, nothing phases her. She did this in August for Laine and now repeating the process for Leslie. Next summer will be Lydia’s turn. All three triplets will have married in less than a year. They are lovely sweet tempered young women and their chosen mates seem very well suited for them.