Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (NIV)
We are on the countdown to youngest son’s wedding. 112 days to the big event. Twenty two years ago, when the sonogram revealed that I was carrying our second son, I mourned the fact that I would never get to plan a wedding. Well, God is getting a good laugh out of that because it turns out that I am blessed to have a future daughter in law who values my opinion, shares my tastes in many things and is letting me be involved in all aspects of the wedding planning. Because it will be a small wedding with a simple ceremony and no accompanying attendants, husband and I will not be hosting a rehearsal dinner for a huge crowd. Instead, we offered to pay for the reception. Several months ago, we found the venue and caterer and began planning a “winter wonderland” wedding with the colors of purple and silver. We will borrow some small crape myrtle trees which lose their leaves in winter from a friend who owns a nursery. With their silvery bark and white twinkle lights, the reception hall should look very pretty. I have been frequenting Marshalls looking for discounted vases and unique items in purple and silver and found some beautiful candy dishes and large vases to hold flowers on the food table. I also found silver lanterns that we will hang along the walk into the hall. The tables will be covered in borrowed purple table cloths and will feature an arrangement of “floating orchids.” M. found a design on the Internet, and we have been playing with it for a few months. It calls for a large wide mouthed vase filled with water and orchids at different layers under the water. I tried lots of different ways to get the orchids to stay under water without all floating the top, but the method was quite complicated involving lots of fishing line, clear marbles and weights. Then, yesterday, I heard about water beads. Water beads start out a tiny hard clear ball about the size of a BB or maybe even smaller. After soaking in water for four hours, water beads grow to the size of a marble. They are dense enough to hold the flowers in place without squashing them, but because they are clear, when stacked in the vase full of water, the water beads “disappear”. You really cannot even see them although you can feel them. It is amazing how the orchids can be manipulated into place and then, they stay there like they are frozen. The water beads have a very interesting texture. Everyone who has seen them wants to play with them. They are like water, but not really water. They even bounce when dropped. I was thinking about how the water beads transform just like how our hard and lifeless hearts become soft and pliable when we get a good soaking in God’s love. Then, He can use us to bring life into other hearts as well.
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