Notes on a Sunday

Happy Sunday!  I hope you are having the sort of day you wanted - and needed - to start the week off right. It's been a slow and peaceful, almost lazy day for yours truly....exactly what I needed!

I did get up early enough this morning to enjoy coffee on the patio, with pleasant temperatures and an overcast sky.  Eddie Dale headed into work and I picked Mom up and we headed to church.  I have been attending the church where my son and daughter-in-law are active members.  It is a part of the Life Church TV Network and I always enjoy the lesson, delivered via video, and the worshipful music.  Sam plays the drums in the their praise band and I love watching him do what he loves as a form of ministry. 

I know that there are some days when we don't really listen to the sermon, or we just leave and forget what it was even about before the day is over.  However, today there were three points which hurtled themselves like spears into my heart and lodged there to be contemplated over and over......

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. 

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You must kneel before God before you can stand before men. 

~
Prayer should be our first, not our last, resort. 

Simple concepts, yet pretty powerful!

Don't you just love when little gems like this just fall in your lap?!?!? 

Wishing you a blessed week, my friends!

A Very Special Wedding - Samuel & Savanna

It's hard to believe that Sam & Savanna have already been married more than two months!  Even harder to believe that I haven't shared a post and some photos of their wedding here on Janie's Porch!!!  

That is shameful.....

Let me just say that the wedding went off without a hitch!  Savanna (and her mother) did such a wonderful job of planning everything out - just the way she wanted it.  A friend of their's acted as "coordinator" at the rehearsal and during the ceremony to keep everyone in line and carry out Savanna's wishes.  

They kept it simple, meaningful and perfectly suited to them - and, that (I dare say) must be the secret to a successful wedding!

The ceremony took place at the beautiful Logsdon Chapel, on the Hardin-Simmons University campus.  The light through the immense stained glass wall was absolutely breathtaking....little decor was needed to highlight or add to the surroundings.  Ben served as his brother's "best man" and Bonnie stood in for her brother's "bride".  A captured moment that, although a bit blurry, sure did make this momma proud....

On wedding day, we all arrived a bit early at the chapel for photos.  Sam was excited and handsome in his tux; Savanna was calm and beautiful.  Before anyone's nerves could even get frayed, the music was starting and we were lining up to enter the chapel. 

Sam's face as he watched his bride walk down the aisle to him was priceless...

The ceremony was short, but so personal and deeply moving.  The couple's first act as man and wife was to step aside at the altar to pray and take communion together.  

In the blink of an eye, it was done!

Then it was time for more photos of the wedding party as the guests made their way downtown to the ballroom at the historic Elks Building.  The reception was truly a celebration, with dinner, cake, music and dancing! 

At precisely 8:30, everyone grabbed little bottles of bubbles and stepped outside to see the newlyweds off.  As dusk arrived, the magical evening came to a romantic end.

It was truly a storybook, fairy tale sort of wedding.  

It couldn't have been more perfect, precious or blessed!!!  

As a mother, I have prayed through the years that Sam would find the perfect mate that God had planned for him....and Savanna is the answer to that prayer.

And they lived happily ever after....

Samuel & Savanna Butler

May 31, 2014