Cold Feet by Elaine H. Baldwin

With just 21 days to go, cold feet are setting in! It’s inevitable I suppose, but still I regret the nature of its showing up just now.

I mean, we do have a wedding!

Are you worried?

Don’t be!

It’s perfectly natural around this time.

I mean, most of the country (USA) has been in a weeks long deep freeze/winter wonder land weather pattern. Thus the majority of the wedding party and the wedding guests literally do have cold feet.

(Sorry to put you on the edge of your seat, but this writer could hardly pass up the chance!)

I must make clear that there is not any kind of wedding or marital cold feet by either bride or groom, for which this Mama is deeply thankful. God continues to bind two hearts into one and it is a joy to watch, even from a distance.

That being said, there are genuine concerns about the weather that must be addressed. On December 24^th, a deep freeze and snow in Arkansas would be counted as a blessing, magical and a most wonderful time of the year. But in March that same cold and snow are received more like a root canal torture procedure. And for a certain bride and her mama, it is received with just a hint of, “Why did we pick March 21^st for the wedding day?” syndrome.

And I am quite sure all our side of the family is probably wondering the same thing; especially since they recall being trapped in Branson, MO with a snow storm for our son’s wedding five years ago. We do not despair, however, because March in Arkansas can just as easily be 80 degrees as 18 degrees. In fact, the average temperature for March 21 in Valerie’s hometown is 65 degrees; very pleasant for all things wedding day.

We don’t think about the tornadoes that are also quite prevalent in that state in the month of March. And rain! Don’t get me started on the downpours of rain that can soak a person in just seconds in Arkansas in the early spring. And we also do not think about the ice storms that cut out power just like “that” because the newly budding trees get too heavy and branches snap onto power lines. But as I said, we don’t think about those things. Honestly, we don’t, not in the way you might think.

When Zack and Valerie started talking about marriage, as all good mothers and daughters do, we started thinking about wedding dates. Valerie has always, and I mean always, wanted an outdoor wedding; and not just any outdoor wedding, one with a jet black horse and canopies and a gorgeous sunset. Well, you say, certainly some day in the summer should have been the perfect choice for a wedding.

But there are three other “musts” that have preempted Valerie’s perfect summer wedding.

The first is to have a good long honeymoon which can only happen during her soon to be husband’s school breaks and spring break was the best choice. The second is to have both brothers stand with her on her wedding day. And darn if those Marines just don’t cooperate in changing their deployment duties to accommodate the wedding wishes of sisters! And third, and possibly most importantly, neither bride nor groom wanted to wait an extra three months!

Add to this crazy mix, Zack’s clan embracing these desires with grace and love. and then we are truly blessed.

Rain and snow and ice and tornadoes have never been on Valerie’s list of wants for her wedding day. But we will think about those things and have a Plan B, C, and D ready for implementation so that she and Zack will have a full glorious seven days of honeymoon bliss. And so both her brothers will stand with her and her groom on March 21^st. And so she will be Mrs. Valentine three months sooner than horses, and canopies and warm sunsets would have allowed. For no matter what else may happen, as long as Valerie says, “I do” and Zack says, “I do” and the preacher says, “I now pronounce you…”, everything else is just extra and we will embrace whatever extras God, in His goodness and mercy, brings our way!