We Are Ao Happy That She Said Yes!

   They both live in East Nasty AKA East Nashville. They go to the same church. They are in the same fellowship group. They hang out with some of the same people. It seemed only natural that they would become friends. And so they did. The friendship deepened. We watched him begin to rely on her for advice, support and counsel. She made him laugh. And he was utterly and completely himself when he was with her. There was no pretense, no artifice. It all seemed so very natural. It was.
   Time passed. We all kept waiting with bated breath for him to see what was right there in front of him. He finally did. Thankfully. The beautiful friendship finally became a dating relationship. It seemed so very right. Wisely, they took things slowly. They gave their relationship time to evolve and change. But we all knew. I was praying from the first time that I met her. I had this little tickle in my heart. But I have been wrong before. So I kept praying. And I, like so many others, watched and waited.
   A friendship between a man and a woman can be a very special thing. And when it blossoms into a love that will last a lifetime, it is a very beautiful thing, an amazing thing, a holy thing.
    Our family is overjoyed that come spring we will be welcoming this incredibly lovely red-headed beauty into our family. She already feels like one of us. The fit seems almost seamless. Yet I tremble and quake at the thought of being a mother-in-law to another daughter-in-law. However, God has blessed me abundantly in this regard already. I truly love the women my sons have chosen. I could not have dreamed up anyone any more suited for either of them.  I am thankful for them. And I have prayed for them from the time that my sons were babes in arms. And I believed with all of my heart that God would be faithful. And He has.

    My own mother taught me well. "Raise your sons to love another woman best," she wisely told me when my boys were just toddlers. It was a hard truth, but it rang true even then. And by God's grace, I took her advice to heart. I have always wanted my sons to love, adore, and cherish their wives. I understand my role as their mother. I am no longer the woman that they love, the woman that they adore, the woman that they turn to to share the places of their hearts. But I derive some small consolation that I was the first woman that they loved, and so it is with joy that I more than willingly surrender my place in their hearts to the woman who truly deserves to be first in their lives...their wives.

    There she is. The-soon-to-be newest member of our family. Just as I consider my other daughter-in-law to be a treasure, I consider this young woman to be a treasure as well. I am thankful that my sons have heeded the word of the Lord, "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." Yes. Yes, indeed.