Stuart's sweet day

I'm sitting in a hotel lobby alone while my husband is in the pool with the boys and my mother is watching my daughter. Being alone has allowed me some time to think back on my brother's 33 years of life. See, today, my little brother, Stuart, will marry his sweet girlfriend, Kristi.

Since we are only fifteen months apart, Stuart and I have always been close. Most memories of our childhood consist of being latchkey kids every afternoon after school. During that time, we would watch a little TV, snack, play in the backyard, argue, and sometimes play Nintendo Mario Brothers (I always won 'cause I'm older, right Stuart? Remember Bluebird Ave, Glen Arven Ave, Strong St, and Timberlake? Gosh, what memories!). He was such a slob! We would walk into his room and say, "What's that smell?"....random food left in bowls under the bed and stinky dirty clothes laying everywhere. Gross, but now we can laugh!

After high school, Stuart joined the U.S. Marines where he lived in various areas of the world for four years. Next, he moved to Colorado where he lived for a good many years until moving to the Atlanta area with a job transfer. As a family, we were thrilled to have him closer to home. Stuart watched his two sisters get married and began to pray the same for himself. Many of our phone conversations over the past three years involved conversations surrounding relationships, falling in love, and prayer for his future mate. Then, Stuart told me he joined an online dating service and I simply didn't know what to say to him. I was speechless. Do I encourage him to meet strangers? Do I tell him of my skepticism? In the end, I told him to be careful but that I hoped he would be fortunate in finding love.

Here we are almost a year later and he's getting ready this morning to take his bride as she walks down the aisle on the arm of her father....and we just adore her. Their dating history does have an initial online meeting to tell (that's another post unto itself) and we are so happy that the Lord brought them together. I can't help but get a little choked up when thinking that my brother's life will be different in about five hours. Our lives as his family will also be different because we are getting a new family member today. We love you, Krisiti, and I am honored to call you my sister-in-law.

Stuart, I watched you cry last night during the wedding rehearsal. It does my heart good to see you with Kristi and to hear you say that you'd rather be no where else than anywhere with her. That's the way it's supposed to be. Congratulations, Stuart, and enjoy your honeymoon and new life together. God is certainly good....and faithful.