When New Life Begins

This is “Year 40” when New Life Began. It is not 2007 AD for me but a huge one “Year 40” – when New Life Began. On the other calendar it was September 9, 1967 – on ours is was Day One or Year One.

Wikipedia.org tells me that in September 1967 the whole country of Sweden switched from left hand traffic to right hand traffic at 5:00 AM (September 3rd). On September 9th, Fashion Island opened in New Port Beach, California – the First outdoor shopping mall in California. On September 18, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" debuts on U.S. daytime television and is the first soap opera to deal with an interracial relationship. CBS censors find it too controversial and ask for it to be stopped, causing show creator Irna Phillips to quit.

My of my…how things changed since then. But nothing changed as much as my own life – and the life of my wife – in these 40 years.

Last night we attended a local baseball game. After sitting for about an hour we stood up to go – slowly. Both of us had stiffened up while sitting beside the ball field. After arriving home we both laughed as we walked into the house slowly. My 86 year old mother was moving faster than we were. It was a Kodak moment – in a slow motion setting.

Something happened in 40 years. We both slowed down so we could catch each other.

Beginning this month we enter another season of weddings and meetings with Brides and Grooms. Together we walk through the final steps to prepare a very memorable day. These days that are planned will be ones that no one will ever forget.

Mix in a few tense moments when the power could go off the 24 hour period just before the wedding – being turned back on just moments before the ceremony – at the same time that the clouds cleared away and the two days of rain stopped for the outdoor wedding. That was a last summer’s wedding. (Think about that one… where did the bride and her maidens get there hair done?)

In another case - add to this account that the one bride’s maid had not eaten anything, was nervous and shaking from head to toe – there was a great gasp as she hit the floor bottom first and then her head on the pew that was close by. Oddly enough everyone thought it was the bride’s father that had collapsed because he had just been released from the Hospital.

Oh there are many, many stories that can be told about wonderful weddings. Each is unique on its own. Each will have a little of each family woven into their tradition and each will be unique from every other wedding that you may have ever attended.

Weddings keep me young and push back the calendar 40 years to a faster moving and lighter stepping bride and groom… that had the world by the tail and knew what to do. Oh boy – I still have the tail in my hand – at least a piece of it – and the world slipped away.

We have a simple white sign above our sink that states plainly, “I started with nothing… I still have most of it left.” Comical… yes but so very true in some ways. Yet it is not true at all – we have 40 wonderful years of life that is now topped up with 6 grandkids and four wonderful kids… thousands upon thousands of unbelievable memories… that we talk about all the time.

While meeting with another couple the other night – preparing for their big day together we heard something that made both Alida and me smile. They stated that, “We are not having a large sit down wedding dinner… instead we have decided to keep it very simple – we are having small sandwiches served.” Alida and I looked at each other and smiled, then giggled out loud. That was our exact Wedding Dinner(actually luncheon) before we climbed on a big jet and left for our new life together 40 years ago. Sitting with this couple we were young again.

When New Life Begins – it keeps you young. Do something fun this summer – go to a wedding – they’re more fun than football, basket ball or soccer games.

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~

Reference above http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967