Against the tide
Five down (the aisle), only four to go
Posted by: Rhonda Robinson
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:00 AM
It's true, there are those who would call me a fundamentalist right-wing Christian conservative. However, in most circles that is not necessarily what makes me so odd.The fact that I have been married for 30 years, gave birth to nine children, and have spent the better part of the last 20 years homeschooling, is what usually raises eyebrows.
There is however, a growing population of people who have pinned a new label on me: mother-in-law.
This past week, my husband walked our fourth daughter down an aisle and left her there. Forced to stand idly by, and watch his little girl transform into a woman and a wife right before his eyes.
I will never forget the very first time he linked arms with a daughter, and walked her down an aisle. As he took his seat beside me he whispered,
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" I asked.
"Did you hear it?" he repeated.
"Hear what?" I said, louder.
"My heart breaking."
With six daughters, you might think he would find it easy to let a couple go. Not so, it seems to be getting harder.
I believe it is harder for fathers to give away daughters, and mothers to marry-off their sons. And I have come to realize that in the hustle and bustle of wedding plans and preparations, we mothers-of-the-bride rarely have time to think of how the wedding will affect the younger siblings still at home.
Over the years I have watched my youngest children, one by one, as they realized the gravity of the ceremony and how it will affect their own lives.
My youngest daughter, now ten, has watched five of the people she admires most leave her home. For her, the planned ceremonial words couldn't mask the reality that her sister was leaving her. Another sister changed her name and was entering into adulthood, leaving her behind in childhood.
From the tender age of seven, Emily has been intensely aware that she was witnessing a life-changing experience, not just for the bride and groom, but also for those of us who love them.
What God has joined together; let no court redefine.
Comments
Congratulations, Rhonda. Our family is much smaller, but I married the third of six daughters in a family that also had three sons. To say the least, it was a life changing experience. I am always pleased to see big families. It has become rare, but for that reason, more valuable. I especially like to see big conservative families.
John Bramfeld
Posted by Bramfeld on August 24, 2006 at 10:03 AM
> What God has joined together; let no court redefine.
Implying that the courts changing the legal definition of marriage has the power to change the covenant your daughter and her spouse made before God gives them a power over God that they simply just do not have.
A committment before God is a marriage no matter how the laws of man currently define it, whether it be one of the approximately 8 types of marriage described in the Judeo-Christian bible (several of which are illegal in the US today), or newer definitions of marriage that were not described in the bible or which at one time were illegal and subsequently the laws have been updated by the courts to reflect changes since those times (eg. interfaith, interracial, and common law).
Like the God of the bible, my God is much more concerned with how I keep my promise to my spouse(s) and to him than he is with me being concerned with how others keep their promises to their spouses and to him -- that's between Him and them, and not anyone else.
Keep the government and other folks out of private affairs -- you don't get any more old-school conservative than that. The government taking away freedoms of minority groups and legislating controll social aspects of life -- that's neo-Conservatism, once upon a time termed Facism.
Welcome to the homeland -- inconviently located somewhere between der Fatherland and the Motherland. One frightened huddled mass yearning to once again breathe free.
Posted by dw on September 13, 2006 at 12:25 PM
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