My Daughter Gets Married

Today my daughter Rebecca married her partner in Lakeland.  Melissa and I attended the ceremony, held there at Lake Parker.  Rebecca's spouse's family was also there, and we enjoyed their company, celebrating this important change for my daughter's life.  May their relationship bloom into something strong and enduring...I love them both...  

Miss the Good Old "Boring" Days

I'm looking forward to attending my dear daughter Rebecca's wedding this coming Saturday...it will take place in Lakeland.  My wishes and prayers are with the two of them as they stake out their lives together.  I will always miss and grieve for my son Will, who passed away last summer.  My wife Melissa's sister is now a patient in the same hospital where I'll be undergoing my prostatectomy surgery on March 6th...we are likewise praying for her successful treatment and recovery from her afflictions.  Some folks get restless and discontent over what they perceive as their boring lives.  I, on the other hand...other than my daughter's marriage...would be very happy with a vast sea of relatively eventless days stretched out before me.  But that doesn't seem to be in the works anytime soon...

About Our Recent Cruise

It's now been nearly a week since Melissa and I returned from our weeklong cruise through the Bahamas with stops at Puerto Rico and St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.  We were on the Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas, which left Ft. Lauderdale's Port Everglades on February 9th and returned on the 16th.  The cruise was specially designed for married couples, with the organization FamilyLife running the show, providing numerous sessions and concerts themed around marriage enrichment from a Christian perspective.  Friends from our church, who have gone on this cruise in the past, shared the opportunity for us to be on this particular one...neither Melissa nor I had ever gone on a cruise before. The ship was humungous, with more than 5,000 passengers riding it...not to mention the many people comprising the support staff for Royal Carribean and FamilyLife as well as the invited speakers and performers.  The experience for us was uniquely special...and positive, with many things to remember about it. I'm looking forward to sharing various aspects of our cruise in the weeks to come on this blog, as I usually do following any substantial traveling...