It finally happened…my soon to be 26 year old daughter announced she was getting married, IN SCOTLAND, in a Castle, and the groom would be wearing a kilt! This all started to happen back in September when Elaina and Stewart Renton became engaged after a three week courtship. Wow, does that move fast! Anything is possible when He has his hand in it!
We finally got to meet Stewart Renton of Edinburgh Scotland over Christmas break, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together, skiing, tubing, climbing and chasing around Colorado for 3 weeks! I think we convinced him that this is where they should live (typical parents) but Elaina has extended her commitment to YWAM (Youth with a Mission) in Edinburgh for another 2 years. She is a missionary to Scotland, a country that is in a “post Christian” state and therefore a very challenging missionary field. She does “pub ministry” as well as other performance ministry with her fiddle and the team that works from their base. She also has the heart of a church planter and works at starting small home churches as described in the Book of Acts.
The challenges of any wedding are daunting and I think it is good we are so far removed from the event. At least until late April when Mom will travel to Scotland for the final assault on the planning, dress making and other “mother of the bride” duties. Dad and the Maid of Honor, our other daughter Angela or “Sonnie” as she is known, arrive the Monday before the big event which will be Thursday, May 25th. Being “the Father of The Bride” has limited duties and I certainly remember all the movies. YEP, that is what it is like.
Being a take charge guy, I decided that wedding blessings would be an area I could work on. So I bought a domain name and published a website for my daughter getting married in Scotland. Lots of folks want to give a newly married couple a blessing of some sort in the form of a present, but they are simply not practical to carry from Colorado to Edinburgh. And besides, I reasoned, the electricity in Scotland would burn up a toaster from the US! I unveiled my plan to Elaina & Stewart over Christmas and they were “surprised” at my creativity? However they did add one note: “The best gift would be long term support of my missionary work Dad”. Undeterred, I proceeded to figure out a method where folks can make either a tax deductible gift of support, a single cash gift, or buy a gift through the registry in a Scottish department store.
Hence I offer to you, www.Elainaswedding.com, a website for my missionary daughters wedding in Scotland, where you can see pictures of the castle, the couple, the reception hall, the chapel, as well as pictures from our 3 weeks in December. Please visit and let your friends know about it.
