Lá Bainise Shona!

Shamrocks, green, leprechauns, rainbows and luck o' the Irish to you! Today is St. Patrick's Day (and your Aunt Jodi Amoroso's birthday) and since we have some Irish in us, we thought's we'd take a look wedding traditions that hail from the Emerald Isle.

Engagements years ago were sealed with a handfasting, an ancient Celtic or pagan tradition, which nowadays is included in the wedding ceremony itself. It's where the bride and groom are holding hands and a cord is tied around their wrists, binding them to one another. The cord might be braided with significant colors to the couple or they may use a ribbon. This is where the term "tying the knot" comes from.

Bride's dresses were traditionally an icy blue and she might carry a horseshoe, ends up, to symbolize collecting good luck. This horseshoe is then hung in the couple's home. The bride might also carry bells to ward off evil spirits and a lacy handkerchief which is later made into a bonnet for the couple's first baby. The bride will probably need a purse for all this stuff!

The Claddagh ring is most popular for grooms, featuring two hands holding a crowned heart. The ring, around since the 1700s, represents loyalty, friendship and love. Sometimes both fiances would wear the Claddagh (which comes from a city near Galway) prior to the wedding with the end of the heart pointing away from the body then turn it around at the wedding so the end pointed toward the body, showing they were taken.

At the reception the couple might drink Poitín (or poteen), a whiskey made from potatoes (which grown in abundance in Ireland). They might also drink the honey wine, mead. We talked February 24 about how couples would drink mead for a phase of the moon, thus the honey moon. There are plenty of Irish drinks Ayla will certainly remember from her RiRa pub days. Toasting with a "Sláinte" for "Good health!"

The phrase "Your goose is cooked" is Irish and comes from weddings. Apparently a goose is cooked by the bride the night before the wedding. Once it's done, there's no turning back for the groom. Corned beef and cabbage is a popular wedding meal.

The traditional Irish wedding cake is more of a fruitcake. With all the tokens to ward away evil spirits, you wouldn't think you'd need a fruitcake, too.

You can do a little Irish gig, step dancing (think Riverdance) or even a traditional céilí (kay-lee) folkdance at the reception.

What is so interesting to us is that little bits and pieces of each of the nationalities we've learned about are already part of weddings and receptions in various ways. It is fun to see what other culture's customs are. So there are some Irish ones to choose from. Lá Bainise Shona (Happy Wedding Day)!

Discussion: What of the above traditions would you be willing to incorporate into your wedding or reception? Which are definite "no's."

Prayer: Father, how grateful we are to You, the Creator of all peoples and nations. Lord may everything that is part of the wedding and reception, bring You praise and glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Theophobia vs. Triskadekaphobia

This will be the last Friday the 13th before Rob and Ayla's wedding. It's supposed to be an unlucky day, but I've not really seen it. Your Uncle Todd was even born on a Friday the 13th (1963), and he's been a pretty blessed fellow.

Now we're not ones for luck - good or bad. We believe the Father is in control of everything. The Bible tells us in Psalm 115:3, "Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases." Isaiah 45:7 says, "I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things," and in Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."  In Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose," and in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." It is comforting to rest in the arms of the Creator of the universe and know that He has it all under control. There is nothing that will happen that He is not aware of. Nothing surprises Him. And the evil that man creates, God uses for His good. Glory to Him.

One of my first favorite contemporary Christian songs is called God Is In Control by Twila Paris. The first verse and chorus say this:

This is no time for fear
This is the time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here carried away by the motion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together
God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
Oh, God is in control, oh God is in control

Walking under ladders. A black cat crossing in front of you. Opening an umbrella indoors. Spilling salt. These things cannot harm you. Our fate is in the hands of the One who created time itself. So skip any triskadekaphobia and instead embrace theophobia. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," Psalm 111:10. It's not being afraid of God but more of a reverence of Him. As it says in Psalm 33:8 "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." And that is something we don't need a special day or date for. We can do that every single day.

Discussion: Do you think there is anything that brings bad luck or good luck? What do you think the fear of the Lord is?

Prayer: Father God, we thank you that you are so awesome, loving, compassionate and in control of our lives. Help us to surrender all that we are to what You want us to be. We love you so very much. Glory to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Good Luck Charms

You know the traditional rhyme pictured below:

It's an old English saying dating back to the late 1800s. You probably didn't even know that last line was part of it. It's supposed to symbolize good luck for the wedding couple. The bride has all of that on her in one way or another to ensure luck in her wedding. Well, of course it's going to take far more than something old, new, borrowed, blue and a sixpence to have a "happily ever after" (otherwise there would be no purpose for this blog), but it certainly is popular and fun for brides to make this part of the wedding experience. According to The Knot magazine:

 "Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom."

For Brad and I, my something old, borrowed and blue were all the same ... a garter I wore. It was one my Grandma Swain wore at her wedding. My new was the dress. And yes, I walked around all day with a sixpence in my shoe. As we are part English, guess that was important.

So we'll assume for both brides the new will be the dress, but what of the rest? You probably already have ideas for what the old, borrowed and blue will be, but we thought we'd do a little digging to see what others used.

For old:

• Any family heirloom from jewelry to a handbag. Speak to your grandmas about this one.
• One site suggested wearing a locket with photos of deceased family members.
• Embroidering a favorite Bible verse on your dress somewhere
• Vintage shoes, gloves or a hairpiece
• Wrapping the stems of the bridal bouquet in an heirloom from the family

For borrowed:
      Anything works here: jewelry, sash, garter, veil, shoes. Your old and borrowed could be the same.

For blue:

• Embroidering the wedding date in blue thread on your wedding dress hem.
• Sticking tiny blue gems to the bottom of your wedding shoes that spell out. "I do."
• Blue jewelry
• Blue undergarments
• Something blue in the bouquet
• Blue nail polish
• A blue hair ornament
• One website even suggested replacing your corset tie with a blue ribbon

So there are some ideas for you. I thought I might have a silver sixpence, alas all I had was a 1908 silver coin from Canada, a 1911 coin from the US and some silver pennies from World War II. So no help there. If you want one, I can be on the hunt.

I don't think in the grand scheme of things, not having any of these items will make a hill of beans in your marriage. In the words of Obi Wan Kenobi: "In my experience there's no such thing as luck." The work "luck" isn't found anywhere in the Bible. A marriage takes work,lots of love and true focus on God. When you do that, it's truly all the "luck" you'll need.

Discussion: what do you hope to use as your something old, new, borrowed and blue? Do you have a family heirloom that will be part of the wedding?

Prayer: Father, we don't need any luck for marriages to work. What we need is You and a focus on you. Lord God, we thank You for all the guidance you have and the blessings You give. In Christ Jesus we pray, Amen.