Wedding Bells

Okay, so, wedding bells are ringing in and around the Robinson household. The time has finally come. Casey Robinson is marrying Justin Sierschula on July 25. Casey is our 25 year-old daughter.

From the time that Casey was a small child, I would tell her that I knew exactly what I wanted her to be when she grew up. She would always ask what that was. "Happy." I would say.

Casey was raised with pretty high expectations, placed on her by her mother, Lisa, and I, as well as the communities and churches in which she grew. Through all of it, I am proud to say that she was strongly nurtured and embraced. (This is not always the case for "PK's.") Through the gymnastic years, through high school and college, through the early years of her career as an ASL interpreter, and into this new chapter of her life, I have been, and continue to be, proud of the person that she has become.

Justin makes her happy. While my obsessive compulsive side wants to make sure that she will be constantly cared for and about, he gives her everything that I have ever wanted for her. She is happy. Everything else will work itself out. She is smart, capable, creative and responsible. Together, they are quirky, unique, fun and adventurous.Whatever comes their way, I am confident that they will handle it together. Happiness is all that we can hope for our children. I am thrilled that she has found it.

To the point of this week's post to The Shiloh Insider, the upcoming wedding means that I will be taking a few weeks off from Shiloh Church. My complete concentration will be on getting to and through the wedding. Then, I am taking a week to recover, emotionally, mentally and physically. The only project that I have on my agenda for the weeks is refinishing the back deck on the house (if it should ever stop raining). Besides that, I will be relaxing, recuperating and resting.

Casey's wedding also turns an important page for Lisa and me. Because Justin's family owns and operates a business in the area, it is likely that they will be tied to Englewood/Dayton for the long haul. In some ways, that means that the Dayton, Ohio area will always be something of a home base for us. While my family has been in the Indianapolis area, and Lisa's on the Illinois side of St. Louis, we have never before enjoyed a home base. We have always been sojourners, travelers, experts who carry a computer bag and live more than fifty miles from wherever we have found ourselves. From this time forward, and no matter where we might find ourselves, the Dayton area will remain a home base. That feels oddly warming.

Enjoy the next few weeks, free from obligation to read updates to The Shiloh Insider. I will return to the office and the chancel early in August.