29 Years Ago

 

29 years ago today,

I married my Rob.

 

Although my Rob died not long before

our 18^th wedding anniversary,

I am thankful for this day

to remember our wedding day

and our marriage.

 

Our wedding day was a wonderful day.

 

In many ways,

it wasn’t a perfect day.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained.

There were some things that didn’t go as planned…

…in the ceremony and during the whole day.

 

But, in all the ways that mattered,

it was a perfect day.

 

For what mattered was that I got to marry my Rob

and we started our life together as one.

 

So it was a very wonderful day!

 

I am so thankful for the blessings

I received from our marriage…

 

…the years Rob and I had together,

the years of ministry we shared,

and,

 

most importantly,

 

the blessings of

our 4 children.

 

I am forever grateful!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those who are new to my story 

or are new widows or widowers, I am reposting what I wrote early on about what I did

the first time I crossed January 1st after Rob's death. 

(For me, it has always helped to read the stories of others

so maybe my story will help someone else).

(If you make it the end of that, you will also see that I am posting links 

to all that I have written on the anniversaries of our wedding).  

***********************************************************

Written on Tuesday, January 1, 2013

January 1st

Today, January 1, 2013, would have been Rob’s and my 19^th wedding anniversary.

Instead, I am observing our wedding anniversary for the second time without him.

(January 1, 1994)

I did not make plans for today other than taking home some of Anna’s friends who spent the night with us last night.  I knew that this year, by God’s grace, I did not need to be as intentional about how I spent the day as I did last year.  I knew that today, by God’s grace, I would be okay.

And even though it is still so difficult to believe that my Rob is dead and I am his widow instead of his wife, I have been okay today.

However, last year was different.  I had not lived it yet so I didn’t know how the day would be.  But I knew that for me, I needed to be intentional about observing the first wedding anniversary without him.  January 1^st, 2012 was a Sunday so I decided to worship that day at Ellerbe United Methodist Church where Rob and I were married in 1994.  As a teenager, I spent a lot of time in that church while my dad was pastor there.  I was the janitor there in high school.  And I spent so much time at that altar.  Although I only told 2 people ahead of time (in case I woke up and did not feel like going), I prearranged to have Ellerbe UMC to myself during the afternoon (while a high school friend kept my children at her house) so that I could be alone with my God and my memories during the wedding hour.

I knew there was nothing that was going to make that day better so I decided that spending the afternoon alone with God at the place where I gained what I now have lost would help me the most.

I knew there would be more crying than praying at the altar that day but I also knew God would understand the language of my tears...

…and that afternoon, as I watched the video of the wedding (something Rob and I always did on our anniversary)

and as I took pictures of my wedding veil and pictures of our wedding rings

 and pictures of the video - catching moments that Rob and I grinned and smiled over each year as we watched - 

and as I remembered our marriage and as I prayed…

…I knew that no translation of my suffering was needed…

…I could feel God holding me just as surely as I can feel the hugs from my children each day…

...and just as I wrote in the poem on our wedding program years ago...

"There's a power through Him that takes me through every day"

I felt His power push me on...

...and as I wrote years ago and felt on January 1, 1994 and January 1, 2012...

"No love is greater"

…and I knew, yet again, that I would be okay…

…that God’s grace would be sufficient for that day…

…AND for the rest of my life.

*************************************************************

For those who are new to my blog or are new widows or widowers or for those who just want to revisit them, I am posting links to all of my other wedding anniversary posts. 

2013
https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-1st.html

2014
https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2014/01/20-years.html

2015
https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2015/01/21-years.html

2016

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2016/01/22-years.html

2017

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2017/01/wedding-anniversary.html

2018

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2018/01/24.html

2019

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2019/01/silver-wedding-anniversary.html

2020

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2020/01/26-years-ago.html

2021

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2021/01/27-years-ago.html

 

Merry Christmas 2022!

Christmas Card 2022

 Merry Christmas 2022!

Love, The Janna Shelton Family

60 Years Ago

 

60 years ago,

my mama and daddy got married.

On Christmas Eve,

they said "I do"

so they could wake up together 

to who they each always called

"their best Christmas gift ever!"

They had 54 years, 

3 months,

1 week,

and 5 days

before my father's death.

I wish they could have had more.

What I wrote the first year after my dad died:

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-parents.html

I Heard The Bells (Christmas Concert)

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Luke Shelton 

with vocal and piano accompaniment

by 

Allen Greene.

This was recorded at Luke's college's Christmas concert.

My phone did not record it. 

This recording is from an older video camera 

that I asked someone to record on as a backup. 

I'm so glad I did or I wouldn't have gotten it at all!!!

I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing this song!

And I know I will never get tired of hearing my Luke sing!

Hope you enjoy it!

Hope From "Hearing The Bells"

 

I didn’t remember the story behind the song,

 

“I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”

 

until today.

 

I just knew I wanted to hear it.

 

My Luke sang this song with our church choir during the Christmas 2019 season.

 

I videoed it and put it on my youtube channel.

 

As of the time of this writing, it has 714 views.

 

I’m sure I’m a good percentage of those views.

 

So many times when I’ve needed hope,

I simply click on it and listen -

sometimes listening more than once.

 

Hearing it always makes me sigh with

joy, pride, and contentment at my Luke’s voice

and the words he and the choir are singing swell up in heart

and give me hope.

 

So, today, when I needed some hope

in the midst of a lot of disappointments,

I listened to the video.

 

And, once again, it did not disappoint.

 

The song reminds me that,

no matter what is going on

in my own little world,

my family’s world,

my community’s world,

and in the world at large,

there is always hope!

 

 

The song was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

on Christmas Day in 1863

(some sources said 1862 and some said 1864

but most said 1863).

His wife had died in 1861 so he was a widowed father of 6

and his soldier son was home recovering from a war injury.

 

He was himself in need of hope on that Christmas Day.

And then he heard the bells.

 

Bells that, as he wrote,

“pealed…more loud and deep”

that

“GOD IS NOT DEAD, NOR DOTH HE SLEEP

The wrong shall fail,

The right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

 

Hearing those bells gave Henry Longfellow hope.

Hearing my son sing his words today gave me hope.

 

I’m posting my video of Luke and our church choir singing this song again

and, if you are walking through

some disappointments

or some grief

or some sorrow

or it’s just been a long day,

I pray you find hope as well!

20

Luke is 20 years old today!

Happy Birthday, Luke!

I love you!