Bethany and the church ladies threw me a “Pantry”-themed bridal shower last night.

it was so neat! they had kitchen utensils strewn across tables and hanging from the light fixtures. all of the games were kitchen/pantry themed, and so were the gifts. my favorite touch of the night was the ketchup - the ladies ALL know that I love ketchup. many, many times we’ve eaten together and they’ve laughed about my consumption of most of the ketchup at the table… a lot of the gifts included bottles of ketchup. =) there were little ketchup packets all over the tables we sat at. =) Dave, we’re set for ketchup for life.

the whole thing was just plain fun. Beth and Daisy were exhausted by the end of the night - they ran it all and planned it all - but even *they* had fun. I like being at things like that… but it was a little awkward being the center of attention. =) funny to hear me say that, isn’t it? I love being the center of attention. but… I always feel awkward when I’m given gifts. I’d much rather be the giver.

one of the neat traditions my church has for showers is relatively new. I think it started a couple of brides ago (and it’s amazing that there have been so many of us recently - it’s a small church!). the last girl to get married (the one who had the last bridal shower, then) stands up in front of the room during the shower and gives a kind of bible study/devotional to the bride-to-be. there’s usually something fun going along with the theme, and there are always props that the bride gets to keep.

Claudia, a friend of mine, was the one who did the devotional at my shower - she got married last July. since the theme was pantry/kitchen stuff, she wrote me a “recipe” of love and gave me a bagful of utensils to help me “make” a loving home. =) it was great! very funny and a lot to think about. it’s a neat tradition - because you get to hear what’s tough and how to work on it from someone who’s almost as new at it as you are.

at the end, Beth had Bettie Sowders, a woman who’s been married for 55+ years, pray for me and for us as we went out. that’s a neat tradition that I hope *I’ll* get to carry on when the next bride gets proposed to. =)