Mother to Son Blessing

My son’s July 31 wedding to my soul-daughter was everything I could have ever hoped: youth and beauty, love and grace, commitment and prayer, wine and song, laughter and dancing, and all things wonderful. I soaked in satisfying visits and time well spent with family and dear friends. For weeks afterward, I have quietly pondered the peaceful inner glow of knowing it was all good. After telling a friend about it again today, I realized it needs to be documented. An Ebenezer, as it were, a memorial to God’s faithfulness to us this far.

But first, some background:

A little over a year before, on Father’s Day weekend 2014, Andrew proposed to Rebecca. At Christmas, in anticipation of their new life together, I gave Andrew a blessing around the New Year’s Eve dinner – a carefully crafted commitment to my place in the new order of his life going forward after his wedding. It reads like this:

I, Joyce, release you, Andrew, to be the man you choose to be. I will love you, accept you, respect you, encourage you, believe the best of you and pray for you daily as long as God gives me breath. I promise to answer your questions honestly and to refrain from giving advice unless you ask. I promise not to interfere, except in the unlikely event you're about to 1) harm yourself, 2) harm someone else, or 3) do something illegal.

I bless you in the free exercise of your gifts, I honour your choices, I respect your autonomy, I delight in your humour, I admire your style. Most of all, I love your choice of life partner and I bless the new and separate family you will become. If you choose to have children, I promise to love, pray for, encourage and spoil them.

I celebrate who you are and the friends with whom you have chosen to walk on your journey. My heart and home are always open to you and to those you love.

I believe in the man you are and the man you will become and I will support you in any healthy way possible to reach your goals.

I am so proud of you. I am grateful for your love and so honoured that God gave me the privilege of being your mom. I offer always, to the best of my ability, my unconditional love.

When I wrote and read these words for Andrew, I meant every one of them and still do. I will return to them on occasion, when I need a reminder of what I promised.

I will blog about each part of the beautiful wedding events over the next few days or weeks. Stay tuned.

So grateful,
Joyce