“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24
Genesis 2:24
This coming Saturday, July 19th, will be a very special day for our family. It is the day that our second oldest son, Joshua Jim, will marry his high school sweetheart, Lisa Marie Kaus.
In my first column I mentioned that I have kept journals most of my life. After our children came along, I started recording the funny things they said (or did) in a separate journal. Lately I’ve been reading through Josh’s journal and found a few quotes that I’d like to share from when he was about 6 years old.
“When I get married I’m gonna ask the girl, ‘Do you hate potatoes? Do you hate peas?” When I asked him why, he answered, “Cuz I hate peas and potatoes and I don’t want her to make them for me. They’re sorta like my enemies!”
“I don’t want to be a doctor when I grow up because it looks like a lot of hard work and it seems like a difficult job.” (Josh will be starting med school at KU this fall.)
At lunch one day he said, “I’m not sure if I’m going to get married. It depends….. if a girl likes me. It will be so embarrassing to get married and have all those people staring at me!”
One time at breakfast he said, “I can’t wait until I’m 18.” His older brother Jared asked him why and he replied, “So I can have a girlfriend, silly!”
Nearly everyone within a 30 mile radius of our home has heard this story, but I’ll go ahead and share it anyway. Josh and Lisa started dating during their senior year at Manhattan High (Josh had transferred there when he was a junior), and my husband had the opportunity to meet Lisa before I did. When I asked him what he thought of Josh’s new girlfriend he replied, “What did I think of her? She’s got daughter-in-law written all over her.” I have to admit that I had the same feeling after I met Lisa, too. I guess you could say it was love at first sight for the entire family!
Lisa Marie Kaus is one in a million. She’s sweet, pretty, hard working, God-fearing and intelligent (she graduated cum laude from Kansas State and is going to become an RN). But most importantly, she loves our son with all of her heart and soul. Lisa is everything anyone could ever ask for in a daughter-in-law and we thank God for blessing Josh with such a wonderful woman. Needless to say, we are elated about their upcoming marriage.
Last Saturday I spent the day assembling the wedding programs with Lisa and her mom, Linda. In addition to the standard information contained in a traditional wedding program, Josh and Lisa wrote about how they met as well as a short paragraph about each person in their wedding party. Lisa wrote about her maid of honor and bridesmaids (three cousins and a friend), and Josh wrote about his best man (Keener) and three groomsmen (Kirk, best friend, Travis Guth and Lisa’s brother, Aaron). Tears came to my eyes as I read the loving tributes Josh and Lisa paid to the members of their wedding party.
When I turned to the back page of the program, I was also touched to see that they had included a poem I had written several years ago titled, Roots and Wings.
In my first column I mentioned that I have kept journals most of my life. After our children came along, I started recording the funny things they said (or did) in a separate journal. Lately I’ve been reading through Josh’s journal and found a few quotes that I’d like to share from when he was about 6 years old.
“When I get married I’m gonna ask the girl, ‘Do you hate potatoes? Do you hate peas?” When I asked him why, he answered, “Cuz I hate peas and potatoes and I don’t want her to make them for me. They’re sorta like my enemies!”
“I don’t want to be a doctor when I grow up because it looks like a lot of hard work and it seems like a difficult job.” (Josh will be starting med school at KU this fall.)
At lunch one day he said, “I’m not sure if I’m going to get married. It depends….. if a girl likes me. It will be so embarrassing to get married and have all those people staring at me!”
One time at breakfast he said, “I can’t wait until I’m 18.” His older brother Jared asked him why and he replied, “So I can have a girlfriend, silly!”
Nearly everyone within a 30 mile radius of our home has heard this story, but I’ll go ahead and share it anyway. Josh and Lisa started dating during their senior year at Manhattan High (Josh had transferred there when he was a junior), and my husband had the opportunity to meet Lisa before I did. When I asked him what he thought of Josh’s new girlfriend he replied, “What did I think of her? She’s got daughter-in-law written all over her.” I have to admit that I had the same feeling after I met Lisa, too. I guess you could say it was love at first sight for the entire family!
Lisa Marie Kaus is one in a million. She’s sweet, pretty, hard working, God-fearing and intelligent (she graduated cum laude from Kansas State and is going to become an RN). But most importantly, she loves our son with all of her heart and soul. Lisa is everything anyone could ever ask for in a daughter-in-law and we thank God for blessing Josh with such a wonderful woman. Needless to say, we are elated about their upcoming marriage.
Last Saturday I spent the day assembling the wedding programs with Lisa and her mom, Linda. In addition to the standard information contained in a traditional wedding program, Josh and Lisa wrote about how they met as well as a short paragraph about each person in their wedding party. Lisa wrote about her maid of honor and bridesmaids (three cousins and a friend), and Josh wrote about his best man (Keener) and three groomsmen (Kirk, best friend, Travis Guth and Lisa’s brother, Aaron). Tears came to my eyes as I read the loving tributes Josh and Lisa paid to the members of their wedding party.
When I turned to the back page of the program, I was also touched to see that they had included a poem I had written several years ago titled, Roots and Wings.
Roots and Wings
Some people say,
there are only two things,
that you can give your children,
one is roots; the other, wings.
They'll have their share of ups and downs,
at times the skies will be bleak,
but we must allow them to spread their wings,
even if they bump their beaks!
It's hard to know when to let them go,
some are ready sooner than others,
but no matter when that time comes,
it's always hard on their mothers!
But deep down in our heart of hearts,
we have always known,
we can't keep them with us forever,
one day they will be on their own.
And we really wouldn't want it,
any other way,
we have to allow them to fly and be free,
even though we wish they could stay.
So we'll raise our children
with faith, hope and love,
and a prayer that God will watch over them
From Heaven up above.
Then when the time arrives,
for them to leave the nest,
we'll wave good-bye with a tear in our eye,
knowing that we've been blessed.
Some people say,
there are only two things,
that you can give your children,
one is roots; the other, wings.
They'll have their share of ups and downs,
at times the skies will be bleak,
but we must allow them to spread their wings,
even if they bump their beaks!
It's hard to know when to let them go,
some are ready sooner than others,
but no matter when that time comes,
it's always hard on their mothers!
But deep down in our heart of hearts,
we have always known,
we can't keep them with us forever,
one day they will be on their own.
And we really wouldn't want it,
any other way,
we have to allow them to fly and be free,
even though we wish they could stay.
So we'll raise our children
with faith, hope and love,
and a prayer that God will watch over them
From Heaven up above.
Then when the time arrives,
for them to leave the nest,
we'll wave good-bye with a tear in our eye,
knowing that we've been blessed.
Josh & Lisa
