HAPPY 100 and HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Well -- this is so completely random - TIMES TWO. First of all, this is my 100th blog since I started last year. I guess that's a milestone. I should write more about it here, but I have some other random thing more heavily on my mind today. I think the reason I have the other random thing in my head is because of how beautiful a day it was today.

See ... our middle daughter is getting married outdoors 5 weeks from today. It's really coming close now. I'm happy for her. She's going to make a beautiful bride and her fiance is an awesome man. We're excited to have him in our family. We ONLY PRAY it doesn't rain that day. We have a location back-up, though we don't want to resort to using it.

And I think the great weather today is why I started thinking about the whole thing - hoping for a day like today for their big day. I was thinking about the actual wedding - not marriage so much. In fact, I cannot remember a summer where there have been as many weddings as this one. I have personally officiated (or WILL officiate) at a half-dozen - and many more have taken place in our church this summer. There is even one going on this weekend that I'm not going to make it to, sadly. Of course, I'm not officiating at that one. :)

That said, I wonder if you knew some of these things about weddings -- according to the U.S. Census Bureau ...

• 2.3 million couples wed every year in the U.S. That breaks down to nearly 6,200 weddings a day

• the average age of a bride in the U.S. is 25.3 (my daughter will be 22.5 years old when she marries in September - the groom will be 24.5)

• average age of a groom is 26.9 (her fiance, Darren, will be >>>>>>)

• average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178 (we're having about 200)

• one-third of those getting married each year have been married before (nope)

• $72 billion per year is spent on weddings (uh ... no)

• the average wedding budget is $20,000 (What? Don't tell my daughter!)

• $1,016 is the average cost of wedding rings for the bride and groom

• traditionally, the father of the bride would pay for everything. Today, however, the bride and groom themselves pay for the wedding about 30 percent of the time; the bride's parents pay about 17 percent of the time. The rest of the time, costs are covered by different sources.

• $19 billion per year is spent on wedding gift registries

• $8 billion per year is spent on honeymoons - 40% of couples travel within the United States - 60% go overseas - the most popular destinations are: Las Vegas, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Jamaica - honeymoons last 7-9 days (our kids are headed to Hawaii for a week on theirs - at a cost somewhere under $8 billion)

• the average honeymoon budget is $3,657

• most wedding guests spend between $70 and $100 on a gift

• June is the most popular month for weddings, then August, followed by September and October. January is the least popular month.

• 80 percent of weddings are performed in churches or synagogues (our daughter's is in our yard)

• the top wedding city in the world is Istanbul, Turkey with 166,000 for the year - Las Vegas, Nevada is in second place with 114,000 weddings

Just random, and I guess we have to do some of the traditions and trappings that people expect just to fit in. And we're happy to do it. But in the end, when the candles have burned down - and the cake has been eaten - when the guests have driven away - and the couple has flown - I'm praying the wedding day translates into a satisfied, contented, Christ-filled life for them both. Happily ever after. It will have been worth it then. I'm thankful for the son-in-law that Joelene and I have already - and now a second one coming - who love their women and who love God. And for some reason, I was just thinking about all that today.

Will you pray for sun on September 12th?

And be blessed.