Wedding Day Letter, May 28, 2016...Taylor and Kyle

Dear Granddaughter, you opened your eyes this morning as you have every morning for the past 8,397 days as Taylor Elizabeth Owens.
Firstborn to Darin and Leigh Ann Owens, sister to Emily and Bailey, granddaughter to Roland and Ann Wells, Howard and Linda Hulen and Garry Owens.  You are a niece, a cousin, a friend, a confidante, a nurse and a Jesus girl. God blessed you with parents who taught you about Him through His word and their daily living. They took you to church every time the doors were open, and raised you on the farm where you experienced the value of hard work. And that is where God blessed you with your farm family, the Cobbs,who love you as one of their own. You have the ability to laugh one minute and dissolve into tears the next. You are funny, compassionate, honest, thoughtful, kind, respectful and very sentimental. Growing up you have been a team player in softball and basketball, but the most important team you have been a part of is the Owens family team.

 

Your mom and dad fell in love and got married on a day much like this one. They didn't know what their future held as they posed for this picture...they only knew their dreams. They had no idea of the deep valleys they would walk through or the mountain top experiences they would soar above as they lived life together. Nor did they know God would place you in their care as their oldest child with two more daughters to complete their family. They were experiencing the pure joy of finding each other and beginning their lives as God intended. 

Together in marriage.

Here you are! First born! Their next love! Pure joy and adoration! A life they created together in their marriage relationship ordained by God. Everything you are came from them. Not only biologically, but all the minutes, hours, days, nights, weeks, months and years they have poured into you their beliefs and desires that would mold you into the young woman you are today. You have been blessed as they have loved, nurtured, guided, advised, and supported you in a secure home. The home fashioned from their love for God and each other that provided a haven where they could take refuge from earthly trials and enjoy all the grace and goodness that God has showered on your family.

The big sister to Emily and Bailey. Were there arguments and a few punches and pinches here and there? Of course. But there were also sweet times of giggles, silliness and play as the three of you pretended to be whatever your imagination called for on any given day. The picture above was the beginning of discovering that the three of you would be best friends. Friends that will always be there...forever.

Your family through the years.The parents and sisters that God chose just for you. He planned your life to bring you to this day.

Accomplishments have been many over the past few years, High School Graduation from Buffalo Island Central.

On to college at Arkansas State University with the desire to be a nurse. A chosen profession instilled in you from the many visits to St. Jude in Memphis as you watched a sweet little girl battle cancer and win. Those encounters, as you witnessed the nurses minister to sick children, spoke to your heart and you felt God calling you to that profession.

In your freshman year of college you frequented the Baptist Student Union where God placed the man He had for you in your line of vision. 

Remember this? That first text at the lake! "hey y'all it's that guy!" and we said, "text him back!" And you did.

The first picture I saw of this guy! Look at you and how happy you are! Kyle Outlaw asked you out and that is where your love story began.

The memories have added up over the past four years as you shared many events together. You will never forget those first nervous days of meeting parents and siblings and each other's friends. Hoping that the people in your individual lives would approve of your choice and be happy for you. Attending the weddings of both family and friends as you  looked forward to this day, your very own wedding day. Discovering favorite foods, pastimes, places,and people. Discovering the awe of being a couple, of being "Taylor and Kyle", those memories will be added to future conversations and stories that you will someday share with your own children.

The question, the answer and the ring! You said yes!  The planning began. And the wedding dress shopping!

Exciting day in Memphis! You looked beautiful in each dress. But there was one, a special one. The one that was yours and you knew. The dress in that purple bag will be revealed tonight when you will wear it as you walk toward the man who will be your husband when this day is done.

Details, details, details! The bridesmaids need something to wear! So off we go for more shopping and that always includes lunch.

 

You were generously showered by so many people who love you and Kyle. It takes a lot of "stuff" to start a home! Now all the planning throughout the past year leads to today, your wedding day.

This is the only way I can express to you how full my heart is for you this morning. By evening you will be Mrs. Kyle Outlaw, a wife! I have no advice, but I have prayer and scripture.

Father God, bless this day and the vows that Taylor and Kyle will say before You, their families and friends. Let it be a holy offering to You that they will walk in Your ways as they build a life together. The people they love most will witness their vows, but let them be reminded that You, O Lord, love them perfectly. In Jesus name, Amen

Colossians 3:12-17 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I love you,

 Nana