 
Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas A. Disher
July 16, 2011
The
long wait is over. Or perhaps I should portray
the wedding of the year (sorry William and Kate) as
a marathon, because it was so long in coming but finished in a sprint.
From the viewpoint of the invited guests, it was a
beautiful and nearly flawless event. From
the standpoint of the participants, especially
Nancy, it was a hectic, happy launch.
Everyone would tell this tale a
different way -- but here is my take.
Wednesday: Do
you have a program? No? Then send me what
you do have and I'll see what I can put together.
(Click on the program on the left to read the pdf file.)
 Thursday:
We took an early morning drive to
Northwest
Wholesale Florists. As the owner of
SL8.com, I picked up my card to buy there. I waited
in the car while Annie and
Nancy
shopped. This $500 assortment only augmented the
many bundles of lilies already in our basement.
Nancy didn't go to sleep that night as she was committed
to fixing Annie's dress so she could dance in it.
 Friday:
Nancy and bridesmaids worked on flowers all day and even
after the rehearsal at 5:00 p.m. and the well-attended
rehearsal dinner at
Buca di Beppo
in the South Lake Union district. Along with the wedding
party, Bob and "Kim" (Katherine) Disher invited all my siblings.
It was a lively affair and we had enough rehearsal
dinner and wedding leftovers for the next two weeks.
And Nancy still didn't go to sleep, up now 43 hours by
midnight Friday, with the wedding day still ahead of us.
Saturday:
Photographs were scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.
At 10:00 a.m. the bride and assorted others were still
in Bellevue working on hair and flowers, and Nancy was
still not dressed. I drove Bullet to University
Presbyterian Church and Nathanael and other groomsmen
helped me unload. Then I got a call that said, "we
left the bride's bouquet in Bellevue!" I drove
back to retrieve it and got a second call, "We left all
the vests and ties!" Crisis averted, we still had
one hour for pre-wedding photos. I missed the
license signing but had resigned myself to just being
able to get a few pre and post wedding photos.
The
ceremony itself was efficient while not omitting any of
the requisite elements. Ladies cried, I did not,
being simply tired and happy. Pastor Dave Rohrer
guided us through the event with poise and polish.
Thomas was full of nervous excitement and Annie was the
typical beautiful bride. I
think Annie's years of stagecraft and teaching prepared
her for this her greatest performance to date.
 She wore the same cap and veil
that Nancy wore.
Nathanael caught the garter!
Jeannie Beth did a great job
reading the scripture passage.
Here's their blog site when they have time
in Korea to update it.
The reception in Geneva Hall was
well attended and had lots of food, cake, a toast, and dancing,
all following the expected long receiving line.
The guests included family, friends, teachers from BCS,
Dr. Luke Reinsma from SPU, and PEO members and their
spouses (them that still had 'em).
Jon Sleight took video from the
sanctuary level and Larry Fogdall from UPC took video from the
balcony. Jeannie Beth was able to process all
their footage to produce a nice summary video which was
shown at the follow-up reception in Dallas, Oregon (see
below).
For just a moment, during Kim
Disher's dance with Thomas, I choked up -- but only for
a moment. The song she had chosen was guaranteed
to touch the heart. Mickie Vierick's
A Song for My Son. The song I chose
to dance with Annie was
My Girl by the Temptations from 1965.
It may be my all time favorite. Thomas, of course, led off
with
Annie's Song by John Denver.
It was mostly only the bridesmaids
and groomsmen that blew bubbles to send the newly
married couple on their way. Nathanael drove
Thomas and Annie in Millie back to Bellevue -- not
unlike how Susan drove Nancy and I to our wedding dinner
at the Officers Club as Sand Point.
I remarked how a wedding is like
Christmas. There are too many gifts and much
preparation. But it can't (usually) be postponed.
It rolls over ones life like an advancing storm.
It can't be avoided. You just ride it out and hope
all is still standing when it passes. And you live
with the result. This one left blue skies and happy
memories.
And Nancy managed to stay up 60
hours straight. It is her way.
|
 Burial
Service
for
Jean Moody Sleight
July 11, 2011 † La Crosse, WA
On behalf of
our mother and friend Jean, we are helping her come full
circle, to be buried here in her first of very many home
towns ― beside the graves of her loving Moody parents,
Clyde and Mary.
Lest one wonder why so many
Huskies have ventured to the Palouse, so close to
Pullman, be assured that it was Jean’s wish to be buried
here in La Crosse.
As we did last month with her
husband, our Dad Dick, this is our chance to actively
obey the Fifth Commandment, to “Honour [our] father and
mother, so that [our] days may be long in the land that
the Lord [our] God has given [us].”
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
Our gracious Heavenly Father,
You who know what we need before we ask, You who
love us despite our wanderings; how like the perfect
parent to us You are. Be with us by Your Spirit as
we remember and celebrate one of Your best gifts to
us, our mother and friend, Jean Moody Sleight. Your
Spirit encouraged her to “look up and lift up” ― for
even when her mind and body began to fail, her faith
in Your care remained strong. Thank you for the
testimony of her life and the legacy of love that
You shared with us through Jean’s hands. Bless
this time of remembrance. For it is through your Son
Jesus we pray this. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: John
11:17-27 (Annie read the Martha
words and Nathanael read the Jesus words.)
So when Jesus came, He found
that [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four
days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two
miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the
women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them
concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as
she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him,
but Mary was sitting in the house. Then Martha said
to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother
would not have died. But even now I know that
whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus
said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha
said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I
am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in
Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever
lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you
believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I
believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who
is to come into the world."
 The
story Mary and Martha at the tomb of their brother
Lazarus is often read at graveside services. It is,
in fact, the first suggested Scripture given in the
Book of Common Prayer. When I read that passage
again this weekend, I remembered one more thing
about our mother that I do not want us to miss. Like
this family in Bethany of two sisters and a brother,
Jean had a sister Carol and a brother Clyde. And
just as in this Gospel story, Jean passionately
loved her brother and sister. The sad thought of
leaving us was always tempered in Jean with the
happy thought of joining them. In this generation, I
see this same love between siblings overflowing
between my own three children. Saints of
every age have shared two things in common. First,
they have understood their unworthiness for the
favor of God. Even the Apostle Paul wrote, “Not that
I have already obtained all this, or have already
been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of
that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil
3:12 NIV But secondly, people of faith
are marked with something increasingly rare in our
day. They love others. Jesus said, “By this all men
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another." John 13:35
Not all believers are equally
articulate about their faith. But they all love
their neighbors, especially those God entrusts to
their special care. A few weeks after Mom
passed away, while driving, I had one of those
poignant reminders of my Mother’s love for me. A
song came on the radio that had never been one of my
favorites – but this time – the lyrics hit home.
Paul Simon sang the chorus, “My mama
loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and
hug me
Oh, she loves me like a rock
She rocks me like the rock of
ages
And loves me
She love me, love me, love
me, love me
 And like our love for God, we
love Jean because she first loved us.I
know Jean loved us, and if one thinks that a
mother’s love is something somehow inconsequential
to God, I point out a line from one of the
confessions of my church, “it is most certain that
those works which are done by parents in true faith
by way of domestic duties and the management of
their households are in God’s sight holy and truly
good works. They are no less pleasing to God than
prayers, fasting and almsgiving.”
Randy suggested the song Be Thou
My Vision for Mom’s memorial service, but we sang
two others. So we’ll sing it here, and after each verse
we’ll pause and one of Jean’s kids will remind us of our
loving mom.
Be Thou
my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me,
save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day
or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy
presence my light.
DON:_______________________________
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou
with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy
true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I
with Thee one
RANDY:_______________________________
Riches I heed not, nor man’s
empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now
and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in
my heart,
High King of Heaven, my
Treasure Thou art.
LAURIE:_______________________________
High King of Heaven, my
victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O
bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart,
whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler
of all.
 DICK:
My mom knew the worst about me and forgave all my
trespasses. I can think of few more loving, or
Godly, traits. And despite emotional hardship along
her long life, she persevered. She didn’t give up,
she finished her race very well.
Dear friends,
let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows
God. 1 John 4:7-8 NIV
CLOSING HYMN: It is Well with My Soul,
Horatio
G. Spafford, 1873, verses 1, 5,
6
When
peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows
roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has
taught me to say,
It is
well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with
my soul.
But,
Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is
our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh
voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of
my soul!
It is
well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with
my soul.
And Lord,
haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as
a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend,
Even so,
it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
IIt is well, it is well, with
my soul. 
CLOSING
PRAYER:
O God, whose mercies
cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of
Your servant Jean, and grant her entrance into Your
home of light and joy, in fellowship with Your
saints of all ages; through Jesus Christ Your Son
our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
|
