Where were you eight years ago today?  And what were you doing?  We at Shiloh know exactly where we were and what we were doing.  

For us it actually began in the weeks leading up to that day.   Menus were written, an extra large shopping was done, extra guards were hired for the day, room reservations were carefully made.  There were only so many rooms to accommodate all the out-of-town guests.  We made the invitations ourselves.  They had been hand delivered in plenty of time.  And Shiloh sparkled like never before.

Marie had been living with us for the last month.  That was Guy's wishes.  He wanted us to help prepare her for marriage.  It was all pretty foreign to us.  Nobody does this in America.  What were we supposed to do anyway?  How do you prepare a young lady for marriage?  We blundered along, trying our best.  But truly, we didn't know what we were doing.  Now it's "old hat" for us.  We've been asked to do the same for other brides-to-be, so now we're experts.  

We were up and out of bed early.  Don't forget to feed the bride.  Nobody faints today.  Before eight the hairdresser arrived and set up shop in the library.  Cameroonian brides go all out:  hair pieces, fancy hairdos, tear-dropped shaped pearls pinned into the hair at strategic spots, manicures, pedicures, and makeup professionally applied.  Even an ordinary girl turns into a beauty queen on her wedding day.  Several girls from both the bride and the grooms families helped dress the bride.  She wore a soft pink, street length dress for phase one of her wedding day.

The groom and his men arrived and were secreted away in a bedroom.  When Guy was dressed in his new suit, I brought some food and a cup of tea to him.  It's easy to forget to eat on your wedding day.  He was pretty nervous, so when his room cleared out of men, I sat with him talking quietly.  Then we prayed together and I left to check on Marie.  She too had been left alone.  A Cameroonian does not like to be all alone, so I pulled up a chair and sat with her for about an hour.  She was very nervous.  I prayed with her and then took off to check on the dining room.  We had decorated the day before, so only minor adjustments needed to be made.

Relatives and close friends had been arriving over the last hour.  Now the Mayor and his group arrived.  Everyone quickly took their places.  The brides family on one side and the grooms on the other.  Then the nervous bride and groom and their attendants filed in and sat in front of the Mayor.  His official books were spread out on the table in front of him.  This particular Mayor is a strong Christian.  He was choose for that  reason.  He asked the bride's representative if the bride price had been paid?  Was the family satisfied?  Did the groom feed her family?  Did everyone have enough to eat and drink?  These are all important questions.  When it is established in front of the Mayor that the bride's family is satisfied, nobody can bring a complaint later on.  In addition to conducting the civil ceremony, he read to them from God's Word.  When the ceremony ended and the Mayor left, everyone relaxed a bit.  We still had a couple of hours before the church blessing part of the wedding would begin.  

Guy and Marie retreated to their separate quarters and the bride changed into her wedding gown.  Meanwhile we fed everyone who was at Shiloh.  Guy wanted the church blessing to take place outside so we scurried around setting up chairs on the lawn.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Guy had asked Papa Jim to be his father and walk him to the ceremony.  A large crowd of family members swarmed around them as they slowly came down the driveway and onto the lawn.  People were singing and dancing and clapping.  It was a joyous time.  Then it was time for the bride to make her grand entrance.  Marie also had a large group of people around her as she slowly made her way down to the wedding site.  There were many speeches, sermons, and prayers during the church blessing.  Guy is well loved and everyone wanted to have a part.  The church blessing ceremony is never rushed. It should last at least two hours.  Three is even better.  

Afterwards everyone slowly made their way to the upper lawn where tables were set out, groaning with food.  What a feast we had!  Of course we had made all the food, but it sure was good.  There was a beautiful wedding cake.  Here in Cameroon the guests just get a small bite of cake, served to them on a napkin.  Having an entire piece to yourself is unheard of.  The celebration lasted for quite some time.  Finally people started leaving.  

When the crowd had thinned out and only the extended family on both sides was left, the bride and groom once again disappeared into their rooms.  Guy freshened up a bit but his bride changed her cloths one last time.  She wore a lovely blue dress for this final event.  Guy and Marie walked hand in hand down the driveway, leading a group of about 25 people out the gate and down the road to a nearby outdoor restaurant/bar.  We were included in the group.  We all had a lovely, relaxing time together, reliving the events of the day, and enjoying being together.  Finally, when it was many hours past my bedtime, we walked back to Shiloh together.  By now our numbers had dwindled down to only those of us who were spending the night at Shiloh.  The groom took his bride to the honeymoon suite which we had decorated the day before.  A three day honeymoon at Shiloh was our gift to them.  The following morning we ate a final meal with all the relatives and everyone went back to their homes. 

The memories of that day linger with all of us.  That was the day Guy's family adopted us into their clan.  We have enjoyed all the rights and responsibilities of the family ever since.  It's great to belong.