01 July 2009

The Simple Life

I recently had the opportunity to attend a remarkably extraordinary wedding reception. (Yes I know that those words together are kind of redundant, but it was crazy!) The father of the bride is known to make a huge amount of money, and so no expense was spared. I did not know either the bride or the groom, so I had a really interesting perspective of what was going on. Before I delve into the deeper meaning I am trying to get across here let me describe this reception to you.
The first thing I see when I walk into the driveway is a prowler with weddings gifts stacked in it. I see a blue striped photo booth with a cute girl in a little red jacket handing out tickets for the activities. Everything was bright and happy like in the movies you watch as a kid. Right behind the ticket booth was a full fledged fair sized ferris wheel. I found my inner child when I realized how badly I wanted a ride. There were game booths manned by pretty girls wearing jackets that were uniform with the one the girl in the ticket booth adorned. Little kids walked around with intricate balloon hats and vests because they had found the magic balloon lady wandering around making balloon gifts for everyone. There was popcorn, cotton candy, drink booths, icecream and more. The tables where we sat down to eat our huge meal were decorated with huge flower bouquets and hand pulled candy. There was a photo booth where you could go in as many times as you want, and it would spit out the four picture strips. There was a dance floor laid out right next to the swimming pool designed to look like a red rock waterfall. It was crazy. People walked around with expensive clothes, tanned skin, and lots and lots of long bleached blonde hair. (I think I may have been one of two caucasian girls with dark hair there)
And there we were. The Utah Four. Two country boys with their wranglers, boots, and baseball caps, and the girls in bermudah shorts and t-shirts. For the first few seconds I thought about feeling out of place, but then I looked over at Spencer, and saw his beeming countenance, and decided to be happy to be exactly who I am, and have a grand time indeed doing it. And we did. We had an absolute blast, and met a lot of great people. As we were helping clean up afterward one girl mentioned to me feeling really inferior to that atmosphere and those people because she knew she would never have anything close to that caliber of a wedding reception. I thought about it for a minute. Thought about the people I'd watched all night long, and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be nothing like them. We had met some incredibly Chirst-like people. The families of both the bride and the groom were so fantastic to us. But as I watched the other guests at the reception, I was saddened by how much IN the world they seemed to be. The wealthy have such problems that I would never want to battle. They battle with pride in a way I hope to never understand. They battle the fight for social standing. I simply always want to be happy to be me, and to have people I love around. As I watched the men there, I was so proud to be there with Spencer who is the most humble and good man that I know. It is good to know men like him still exist.
Really, the point is, I want my life to be simple. I don't want bookoo bucks or fancy things. I like my life.