Father of the Bride

I have been a Georgia Tech football fan as far back as I can remember. I was a trainer for the team for three of my years while at Tech. I have attended as many games as possible during my years since college. When we moved to the Atlanta area to start a church after graduation from seminary, it was no surprise that we got season tickets. In 1985, Homecoming was scheduled for October 12, and we had plans to go and cheer the team to victory.

Early that morning—or late the night before, I should say—plans changed. Cindy went into labor, and we made our way to Northside Hospital instead of Grant Field. While I am still a Tech fan, I am no longer any kind of sports fan to the degree I was before that day. On October 12, 1985, I became a fan of Hannah Eve Pitts. (And I became a fan of Lydia, Abigail, Rebekah, and Fred O in their turn!)

Hannah was a colicky baby, and while Cindy did most of the care giving, I would often get up in the middle of the night and hold Hannah on my chest while lying on the couch to calm her. When Lydia came along (our second), Cindy and I made a deal that she would take care of Lydia in the night, and I would take care of Hannah. I thought that was pretty shrewd, but it turned out that Lydia was soon comfortably sleeping through the night while Hannah continued to get up at some point almost every night!

It wasn’t long before I trained her—when asked, “What are you?”—to answer, “Daddy’s girl!” And she certainly has been a daddy’s girl all of these years. She makes her dad feel special and loved.

Fast forward many years—and I DO mean “fast forward,” because the years have seemingly flown by—to the end of her senior year in high school. (Hannah had been homeschooled through eighth grade but attended public high school.) One day the mail came with a big envelope addressed to Hannah from Atlanta. I took the envelope up to the high school, called Hannah out of class, and handed her the envelope. Emblazoned on the outside were words we both were excited to see: “Congratulations! You’re a Yellow Jacket!” We had a beautiful moment of hugs and tears there at the high school as she followed both her own dreams and her father’s footsteps.

While at Tech, a young man named Rick noticed a girl who, for lack of knowledge of her name, he mentioned to his friends as “Backpack Girl.” After a few months of false starts, he finally introduced himself and they soon began to date. It wasn’t long before they were engaged.

Being her pastor as well as her dad, I had the privilege of conducting the premarital counseling. It was exciting to hear of not only their love for each other but their love for Jesus and the fact that part of the attraction of each toward the other was the commitment to the Lord they saw. Together, they read the Bible through in a year, drawing closer to each other as God spoke to them. They asked that a beautiful passage of Scripture be read at their wedding, Colossians 3.12-19.

In preparation for the Rehearsal Dinner, I was able to put together a PowerPoint presentation showing pictures of each of them growing up and then juxtapose pictures of them together in similar areas of life. It showed, I think, how God has prepared these two for each other. (Spending many hours on the presentation gave me countless opportunities for tears, which helped me make it through the ceremony without shedding any!)

Our whole family came together the last week in a beautiful way. We had one last “Family Night” as a seven member family pretty much living in the same house on Thursday. Besides each of us sharing memories of life with Hannah, we had a time for each to give a blessing to Hannah. Afterward, as a family, we watched together the Steve Martin version of “Father of the Bride.”

At the Rehearsal Dinner, my darling daughter Hannah gave me a gift. It was a little keepsake with a big message:

A Yellow Jacket Gal
Never Forgets He First
True Love…
Her Daddy

The Scripture says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

Yes, Rick and Hannah have both left mom and dad—and his parents are great, by the way—but it’s nice to know we are not forgotten. Neither will we forget you. We are grateful that in the short term you will still be in the Atlanta area and part of our church. Rick, we love you and have confidence in you. We entrust our daughter to you, knowing you will take care of her. We also give her to you, knowing that she will bring joy to you.

It’s funny not saying “Hannah Eve Pitts” any longer. From now on, she is Hannah Pitts Rogers, wife of Richard Douglas Rogers, and as Father of the Bride, I couldn’t be more happy.

When Cindy and I were married twenty-five years ago, we were given at the ceremony a Bible inscribed, “Fred and Cindy Pitts.” The pastor wanted us to see our names together for the first time on God’s word. We have used that Bible for our family devotions all these years. So we were pleased to also present to Rick and Hannah a Bible at the close of their ceremony inscribed, “Rick and Hannah Rogers.” We pray that their marriage will always be built upon the wonderful foundation of God and His word. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of children. Though it is hard to see them grow up and go, it is for this very purpose we have been preparing them. May you bless them always!