Song of Life – 3

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. I am blessed by my family and friends and by the Wonderful Counselor who is my life and my hope.

Part 3:  Planning for a wedding

Sarabek’s oldest brother was to be married and she spent extra time weaving gifts for the new home Yacob and their father were building for the new family on the other side of the largest section of vineyard. When the harvest was finished and the grapes crushed and the wine put in storage, he would go and get his bride who was preparing herself for him. She would not know the day but would be ready as the harvest was finished and wait for his coming. The elders of the village would bless their marriage and they would start a new family in the new stone house he was building in every spare hour. Sarabek would visit him and take cold water and food when he worked late. She loved her brother and was happy he would stay with his bride, tending the family vineyard with her father. They were planning to add a new section of cultivation. Olive tree cuttings were already started and would be planted just before the latter rains to give them a good start. Her father’s cousin’s grove had been source of the cuttings and he said the first harvest might be in as little as four years because the area chosen was well suited, washed by the sun and protected from winter winds.

The busy summer passed quickly and Sarabek had little time for her friends who lived in the same valley. When they saw each other when the valley people gathered for worship, Ruth, Judith and Sarabek promised to see each other at the wedding and ask their mothers if they could all spend the night at Ruth’s home nearest the center of the village. Sarabek said she thought her mother would like maybe even 2 nights of quiet after the feast that was planned for her son and his bride. The preparations had started and the other women of the valley would be helping cook and serve. Sarabek had woven a special shawl for her new sister, who planned to wear it at the feast. It was a beautiful blue and Sarabek had dyed the wool herself, carefully remembering her grandmother’s instructions.

She and her mother also would have new shawls and Sarabek had them finished and ready.

Next: Wedding celebration