This past weekend I had the privilege of presiding at a wedding. Mike and Cara had selected BeckenRidge Vineyard for their ceremony, and it was glorious. Vineyards are always signs of blessing. When the Bible wants to talk about people who have been truly blessed it often uses the metaphor of a vineyard, so it's a great place to celebrate the promises of two people to one another. The photo above was taken by guitarist, Mike Fite. He was providing music for the ceremony, so I asked him if he'd take a few of the wedding service.
BeckenRidge is a unique vineyard. The do not make their own wine, they grow grapes and have another vineyard create the wine. They have no tasting room, but do have a beautiful event center. The vineyard is just outside of Dallas, Oregon. That is where my brother, Dave, also serves a Lutheran church. Dave had told me about this place. He'd once attended a class they had offered on vineyards and the Bible, so I was eager to meet them.
I got to talk to Becky first. She is an amazingly gracious host to those who takes care of all of the front of the house details. We talked about vineyards and pruning for a bit and then she had to see to her guests. I was eager to meet her husband, Ken, who runs the actual vineyard and takes care of all of the behind the scenes activity. Among the many duties I witnessed him taking care of were: filling the decorative water feature with more water; setting out the personalized sign at the bottom of the road directing the guests to the vineyard; cleaning up after a puppy on the grass; refilling the trough with more beer; setting up chairs and tables; and taking out the garbage. And that's only what I saw him do! Ken and Becky have a rich array of gifts which they bring to their operation. I think Becky might write a blog for every wedding, but I'm not sure of that. Ken is also in charge of all of the work in the vineyard itself. I got a chance to walk through the vineyard with him, and I'll write more about that tomorrow.
