Here's the rough notes I took with me for the roughest message I have ever tried to give...if you were not there you can read it and imagine the guy reading it crying like a baby and you will just about have it right....
Jordy Speech
Thanks to guests…family from S A and the Dominican…Happy Fathers Day
§ Jordan it's fitting that this day happened on Fathers day, you made me a Father …best thing I’ve ever gotten to be in life.
§ I missed my first Youth Event Friday June 9th 1989 a welcome to the Blackman's barbecue…I went home to an empty apartment and sat at the table and wrote a letter to the future 13 year old Jordan that I would give you on your 13th birthday, to let you know that right then when you had never done a thing, never walked a step, laughed a laugh, passed a test , you were already so loved…
Of course I have no idea what I did with it, but I bet it was great.
The next morning, I was at sears with debit card in hand, to buy you a coming home outfit…now that we knew you were a girl…this was the last time I ever chose your clothing, but not the last time I paid for them. I also bought a pink tie to wear to church the next day…
I drove to the hospital with my Atlantic R& B mixed tape cranking the Temptations song … My girl! I’ve never listened to that song without thinking of that drive from the mall to the hospital…
The next morning, I was at sears with debit card in hand, to buy you a coming home outfit…now that we knew you were a girl…this was the last time I ever chose your clothing, but not the last time I paid for them. I also bought a pink tie to wear to church the next day…
I drove to the hospital with my Atlantic R& B mixed tape cranking the Temptations song … My girl! I’ve never listened to that song without thinking of that drive from the mall to the hospital…
§ Jordan you were always ready for the next phase of life. Whether it was the door to Mrs Beauchamps Kindergarten class /first time to camp/ a new elementary school / high school /trip to the geographic center of china / university you just walked right through each of those doors. I’m sure you’ll do the same with the doorway to marriage and family life. Some here today may be surprised at how confident and ready you appeared for this big day, Janine and I are not surprised at all!
§ Matt when Jordan was just a Jr Higher , Janine went to a mothers and daughters conference …they told her to make a prayer list for her daughters future husbands , List three qualities three P’s That he would be a Prayer, Protector & Provider. Matt you have been all three of those…( reminded me of what I was praying for in a woman before I met Janine that she would be three B’s Beautiful, Barely old enough and a and Bad judge of character… )
§ First Year at Tyndale she got a bookmark part of a promotional campaign, with the heading "Have You Found Your One?…with Matts picture on it! Then we heard…"Hey there is a guy at school who went to HS with Luke"…Then things like " A bunch of us went out, there was Stiller Stiller blah blah blah & Matt Murray. Then just "Matt Murray this", "Matt Murray that", then Janine said “ I think she likes this guy"….
§ Tyndale, that place Jordan spent the whole ride to, on a "college for a day" trip, with Christine McCourt, explaining so confidently that "she was not even thinking of going there; she’s just skipping school for the day" …then by chapel as I sat with Sandy Roberts, Jordan goes by us and says "I really love it here! I am really thinking about it!" We may be the only father daughter tandem to have been resident advisers in the same dorm!
Four years later look at your wedding party and the significant mentors you asked to come and pray for you…either family or Tyndale…Amazing!
Four years later look at your wedding party and the significant mentors you asked to come and pray for you…either family or Tyndale…Amazing!
§ Matt, you should thank Scotty Mack for breaking us in as parents with boyfriend-in-laws or you would have had to break down all the barriers he had to face!
§ Jordan is named after a river … to cross the Jordan, Matthew, in scripture was usually was a metaphor either for entering the promised land or dying…you cross her and let us know how it works out.
§ There’s plenty going on behind those eyes…as a toddler she rarely ever slept in the car …we’d be on long trips between Sault ST Marie and Grandma’s house…everyone else would be asleep and I’d look in the rear view mirror and there would be those eyes…staring right at me in the mirror…she was 2 or three years old and she could see right through me…there’s a lot of mystery and strength going on behind those eyes …I could see it then…I’ve discovered some of it over 22 years…but there’s so much to this woman … I’m sure you will carry on the privilege of discovering even more 25, 30 years from now. May you be blessed to discover that who you have become, is so entwined in your relationship, that you don’t even make sense any more without the other.
§ We spent all these years preparing to present her to you…you now can spend the rest of your life preparing to present her to Christ.
§
Welcome to our family
We love you both …
