The Rest of My Life

On this day, 12 years ago, how could these two kids have known?

How could they have known all the new friends they would meet outside of their hometown and through them get to experience the kindness of God through strangers? How could they have known the adventures they’d have in Europe and see history come alive? How could they know how elated they would be at the birth of each of their FOUR SONS and how they would worship God through His gift of life? How could they have known how incredibly difficult an 18 month deployment was and how sufficient the grace of God is? How could they have known that God’s promise of a good plan was true when they left life in the Army and moved to a strange metropolis?

How could they have known how amazing and difficult marriage can be? That even though it wasn’t always easy, God’s design for marriage was reflecting His love for us. That celebrating meant so much more with the one you love by your side.  That communicating, forgiving, compromising, humbling yourself and sacrificing was possible only through the help of the Holy Spirit. That love on earth could be so binding. That God would so graciously work in each of their hearts to make them more like Christ through their relationship in marriage?

How could they have known that 12 years later, after all those ups and downs, that they would still love each other so much? That holding hands would still be so special and being together was still more fun than being alone. How could they foresee the joy they would experience together and how much they would grow as one?

Happy Anniversary my love. I can’t foresee what the next 12 years will bring but I hope they will be as wonderful as the last 12.

As the words from our wedding song goes “When I said I loved you well, that’s what I meant. I plan to show you if it takes me the rest of my life.”

(Also see, Remembering Our Vows, and Our Dating Story)

Remembering Our Vows

This week for the “Completing Him Challenge”, we are remembering our vows and the sacredness of this day.

                                   Completing Him Challenge

When I think of the vows Ian and I made to each other, I remember the witnesses we had to that blessed event.  Our family, friends and pastors all gathered to affirm our union to each other.  They served as witnesses to remind us of the covenant we made between each other. As the years have gone by, individuals, as they promised to, have walked along us to remind us of the vows they witnessed.

More importantly, we were making our vows before God.  We took them very seriously.  We vowed to love, serve and honor each other “till death do us part”.  What does that mean? It meant that we took Matthew 19:6 very seriously.

“So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

It meant that we took Ephesians 5:22-33 seriously and remembered that marriage is a picture of Christ and the church.  We didn’t fully understand then what that would mean, nevertheless, we believed in God’s design and His promises for marriage.  Considering our vows now, in a time when America rates #1 in divorce rates around the world, encourages me to remember God’s truth in His revealed Word and not the trends of modern times.

I am thankful that our marriage vows mean something and that we were surrounded by witnesses who loved us.  Most of all, I am grateful for the abundant grace from Jesus to continue to love, serve and honor each other, even when we don’t want to.