I am so deeply in love with my husband and I will always remember our wedding day. But marriage isn't just public on the wedding day... It is always on display.
When you get married there are certain mile-markers that are somewhat expected of you. You get married, go on a honeymoon, buy a house, get good jobs, have babies, raise them, have anniversaries, send your kids to college, start a new life with as "empty nesters", retire, travel, have grandkids, and grow old...
I feel like once you get married there's a sense of anticipation always lurking for the "next big step".
I am guilty of this.
I do feel the pressure of hitting certain mile-markers. Not because of a person, but because of myself. So to calm down all the anxiousness, I decided it would be most important to not focus on the next big step, but rather the very first step.
Our vows.
To focus on the things we promised to each other on a very, very cold December 12, 2009.
I, Amy, take you Ben, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love.
I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever I will trust you and honor you I will laugh with you and cry with you.
I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy.
What may come I will always be there.
God has prepared me for you and so I will ever strengthen, help, comfort, and encourage you.
Therefore, throughout life, no matter what may be ahead of us, I pledge to you my life.
Ben and I didn't know what our vows really meant on December 12, but every day we are learning what they mean and how to uphold them.
We surely did not know how difficult our first year would be, but God did. God stood with us on our wedding day and witnessed and praised as we dedicated our lives to each other and to Him.
We have definitely shared thousands of tears with one another and we have laughed until we hurt. We have seen darkness and we have seen light.
We have seen God provide for us when we didn't deserve it. When we didn't earn it. And I've seen God transform our marriage.
Are we where we thought we would be? Absolutely not.
And I am so grateful.
So my prayer this week is that God would continue to erase "mile-markers" and mold my mind around His plan and purpose. His mercies and His wisdom. His grace and His love.
Thank you for this post! I am constantly reminded about the vows Heidi and I made to each other one year ago. Never did we expect to go through what we experienced, and have been tremendously challenged to love each other deeper and deeper.
ReplyDeleteMy daily prayer is that the mile-markers of marriage be shifted from material things to how deeply we love each other. That, in the end, is the biggest testament of marriage. :-)