The Wedding........

"Marriage is more than something personal-it is a status, an office.  Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule that makes the king, so it is marriage and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1943

Today my husband and I were guests of a wedding.  
The bride is a very dear friend of mine.  The bride's father is the Pastor that married my husband and I almost 22 years ago.

It was a a lovely wedding.  

Bright Gerber daisies abundantly about.... in the bouquets, the wedding cake and the bride's hair.  The bride's maids wore spring floral dresses and the groomsmen wore simple, but handsome, slacks and ties.  There were colorful handmade flowers that hung from the church trees on this gorgeous summer day.

I am always taken back to the day of my own wedding every time I am in attendance of the occasion.  I remember being excited and terrified at the same time.  My husband and I certainly were prayerful about our decision to become husband and wife, yet the ability to sustain a successful union seemed a considerable gamble considering my upbringing.

Could I possibly find a partner who was Godly and believed in the commitment of marriage as much as I?  

I had my doubts......

But 22 years later, on this gorgeous summer afternoon, I held the arm of the man that would fulfill these risky, hopelessly fairytale-like notions.  We didn't just have the desire to be married when we wed that day long ago.  We also had the deep desire to treat our marriage like the trinity that it was and is.  Our marriage would be/is like a triangle.  We must undoubtedly consider each other, but also find guidance, comfort, forgiveness, respect, adoration and praise from that third party. The most important party.  If we could remain focused on Him, we felt we could sustain ANYTHING........

and here we remain....

I don't claim to know the secrets to sustain a long, successful marriage.  At times, our marriage almost runs on auto pilot and others takes a village to just trudge along.  But I do know that without God as the center, I think each of us would agree that we would not be here.  No way....No how!

I believe in marriage, I love being married.

My love and happiness are with Chad and Kiersten today...

and always....

May you always stay focused on God as the center of your lives........

xxxooo