I still do and I always will

Twenty five years ago today was an amazing day–I got to marry the man I love.   We had such a great wedding–set in the gorgeous Sangre de Cristo mountains in the sweet town of Westcliffe, Colorado with all of our family and close friends with us. The church had these huge picture windows behind us perfectly framing the beautiful mountain range as we pledged our love to one another and vowed to be one…til death do us part.

It is no small miracle that Super Rockstar and I have made it to this major mile marker in marriage.  As I thought about our journey, so far, I realized that it is because of those vows we made to one another on that day–that we even survived our first year.

I take you,

to have and to hold

from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

til death do us part,

according to God’s holy law;

and this is my solemn vow.

We were SO in love on our wedding day and still are very much so today. But, on that day, as we eagerly repeated those vows promising to keep them all the days of our lives–all we could foresee was hope and promise.  No one ever sees ahead to the difficulties.  I think we all enter into married life truly believing our love will conquer all.

I take you: No one else.  Only the one who stood right in front of me at the altar that day.  He was the one and still is the only one I choose.

To have and to hold: I am his and he is mine. It is truly a–we are not going to share this with anyone else –relationship.

For better, for worse: It was so easy on our wedding day to imagine all of our “best” moments.  The worst are for those poor souls that don’t have true love the way we do–so we thought.  Oh boy! Did we learn that one the hard way.  But, you know what? All of our worst “worsts” have made our “betters” SO much better.  It took us a while to understand that–but I’m so glad we did.

For richer, for poorer: I’m not sure we’ve every experienced the “for richer” side of things, but I KNOW we’ve got the “for poorer” part DOWN. Some of our best memories are from our first month of marriage– living in a cheap hotel while we looked for jobs; eating nothing but ramen noodles and taco bell. We’ve come a long way, baby!

In sickness and in health: I don’t know that anyone who gets married in their 20’s can ever fathom poor health or watching someone you love so deeply suffer–whether it’s just from a cold that won’t go away or something far more serious. But, there is a sweetness that comes in the midst of it all knowing that your best friend and closest ally is the one caring for you. Getting older ain’t much fun, but having him to laugh through it all with me–makes it not seem so bad.

To love and to cherish: To love him–flaws and all–and to have him love me–flaws and all–is absolutely wonderful.  To cherish each other  in the midst of those flaws–is priceless.

Till death do us part: I don’t think any of us can fathom death.  We all know it’s going to happen to us “some day”, but to measure the when and how is impossible.  Twenty five years in–and I can’t imagine my life without him.  I don’t want to and I pray every day that we won’t have to face that any time soon.

According to God’s holy law: The One who created marriage in the first place is also the One who set the guidelines of what makes a healthy happy marriage.  His law/His way is the ONLY way it works.  Whenever we have attempted to color outside that line–things have gone badly very quickly. It is ONLY in following His plan that things not only work–they work amazingly well.

And this is my solemn vow: When we stood before our friends and loved ones September 3, 1994, facing each other, holding hands, and repeating these vows to one another–there was One other at that altar that we were also making a promise to.   They are not only solemn vows–they are sacred vows.

It says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 it says: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But, pity anyone who falls and has no one to help him up.”

There is no one else and never will be anyone else that I would rather be sharing my life with. I still get nervous every time he enters a room, I melt at his smile, and being in his arms is heaven on earth for me. In our 25 years of married life we have experienced every up and down imaginable.  That’s what makes it all so miraculous.  The forces trying to pull us apart are sometimes overwhelming and relentless.  But, we keep our feet planted firmly facing each other, holding on and fiercely remembering all that brought us together in the first place.  Our story is an amazing love story—none will ever be like ours and I’m so grateful to be living it out….with him.