You know those moments when you fall in love with your husband all over again...I'm having one of them! We've been married now a little over 6 years, and I truly do love him more today than I ever have. I used to kind of laugh at people who always cry at weddings. I didn't understand it. But now, I think I do.
Yes, the whole event is beautiful. The bride is *hopefully* looking better than she's ever looked before in her life. The groom waits in anticipation. Moms and Dads are weeping. Bridesmaids are uncomfortable in not-so-rewearable dresses. And smartly dressed groomsmen smile as they think more of that night than that moment.
But the true beauty of a wedding is what will come over the next 50 to 75 years. Life together.
In our first 6 months of marriage we moved 4 times. We went to seminary...and came back home. Steven stayed sick for 3 months before they finally diagnosed him with whooping cough. I found out I was pregnant and was then told my little girl was dead (obviously they were wrong!) My parents separated for the first time. I was put on bed rest and Steven was too sick to walk outside, much less go to class or work. We lived on prayer because there was NO money...all we had was kept in our dresser drawer...then it became empty too. And through all of this I kept falling more in love with Steven. He was my partner. Everything I went through, he went through also. When I was hurting or scared he was hurting and scared too. And more than falling in love with each other that year, we fell in love with God. We trusted Him more than ever because we had to...there wasn't an option. Faith was a necessity. My husband and I helped each other believe.
We've had so many couples tell us that we went through more in the first year of our marriage than they have in 15 or 20 years together. I don't know if that's true, but it was encouraging to hear at the time. What I do know to be true is this: I love this man God blessed me with so much more deeply than I ever could have dreamed was possible on our wedding day. And I would walk life's road by his side for a million more years if we were to live that long. What can I say...I love him.
So when a couple says "I do" for the first time, I must confess that I, too, shed a few tears because now I understand a little bit more the magnitude of those words.
June the eighth, 2002, will always live in my memory as one of the best days of my life.
Dearest Steven--- I love you, honey. You have given me the best years of my life. Thanks for saving yourself for me and then agreeing to wait and share our first kiss on our wedding day. You are the love of my life, my soul mate. And I'm so thankful God planned you for me.
Our First Kiss
