From This Day Forward...

I know so far I have written exclusively about our fertility and pregnancy journey, but I'm thinking today is an excellent day for a slight detour.  I suppose it's a bit of a prequel if you will.  You see, today is our 3 year anniversary.  Unfortunately, I'm spending the day in bed, in my jammies, Kleenex box and vitamin C close at hand...sick.

But taking nostalgic walks down memory lane don't require proper walking shoes, or even that you get up.  As I sit and reminisce on that amazing day 1,096 days ago, a few things stand out as simply unforgettable.  Every wedding has at least one hiccup, one thing that didn't go as planned and ours was no exception.  We arrived at the churches and yes, I say churches, one where we had the ceremony, and across the street where we had the reception (that one allowed dancing), neither one had power.  Someone had crashed their car into a power pole and rendered the block powerless.  It was weird setting things up in the dark, but we managed.  Didn't turn out too shabby now did it?

Little did I know that the night before, Danny and his best man Tim, and his wife Erin, had an entire conversation mapping out all the things that could go wrong and how we'd manage if we were faced with it.  I was later told that when I had texted him that morning that the churches were without power, that the three of them laughed knowing Dan had a plan: We could get candles and we knew at least a few people who played the piano, it really wasn't a problem.  "We can get married in the dark, this is SO not going to stop me from marrying her today!"

Thankfully we didn't have to send the entire bridal part on a massive search for candles.  The power was restored and the rest of the day was relatively flawless.

We decided for the sake of our guests, we would see one another before the wedding and do pictures.  We are really most sincerely NOT superstitious people, so the whole bad luck to see the bride before the wedding thing, went right out the window.  Our photographer chose a great location in the church for our big reveal.

Ya know what's really fantastic?  He will still look at me like that :o)

Our ceremony wasn't too far off and the best was still yet to come.  I had never felt more beautiful than I did that day.  I was surrounded by 250 of our closest friends and family :o) and after walking down the aisle with my dad, I remember staring at the green carpet with petals all around, thinking, "We are finally here.  All the planning, all the work...we are finally here."

The time finally came for our vows: something that TO THIS DAY people will still talk to me about--not so much mine, but Danny's.  We decided to write our own vows.  I had trimmed mine down thinking Danny wouldn't write as much as I had the potential to (we all know I can go on and on, right dad?), little did I know, he'd be the one responsible for the novel, not me.

My vows:

Danny,

For most of my life I have dreamt of this day.  But never in all my dreaming would I have thought that the quiet guys whose head I used to pat as we passed in the halls at school, would turn out the be the one I would share my life with.  And never in all my dreams did I think I would wake up to find that God has given me more than the man of my dreams.

You love me so completely, I never have to be afraid to be myself or hide my true feelings.  You protect me so fiercely; I never have to wonder if I can trust you with my whole heart.  You are my true love and yours is the heart that completes mine.  You are the one who, from this day on, I share everything with, the good, the bad, the exciting, the scary, the best, and the worst.  From this day on, from here on out, it is no longer me, but us.

Today, I make this vow, to both you and to the Lord, that I will love you always.  I will choose to love you even if I don’t feel lovingly or your words or actions are less than lovely.  I will never set my love for you on a sliding scale.  I promise I will always stand beside you, partner with you, share the weight of your burdens, and rejoice in your successes.  I promise I will always respect and honor you as we walk together seeking God’s will for our life together.  All this I promise you until Christ takes us home, because this promise I make today, I make forever.

From the day you came back into my life, I was no longer able to picture my life without you and I find such amazing peace in knowing that I will not ever have to be without you in my life.  I love you so much.

Danny was next, and in just a moment, you will understand my immense relief that I got to go first.  In what world would I have been able to follow this?

Lisa, 

Standing here with you today, I am again in awe of God’s love for me.  That God loves me so much that he has brought such an amazing woman into my life.  Every time I look into your eyes, I am reminded that God is a God of second chances.  So many times I’ve prayed and cried and asked the Lord, when?  When would my time come?  When would I meet my other half?  I had no idea how much God would rock my world when I met you again.  It just seems like a miracle to me that he could take such a strong, confident, caring, wonderful woman like you, and have her fall in love with a knuckle head like me.

Lisa, you have been many things to me in the past 16 months.  You have been my playmate when it came to being tickled, you have been my rock and strength when I didn’t have any left during my heart attack.  You have been my prayer warrior when I was downtrodden.  You have been my cheerleader when I needed encouragement.  You have been my partner in rejoicing in triumphs.  You are my life.  You are my love.  You are my best friend.  And today, you will be my wife.

Lisa, I want you, and the whole world to know that I pledge my life to you today.  Never again to be just my own life, but our life together.  Because without you, I am incomplete.  God made you to be the other half of me, just as He made me to be the other half of you.

We both have been so blessed to have come from families that have been such a great example of what a Godly marriage should be.  Our families may have their quirks, but honey, so will we.  They have taught us so many valuable lessons in their triumphs, struggles, and failures.  I have no doubt that the many things they have passed on to us will help us succeed in this marriage.  And I know that we will succeed.  There is no Plan B.  No back up plan when things get rough.  No Opt Out clause.  I love you, and I will choose to love you even when I don’t feel like it.  So even if things get hard, I will be right here next to you, on my knees before God.

Lisa,

From this day forward,

I promise to respect you; by the way I speak to you, about you, and the way I treat you.

I promise to love you unconditionally, no matter what obstacles may lay ahead.

I promise to protect you over myself both physically and emotionally.

I promise to always be faithful to you, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I can not promise that we will always be happy, but I promise that our Father gives joy abundantly.

I can not promise that we won’t disagree, and be unhappy with each other, but I promise that when those times come, we will pray that God would give us attitudes of compromise and submission.

I promise to honor the role God has given to me to lead us in our marriage.

I promise to never abuse this role, and make you feel like you have to submit to me always.

I promise that I will always have an attitude of mutual submission to you, because love never puts itself first.

I promise all these things to you from this day forward, until the Lord takes us home.

Looking back on that beautiful day, I can't help but laugh that he was prepared with a plan in case we faced some unforeseen disaster.  I can't help but smile when I am reminded just how important a look can make me feel, be it when I feel I look the best I ever have, or on days like today when I'm sick lying in bed.  And I can't help but be so thankful of the immense gift God has given me in a man who would write and speak such tender vows promising a life that won't be perfect, but one that will always be grounded on Christ and the love we choose to have for each other.  I guess today I am just reminded and still ever thankful for the amazing blessing God has given me in the man He has chosen to be my husband, my best friend, my partner in all things--tickle fights or otherwise, and now the newest adventure, the father of my children. 

Happy Anniversary to the one who is more than the man of my dreams!