Plowed Through the Five Year Banner

Plowed Through the Five Year Banner

They say the first five years of marriage are the most difficult. If that is true, these next years should be a breeze. We have gone through quite a few experiences together these past five years that tested our faith and resolve. We had an unexpected pregnancy 6 months into our marriage, four moves, three months of no employment, three job changes, death of two grandparents, grad school, oh yes...and two kids and a mortgage  Experiences that helped to shape us into who we are today and that moved us to where we are right now. Five years ago I pledged:

Jonathan ~ ever since I was a child I have looked forward to this moment, this moment in which I commit myself to love and to cherish, to respect, and to honor another. Knowing the seriousness of this commitment, and making it lifelong despite what may come, I want to tell you that you, Jonathan Mark, are the only man that I want to commit the rest of my life to, and I do so with confidence and excitement.

Jonathan ~ your love for God and desire for a deep relationship with Him inspires me. Your honesty and integrity challenge me and your belief in me and love for me, is the greatest encouragement of my life. It is your heart, however, that inspires the most awe from me, your passion for life, your dreams, your desire for God and the unending depth of your love make me the most honored woman, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you.

Jonathan, I Kristen promise with everything in me and for the rest of my life to love you. Knowing that love is a choice, I promise to make that choice daily. I promise to be faithful to you, emotionally, physically and in every way so as to bring you honor.

I promise to respect and trust the wisdom that God has granted you, so that you may always know that I believe in you. By the grace that God supplies, I promise to be a woman of the Word, and a woman of prayer, seeking to be a Godly wife and the best woman I can be for you and our God. I wills strive to put you before myself and to communicate effectively with you. With God's help and the abilities that He has granted me, I promise to make our home a peaceful place that you will enjoy coming home to, a place of love, acceptance and laughter.

Jonathan Mark, thank you for making me your wife today. You are my best friend and everything I have ever dreamed. I willingly commit to loving you for as long as God grants me life.

I still remember writing those vows. I was lying on my bed at my parent's house with the window open and the familiar sounds of home all around me. I had no real idea of what marriage would bring, but I knew it was forever and I knew the depth of the words I would write. I still remember saying them. I recall each spot that tears threatened to overtake my speech. I remember which sentences struck the deepest chords within my soul. I remember committing to each and every word with every single bit of resolve within me. I have not been perfect. But I try...and ultimately, each and every day is a new day to wake up and choose to love my husband. There are a million ways of loving someone...and I hope to get better and better at it as time goes by. I can't wait to run through the ten year banner...the twenty...the thirty...together. Always together.

Jonathan committed these vows to me five years ago:

Kristen ~ the night I met you I discovered the other half of my heart inside of you. And over time, that discovery grew into a deep love for you. Kristen, I am in love with you and I like you with everything inside of me. I have fallen in love with your heart. Your passion for God continually inspires me and I am amazed at your endless love and care for people. And every time you express and show your love for children, I am emotionally moved at the thought of you being the mother of our future children.

Your tender heart and your gentle words have captured my love. With just one laugh you brighten my whole day, and your smile takes away all the cares of the world. Your beauty is breathtaking and my words cannot capture its essence. I am humbled by your love for me, Kristen. You are a precious gift given by God and I want to love you for the rest of my life.

Our love has grown to this day, and today we will be joined in marriage. In this celebration of our love, I promise to always love you and to be a faithful and true man. I promise to lead you spiritually and to build our home on the truth of God. I promise to always provide everything you need. I will always strive to serve you wholeheartedly, putting your needs before my own and preferring you above myself. I promise to act with patience and kindness, and speak to you with gentle words. But above all, I promise with all of my heart, soul and mind and strength to never leave you, and to love you for the rest of my life. And I seal these promises with the commitment to never lose the spirit with which I have made them. I love you.

I can still remember him saying those words to me on the alter that day. I can hear each spot where emotion threatened to overtake him. I can feel each word and the depth of impact it made on me in those moments. He is not perfect either. But he tries. He too believes in the possibilities of each new day to wake up and choose to love and serve me, and his boys.

Marriage is not easy. All of you know that...or have heard that if you are not married...good grief, dating is not easy so you know marriage isn't. But it is beautiful, and enduring. It is a place of forgiveness and grace of peace and hope. It is up and it is down, but ultimately no matter where we are at or what we are going through, we are doing it together. And that is the beauty of marriage.

So five years later here we are...taking our two boys to Florida. Talk to ya all in a week...