Tuesday, June 22

Silver

Today is not an ordinary day. Today, June 22, twenty-five years ago, was my wedding day.

The soloist sang that pretty song from West Side Story:

Make of our hands one hand
Make of our hearts one heart
Make of our vows one last vow--
Only death will part us now.




On this day 25 years ago, my true love and I stood before the Lord in the presence of witnesses and made promises. Lots of promises. Promises that, to tell the truth, we didn't know how to keep.

We thought we knew. We felt confident, standing there, that our marriage would be different from other marriages. We were certain that we were well-equipped. Armed with our faith, our dreams, and our incomparable, inestimable love for one another, we just knew that ours would be a marriage free from common problems.

We were wrong.

We've had the common problems. We've had some uncommon ones, too. We thought that keeping our vows to one another would be a fairly simple matter. It turned out to be a very complex matter.

25 years later, we're still learning how to keep those promises we made. We're still making the mistakes that we thought we'd never make. We're still messing things up. After all these years, we're still having to figure out what those vows meant.

But by the grace of God, we're doing it together. We're doing it imperfectly--sometimes painfully--but together.

Make of our lives one life
Day after day, one life
Now we begin, now we start--
One hand
One heart
Even death won't part us now.

--Gratefully Unwrapped with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

39 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary! What a testimony! Twenty-five years of togetherness and making it through all of those promises kept and promises broken. That's what marriage is all about. (Glad we don't find that out until we've already taken the vows). I hope you're celebrating BIG!

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  2. Happy Anniversary! Wishing you many, many more. Marriage is easy. It's the hardest thing we'll ever do. Keeping those promises requires so much, yet is so rewarding.

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  3. Love it! This is so true...marriage is WORK! Two imperfect people loving each other and growing along the way....commitment.

    Happy Anniversary dear one! Enjoy!

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  4. Richella, I unexpectedly teared up when I read the part about you making promises in front of God and all those witnesses. I remember standing there at my own wedding (9 years ago tomorrow!) thinking to myself after our pastor pronounced us husband and wife "wow. To break up, now we have to get divorced." And then I felt really guilty for thinking that on my wedding day.

    Not that I wanted a divorce, of course. Just that the sacredness of the moment, the seriousness of the commitment was all words. Promises and declarations. But those words only mean something as you live them out. Anyway. I hope that makes sense. Happy Anniversary to you!

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  5. Congratulations to you on this special occasion!!

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  6. Thanks for the lovely and honest posting.

    We will be celebrating 17 years next month.
    There have been days when I think "I married the wrong person" and then there are days I thank God for giving me the exact right person. (I'm sure he thinks the same of me.)
    Happy Anniversary!

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  7. Congratulations to both of you!

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  8. Happy Anniversary!!
    May you have many more.
    Sweet post.... So True, So True! We had 35 this past weekend. When one of our sons got married they put both sets of parents wedding pictures in thier programs ( a surprise to us ) because they said that so few make it that far these days & they were grateful for the examples of marriage.

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  9. Happy Anniversary Richella, do you guys have anything special planned? Hope you both enjoy the day together. Love your post
    xxxx

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  10. Happy Anniversary! I'm sure it was a sweet, sweet day! :-)

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  11. Happy Anniversary! What a milestone!

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  12. loving you today... and hoping that you are looking forward! the stuff behind us... is lessons learned. places we have already been. wishing you a happy happy anniverary. celebrating where you are righ tnow :)

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  13. Happy Anniversary! I hope you have a wonderful day!

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  14. How true! Happy Anniversary! Carla

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  15. Happy Anniversary! God has blessed you thus far, He will continue to be there as the foundation of your marriage for many, many more years. Life and marriage always has those unexpected twists and turns, huh? But as you said, you're going thru it together...and with the Lord.

    Nancy

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  16. Well Happy Anniversary! 25 years is a big deal and it's wonderful and special. Congrats to y'all.

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  17. Happy Anniversary!!! Marriage really is hard work! We have made it almost 26 years now, your story could be ours!

    Congratulations!
    Kim

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  18. Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated 30, what an adventure it is! Have a blessed day!

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  19. Happy Anniversary!! What a sweet wedding photo. It is work and it takes working as a team to see you through the good, bad and sometimes ugly.

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  20. Happy Anniversary! What a wonderful milestone. Here's to 25 more, and then some!

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  21. have a blessed anniversary and many more to come! This is such a wonderful testimony to your love.

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  22. Happy Anniversary! Yes, after 15 years we're still figuring this marriage thing out, too! : )

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  23. What a beautiful testimony to God's grace and goodness. :) Happy anniversary!

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  24. How sweetly beautiful, Richella!

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  25. Happy Anniversary Richella ( and hubby)

    that picture is ravishing. as is your heart.
    ( we named our youngest , Natalie from West Side Story :) )

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  26. Beautiful! Happy Anniversary!! We are celebrating 12 this weekend. :) It is funny what we 'think' we know at the time... then life happens! lol

    Stopping by from Chatting at the Sky. :)

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  27. Happy Anniversary, Richella. :) I love how honest you are by mentioning that marriage isn't easy and you've had your share of ups and downs. I bet you're glad you stuck with it through the downs! ;)

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  28. What a wonderful post, and congratulations to both of you for reaching this huge milestone - a testament to the grace of God, I'm sure. I feel that anyone who makes it this far in this day and age deserves a medal, when the 'world' is keen to give up on anything that requires effort. Well done both of you, and may you enjoy many many more years of working out God's plan for your lives... together.

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  29. First of all, congratulations! I am exactly 10 years behind you. Second (and I've said this before), you do not look old enough to celebrate a silver anniversary. Third, you said it all so very well. (I've been working on a similar post myself.) It's only by God's grace that any of our marriages can hold up. I love your honest reflection. : )

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  30. what a wonderful testimony, Richella! congratulations! God bless you for many more years.

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  31. Happy anniversary. I wish I was more mystified as to what you are talking about. May 50 years find you still growing together or caught up with our savior within the walls of jasper. In the latter condition we will finally be able to have a wonderful fellowship time.

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  32. I so very much relate to the sentiments shared here. In the course of our 26 years, it has been those "common problems" which were often the hardest to face.

    So blessed are we that a cord of three strands is not easily broken.

    Happy Anniversary week!

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  33. 25 years...congratulations! Your words ring with so much truth; we think we know what it takes as we stand there in that one moment in time; we have no idea. Blessings as you continue to learn each other.

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  34. congratulations doesn't even begin to suffice...after only three years of marriage, we are just beginning our journey of "wrong". and it is SO SO encouraging in this world of broken promises & sinful people to find couples still in love, still seeking one another, after 25 trips around the sun together. :)

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  35. Happy Anniversary!! Such a beautiful post..so true, no one has it easy, but the important thing is the word together. Love ya~

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  36. Congratulations, Richella! What a great testimony for the Lord, you and your husband, and your entire family. Our word is important. Integrity is important. Promises kept are worth celebrating. And what a spectacular place to celebrate your promises kept - Paris in the springtime! Wonder where you'll go when you reach your golden anniversary? God's richest blessings for many, many more, my friend!

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  37. Many blessings to you as you celebrate another 25 - and more!

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