Saturday, June 14, 2008

1 Year Together


It is AMAZING to me to think we have been married for a year! Sometimes I feel it was just yesterday- and sometimes I feel like we've always been married :)

(This post is a few days late since we were celebrating and I didn't have time to blog on the real day) :)

On our sixth month anniversary, I posted about my top ten favorite things about being married. This time, I thought I'd write about my five favorite things I've learned *while* being married.

1. I remember a sweet friend telling me once, "You'll never know how sinful you really are until you get married." At the time, I was completely puzzled about what she meant. Boy Howdy, now I understand :) Being married is like looking in a mirror and seeing yourself as you truly are- I think a lot like the way God sees us. It has truly helped me grow in my walk with the Lord EXPONENTIALLY!

2. That things will not always turn out the way you wanted them to- and that's OKAY! In fact, that's GOOD. Looking back, I would have thought our lives one year into marriage would look completely different from how they look now. But Praise be to God for His Perfect Plans. And thanks be to God for teaching me contentment, and helping me realize *my* way isn't the best way.

3. How being young and being married is one of the best gifts the Lord has given me. So many people questioned and told us we were too young. My favorite reply to that, of course, was "My grandmother had been married for 6 years and already had 4 babies with another on the way by now. The way I look at it, I'm way behind." I was joking... mostly... but I loved to watch people's faces when I said it :)

4. How much more a supportive and loving family means to you. I've called my momma probably a billion times in the past year, with questions ranging from, "How in the world do I get x stain out of y fabric?" to "Now how exactly do I make this pie?". All the silly things I really thought I knew before I got married... that I apparently didn't know. I think while you live at home, you don't really appreciate all the little things.

5. That love can grow and change in ways completely unexpected. I love my husband in so many different ways now- not just the silly girlish love that is desperate for his attention (of course, that's still around sometimes!), but also a steady kind of love- a kind of love I believe can only come from the Lord. The kind where you would lay down your life for one another, and I don't mean in the dramatic "Romeo and Juliet" kind of way. I mean the daily, silly, sometimes ridiculous way. Like laying down desires and needs to make room for the other's way. The same sweet someone who once told me how I'd see my own sin better when I was married also once spoke to me about living for the Lord. I remember her saying, a lot of people would say they would die for the Lord. The kind where someone holds a gun to your head and asks you if you are a Christian. But how many people can LIVE for the Lord? The kind of life where you daily lay down your needs, your desires, and your wants. It's a lot harder to die every single minute. And that's how I see true married love. It may sound completely ridiculous, but dying to your need to fold tee shirts a certain way can be hard. Dying to your need to wash the dishes a certain way can be hard. Silly? Yes. But I don't think anyone but a happily married couple can understand how much those little things mean.

Thank you to everyone who remembered our anniversary even though I didn't post about it. It *truly* warmed my heart.

We read our vows again to celebrate- and to remember. It was very convicting to remember all the things I vowed before God. May He give us, in His Everlasting Mercy, many more happy years together, and many more things learned.



GROOM

I, Colin, covenant before God and man, to you Lauren Christine to
be your loving husband, and to lead you, to protect you, and provide for you in devotion to the Lord.

I vow to love you as my wife as Christ loved the church, to lay down my life for you, to wash you with the water of the word, to love you as my own body and to nourish and cherish you as the Lord does the church; to render unto you the affection due you, knowing that I do not have authority over my own body but you do, to dwell with you according to knowledge, giving honor unto you and living together with you as heirs together of the grace of life.

You alone will be my delight as the wife of my youth where divorce is neither a threat nor an option. I will fight for you and for our family. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow; in times of failure and in times of triumph till death do us part. I pledge to you my life as a loyal and faithful husband.

BRIDE

I, Lauren Christine, covenant before God and man, to you Colin, to be your loving wife, and to obey you, be faithful unto you, and care for you in devotion to the Lord.
Just as the Church is subject to Christ in all things, so will I be unto you in everything. I will live first for God, and then for you. I vow to always build up our household and seek to crown you by nobility in my character. I will discretely and chastely keep our home, working with eager hands, and always seeking to bring you good, not harm, all the days of my life.
If the Lord so chooses to bless us, it will be my delight to be the fruitful bearer of your children, and I will help you teach them the commandments of the Lord as we talk of them in our house, as we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. Wherever you go, I will go. I will not separate myself from you. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge, your people will be my people, and your God, my God. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph, till death do us part. I pledge to you my life as your loyal, obedient, and faithful wife.

20 comments:

Clare said...

Oh, I love the picture! What a charming couple you are!

Happy Anniversary, you two, and may your future years together continue to be blessed and beautiful!!

Jaimee Lavin said...

Thank you for sharing Lauren!

I, for one, am so incredibly grateful for the wonderful example you both provide of a God-honoring marriage. You are a blessing!

May you continue to live happily ever after! :)

~Jennifer

Sarah said...

What a beautiful post. (And Congrats!!) Although I've been married longer than you have (by just a little) :) I've found your blog to be such an encouragement to me as I too try to be a loving and godly wife to my man. Your posts have been touching, funny, inspirational and convicting. I pray God will continue to bless you and your husbands life together as He has done this past year. May every coming year be more beautiful than the one before it.

Sommer said...

Happy Anniversary Lauren! I do hope you had a lovely day with your honey.

I loved the vows..thanks for sharing:-) I told my husband that if we had it to do over that I would have put more thought into ours. We were not where we are today(although we did not take our vows lightly). Today we would have put much more thought to them.

Praying the years to come are just as happy and blessed!

Lots of love,
Sommer

emme said...

Happy Anniversary! May God continue to bless you and your marriage; may you have many more years of happiness together!

~Emily

Mackenzie said...

Congratulations again dearest! Number 5 really has me thinking. :)

Mandy said...

Happy, happy anniversary!!

Keri said...

Happy Anniversary, Lauren!

Rachel said...

Hello, I found your blog through Shannon's : ) Happy Anniversary to you and your husband. Thankyou for this post, I'm getting married in 8 weeks time, and I've found your thoughts on marriage really helpful

Rachel xxx

~ Shannon said...

Happy Anniversary, Lauren and Colin! You are such a sweet couple, and I thank you for being a good role model of a marriage that is focused on Christ. It is so encouraging in this dysfunctional world!

May the Lord bless you with many more years of growing together and loving one another!

Yours in Christ,
Shannon

Natasha said...

Happy Anniversary Lauren! Thank you for sharing the vows - they are just beautiful.

May you continue to glorify Him in your marriage and may your years together be blessed with immense joy and delight.

Tiffany said...

Congratulations!

Thank you so much for that uplifting post. I'm saving it so that I can keep going back and re-reading it (even thought I'm not married). It's so wonderful to see a "live" example of a godly marriage.

Thank you also for sharing you vows. They are beautiful.

Tiffany

Laura said...

Happy anniversary, Lauren! What a sweet post. I'm so glad for you! May the Lord continue to bless you and bring both you and Colin closer to Him!

Jodi said...

Happy Anniversary! What beautiful vows!

Lauren, I can promise you that God's plan for your lives will just get better and better. I have been married 6 years (I also "wasted" my youth with marriage! ;) ) and my life has not turned out to be the way I had planned. At all. But I'm not sorry. This is God's divine plan for us and it truly is better than what I had wanted. Sometimes we don't see that when we're in the middle of it, but it is true!

I have been blessed by your encouraging blog!

Lauren said...

Congratulations!!! I love marriage, it's such a beautiful example of Christ's love for us. God Bless!

Lauren

Emily said...

What a great testimony. I praise the Lord for your example of a godly relationship.

Unknown said...

Happy Anniversary! My husband and I have been married 1 year and 7 months! They have been the best months of our lives!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary from a drive-by reader! I came here when I was searching for reviews on the Creation Museum.

Your bit about someone thinking you're too young to be married and your bit about your grandma.... From glancing back at your entries, it looks like you turned 24 this past November, whereas I turned 25. However, I've been married 7 1/2 years (yes, I was married a few months before my 18th birthday), and have 4 children from 6 1/2 down to 1, with #5 due in June.

Then a friend of mine, she turned 24 this past November, just like you. Well she's been married 5 1/2 years, and has 5 children from 4 1/2 down to newborn. She's one of the unusual few who breastfeed and end up fertile before 6 months. Her children are 12 to 16 months apart.

It's hard to imagine someone thinking 23 is too young to get married!

Molly said...

I loved what you said for #5, my husband and I are coming up on 5 months as a married couple and I find I struggle with the little things quite a bit. I guess I just have to start looking at things differently. Thank You!

I love your blog!!!

Diane Shiffer said...

honey this is just a wonderful, wonderful post! i especially like number 5. it is so encouraging to see such a young person taking these things so seriously and learning so well((hugs))

btw... i am persuaded from the sensibility boards in case you were wondering:)

 

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