Day 234: I Still Do...

That was the theme of the marriage conference: I still do. It basically took the key parts of the typical vow and broke it down into 4 sections: for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and to honor and cherish till death do us part. It was actually really awesome for me, because 4 pastors along with their wives spoke on these 4 things and related it to God's love. Two of the couples had been married over 30 years, one was 17 years, and the other was 10 years. So, they all have some things to tell us.

Each couple told us their story. Some told us about what they believed it took to keep their marriage strong over the past however many years, others told personal struggles in their own lives that impacted their marriage. All of them were easy to identify with and easy for me personally to relate to them and even aspire to keep my own marriage healthy. They brought in scriptures that supported what they were talking about and how they lived in their marriage. They showed us that marriage IS a forever concept and the vows we take are not something to be broken lightly. They did not preach to the people there that may have been divorced before their current marriage, only they told them that this is the vow they will be keeping. They were encouraging to those people because they know that they do not know the reason for those particular people's divorce and would not want to judge people in a blanket manner.

At the very end, the couple who had been married the longest gave the last part: "To love and to cherish till death do us part." There were a few things that really got me. One was when he was talking about cherishing things: people, love, hope, faith. He said that the military wife who sends her husband off to war cherishes the hope that he will come home to her. That made me cry, because I do. I cherish that hope and that idea that he is coming home to me and that I have such a great man to love, who loves me in return. Then at the very end. They looked at each other and said, "I still do....to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part" It was so sweet that it made me miss my husband more and wish he were here next to me to be able to tell him that too.

I haven't been able to really talk to Ian for any real length of time recently, so I will say it here. I still do. I still vow my love to Ian...to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part. In writing for the world to see, I vow to continue by his side. This marriage conference taught me a lot about being a wife, especially in a Christian marriage and I fully intend to keep my marriage going through this deployment and for the rest of my life.