1,825 Days Ago

For our wedding ceremony, we generally followed the outline given in the Book of Common Prayer. When we exchanged rings, we uttered the vow that has stayed most clearly in my mind every since:

I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Aaron and I pledged that to each other, and I pray that every year of marriage would demonstrate that statement more truly. I want to honor my husband - to consider him more significant than myself and to look to his interests above my own (Philippians 2:3-4). And I want to do so - to love him - with my whole being. All that I am and all that I have, devoted to the person I cherish most in the world. I, a sinner, often fall short of that commitment. He, a sinner like me, may not always be worthy of that honor (although as his adoring wife, I think he's pretty great). But, by the grace of God, it is a promise I made, a promise I remember, a promise I have grown in fulfilling for the past five years. And it is a promise I hope to keep - Lord willing - for the next five years. And the five years after that, and the five years after that, and all the years we get together.

So on this eve of our anniversary, I say it again. Aaron, with all that I am and with all that I have, I honor you, my love.