a wedding kiss

we've all heard the typical wedding vows:  love, honor, cherish, obey, etc.  those are usually pretty easy to remember.  however when a couple writes their own vows, depending on how intricate they are, it is a little more difficult to remember those word for word.  and it's important to remember those for future reference, so that you can keep track of how you are doing on keeping the vows that you promised to God.

on this day, 13 years ago, my bride and i stood in front of clarksdale baptist church and pledged our lives to each other in a beautiful marriage ceremony that still makes me smile when i think about it.  so for my blog post today, i would like to share with you the vows that we said to each other.

lori's vows:

“in the presence of God and these, our friends, i take you chris to be my wedded husband.

i promise to celebrate with you all the joyful memories we create, the comfortable silences we will have, the refreshing laughter, and deepening closeness the coming years will bring.

i will always be honest with you, and respect what you are now and what we will become together.

i promise to love you in the midst of the everydayness and the specialness of life.

i will love you when we are together and when we are apart; when life is peaceful and when it is in disorder; when I am proud of you and when i am disappointed in you.

i will honor your goals and dreams and help you to fulfill them.

i promise my faithfulness to follow you through all of life’s experiences as you follow God, that together we may grow in the likeness of CHRIST.  i will honor those decisions we make together and will work to establish a home where peace, joy, and prayer reign and where CHRIST is the center of our lives.

i love you chris as i love no other.  all that i am i share with you.

i always knew you were the one that could look into my eyes and see my soul. 

i look at you and i see my best friend.  your energy and your passion inspire me in ways i never thought possible.  you give me purpose when i feel i have none.  without you my soul would be empty, my heart broken and my being incomplete. 

 you are my partner, lover, and my best friend above all others, from this day forward as long as we both shall live.”

chris's vows:   

“today, before God, our families, and our friends, i accept with inexpressible joy the gift that God has given me in you and take you lori, my best friend, as my wife.

it is with careful prayer that i make this covenant with you, and so i pray that God will enable me to be the husband that He would have me be for you.

i make a vow to you today before God, and count it a privilege, to fulfill my responsibilities to you as your husband, according to God’s Holy Word.

i vow to love you as CHRIST loves His Church, and gave His life for it; to place your needs, your desires, and your feelings above all others, except the Lord’s, including my own.

i promise to respect and honor you as the beautiful lady and princess of God that you are. 

i vow to be the shepherd of our home, protecting you from all harm, physical and spiritual; to be a comfort to you in sickness and sadness; to be your encourager in times of disappointment, doubt, and fear; to support you; to cherish and love you; to serve you and serve with you.  i promise to recognize your role in our ministry together, and to always seek the Lord’s guidance in our lives and our ministry.

on this holy day, i vow to forsake all others, and give myself and all i have to you, from now to eternity; and promise to be your faithful husband, you best friend, your lover; until we are separated only by death.

i love you, lori."

afterward, we exchanged rings and mark kelly, our youth leader that was instrumental throughout our relationship, said that i could kiss my bride.  this is my description in the book i wrote for lori:


"the passion in that kiss, even though it wasn’t a full-on kiss, was enough that they were transported in those few moments through years past, from the moment they first met, to their friendship which resulted in their first kiss on the choir tour bus, their first date, their first short break-up and reuniting, their eventual bitter break-up and the resulting forgiveness that reunited their friendship, and that phone call that set them on the path to where they were now.  all of those emotions collided in that one kiss, and even though it only lasted seconds, it contained a lifetime."

today is the first anniversary i've spent apart from my bride.  all of my deployments have always had me home for our anniversary, so it has given me a lot of time to think about it.  i look at our vows and i think we have a really good success rate at fulfilling those.  

we still kiss quite frequently, and when we do, those kisses, no matter how short or how long, transport me back to that day on the choir tour bus when our lips met that first time, and then to that kiss on that stage in front of our wedding guests.  so to my baby love, happy anniversary.  i love you more than i ever thought possible, and my love for you grows every day.  i look forward to the day that i can once again kiss you and get lost in the ocean of your blue eyes!