Today Laura Beth and I are celebrating 7 years of marriage! I had the privilege of preaching in church today out of II Samuel 7 on God's covenant with David- what sweet timing, as I was able to stand before the church and rejoice in the marriage covenant that our Father has given to us together. As I was speaking about God's "steadfast love" or His Covenant Love, I read this poem that I wrote for Laura Beth and read to her just before I proposed to her. Here it is:
The Day That I Met You…
The day that I met you, Who ever would have thought
The girl who smiled so softly, Would be the one God brought
The day that I met you, I never would have known
The dimpled girl who made be blush, Would one day be my own
And girl you are no longer, For before my very eyes
Through pain I’ve watched you blossom, To a pearl of greatest price
This pearl I greatly treasure, Handed down from up above
For the more that I’m around you, The more I learn of love
Love not from self-ambition, Nor a seeking of my own
But sacrifice and giving, Yielding all is love alone
Though my heart was cold and bitter, Sinful, hardened to the bone
Your love came in and gave me, A heart of flesh instead of stone
While all around were screaming, “You’d be a fool to let love go”
I sought the Lord, our Father, And He clearly let me know
That love is to be cherished, And treasured in the heart
That through loving you I’d love Him, And that’s the greatest part
Our love is not from us, It’s rare, a precious thing
And so to symbolize this love we share, I bought for you this ring...
And she said YES!!!
And just for fun- here are the vows that we wrote for that special day:
Keith’s: Laura, you are the one my soul delights in, and today I take you as
my wife. I covenant to make you the sole object of my affections, and to be single-mindedly devoted to you and you alone. I commit all that I am to loving you as Christ loved the church, giving Himself up for her, and I take full responsibility for seeking to present you to Him a pure bride. In this, I commit to love you above myself, serve you even when empty, and to provide you shelter and security. I covenant to remain by your side in whatever circumstance of life our Shepherd might bring, until I lay you in our Savior’s arms.
Laura’s: Keith, you are the one my soul delights in, and today I take you as
my husband. I covenant to make you the sole object of my affections, and to be single-mindedly devoted to you and you alone. I commit all that I am to submitting to you just as Jesus submitted to the Father in order to carry out His will. In this, I commit to love you above myself, serve you even when empty, and provide encouragement and bring joy to your life. I covenant to remain by your side in whatever circumstance of life our Shepherd might bring, until I lay you in our Savior’s arms.
It is true that marriage just keeps getting sweeter- but it's sweeter as the Gospel keeps meeting us in new and deeper ways!
So what do you do when you live in the BUSH of Uganda to celebrate an anniversary? Some friends of ours (the Vogt's) are cooking us dinner and then they are coming over to our house to watch the boys while we go and have a "romantic evening" at their house- dinner and a movie!
I'd love to hear any of your marriage stories- poems, vows, etc.
If you like the ring (which are the rings that we have), you can find them on: http://www.porat-jewelry.com/
