To Have and To Hold...

Today (even though I'm a couple of days late due to work committments) I am linking up for the Completing Him challenge Week 3.


Mr. Lord and I married on a very, very hot day in January 2009. Our wedding was in the morning and an hour from my parents home so we were up very early (3am). If anyone had told me how hot is was going to be, I think I would have panicked.. but thankfully no one did!


I'm sure this is going to sound wrong, but I just wanted that day over with!! 12 months of planning, preparing and waiting, and I just couldn't wait to have it all over and head off on our "surprise" honeymoon (I had asked Mr. L to keep it a secret from me, and he did!!) and then start our life together, on the same side of the bridge, in the same house (and yes, same bed!). 


By the time the hour drive was over, I was ready to go! Then all of a sudden it hit me - we were getting MARRIED!! Unbelievable! And it was starting to feel a little warm outside.... But there he was :) No silly grins at each other as I walked down that same aisle. Just knowing, trusting smiles. This is God's plan at work. 

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; 

from this day forward 

until death do us part

Gelato served for morning tea after the ceremony turned out to be a good idea. Sweet and cold and full of memories... warm summer afternoons in the park reading together, freezing cold nights where I begged for the sugary coldness "It'll force me to warm up inside" and him always laughing and always saying yes. Party with family and friends celebrating the day I said Yes. That quiet church moment when we each said "I do" before God.


They told me later it reached 47degrees Celsius (116 F) that afternoon during our reception! And by the time we reached our hotel, there was not a scrap of make-up left on my face - it had all melted away! But it didn't matter. We were MARRIED! For the rest of our lives. 


I still thank God for that every day. 


No matter what happens for us, from here on in, we do it together.  And through the ups and downs over this past year and a bit, we just can't help to come back to this...


Husband and wife. 


"What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate"  Mark 10:9 ESV