Cherish your Vows

I Jason, take you Brandie, to be my wedded wife. I promise in the presence of God my Savior and Lord and these witnesses to love you as Christ loves the Church. I promise to cherish, protect, honor, defend, and support you in sickness and in health, in prosperity and in adversity and through every change of condition.
I am accepting the command given to me by our Lord to be the spiritual leader of our household, and I will constantly strive to seek first His kingdom. I promise that I will lead our lives in strength and hope in Christ Jesus - ever honoring God's guidance by His spirit through His word. Brandie, I am from this day forward choosing to love you as an act of my will, with or without the presence of romantic feelings. I promise to forsake all others and commit myself fully to you, to be faithful to you and no other, cleaving only to you as long as we both shall live.

I Brandie, take you Jason, to be my wedded husband. I promise in the presence of God my Savior and Lord and these witnesses to love, cherish, respect and obey you in sickness and in health, in prosperity and in adversity, and through every change of condition.
I am accepting the command given to me by our Lord to trust your leadership in our household, and I will constantly strive to seek first His kingdom. I pledge to strengthen, help, comfort, and encourage you. Jason, I am from this day forward choosing to love you as an act of my will, with or without the presence of romantic feelings. I promise to forsake all others and commit myself to you, to be faithful to you and no other, cleaving only to you as long as we both shall live.

Although they are long, I wanted to type these out to be reminded of what a commitment marriage is. Not only to each other, but to the Lord who saved us. I love the part of our vows that say "I am choosing to love you as an act of my will, with or without the presence of romantic feelings." Marriage is not always easy, but we choose everyday to love that person whether or not we "feel" like it. It is also such a picture of the gospel. Everyday in our sin nature, we sin against God. However, if your are truly His child, he never stops pursuing you. Our marriages should be a reflection of such great love. I will end by saying that after 2 years of marriage, I have nothing figured out. But, I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me Jason. My love for him grows stronger with each day. God alone is the only one who knows how many years we will have together, and I pray that even in the hard times, I will never take a single moment for granted.