Today is My 29th Wedding Anniversary!

I wanted to share with my Gather friends that today is my 29th wedding anniversary.  It's so hard for me to believe that it has been 29 years since I walked down the aisle.  I remember my husband standing there with the sweetest look on his face...like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  Our wedding was very small and simple...just like I wanted it to be.  We got married in my church and there were probably about 50 guests, mostly close friends and family.  I wore a traditional white gown with a train and a veil and marched in to the traditional wedding march. Afterwards we had a reception in the church fellowship hall. 

We went to Chimney Rock, NC for our honeymoon.  I remember on our wedding night on our way to our hotel, we stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner.  We had our car all decorated with cans and Just Married was written all over the car.  When we went to pay for our pizza, we were told that someone in the restaurant had seen our Just Married sign and paid for it for us.  We never found out who it was, but thought that was so sweet.

Over these past 29 years, we have raised 3 beautiful, happy and healthy children.  We have seen the passing of both sets of parents.  We have lived in the same 1, 012 sqf home for the past 23 years....(1 bathroom at that!...lol)  We have survived job loss, unemployment, mental illness, infidelity, the loss of a baby, and many other things.  I have written about some of these things in my poetry, so some of you probably feel like you have been on a journey with us at times.

But we have had many happy days together.  And through it all, we have never stopped loving each other.  Divorce has never even been an option for us.  We always figure there's a way to work it out...no matter what.  Another reason we have stayed together is because God is at the center of our marriage.  We made that commitment the day we committed ourselves to each other 29 years ago.  God has been there for us through the tough times, and He has given us an added bit of grace, love, and forgiveness toward one another when the going has been tough. 

I would tell any married couple not to give up too easily on one another when times are hard.  If you make it through those times, your relationship becomes stronger and so does your love.  Anything worth having is going to take some work.  Marriage can be beautiful...if you try to make it that way.