This is my honeymoon with God. That time when we commit to each other. When two become one. This is the time when we discover an intimacy with each other that will carry into the rest of our lives. When we wake up every morning and wonder how we ever lasted our whole lives without the other by our side. A time when we feel total, complete Joy, just to stare into each other’s eyes, to sit in each other’s presence, to sip a glass of wine while looking at the beautiful scenery. This is our time, when we fall in love with each other every day, when we choose each other every day, when we fall into each other’s arms every night. I am His. He is Mine. We are one.
In September Jesus got down on one knee and said, “Marry me. Give yourself to me. Allow me to love you. Allow me to spend your life loving you. Please say yes so I can spend your life by your side. Allow me to love you through the bad and through the good. Say yes and let me serve you, let me take care of you. Just say yes!” And I did. I said yes to Jesus and a lifetime of loving him. I said yes to a hard, crazy, wild life full of him. I spent 9 months preparing for a marriage. Preparing to commit to someone forever. I went through the usual feelings. I felt stressed like nothing would go as I planned. I had doubts. I felt insecure about what kind of woman I was going to be for him. I felt unworthy and inadequate as a future wife for him. I love him. I love him so much it hurts.
In Botswana we finally came to the day. I watched a family who was so full of God and the spirit that it gave me hope that I was making the right decision. As I stood on the Delta Jesus reached out and took my hand, and by the vibrant colors of the setting sun we said our vows. We vowed to love each other for all eternity. We said “I do promise to love you through the hard times. I do promise to fall in love with you every day. I do promise to stand by you no matter what. I do promise to hold your hand at every moment of every day. I do promise to marvel at your beauty. I do promise to sacrifice my life for you. I do promise to die for you. I do promise to serve you. I do promise to forgive you. I do promise to ask for your forgiveness when I do wrong. I do promise to never leave you nor forsake you. I do promise that hard times will come. But I do promise that through it all, despite everything, amidst the obstacles, among the dead, the ugly, the blackness, the good, the living, the beautiful, the freedom. Through it all I will be there and I will, for all eternity, love you with all my heart, soul, and mind. Take my hand and lets have this adventure of a lifetime.”
