Saying "I Do" Every Day
I was looking at a bridal magazine today just to soak up the
beauty. The women were all in exquisite gowns; the men all
dapper in their suits or tuxedos. All were glowing. What is it
about weddings that so capture our imaginations?
Perhaps more than anything else we do in life, marriage is a
leap of faith and an act of hope. We look ahead and decide that
our future lives will be better with our chosen one beside us
than without him. We repeat the vows of the ancient rite: "For
better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in
health, for as long as we both shall live," all the while hoping
that life will bring us only the better, richer, and in health
part of the equation! Of course, anyone who has been married
over six months knows that is not the case. And while the good
times in a marriage are to be cherished and celebrated, it is
often the worse, poorer, and times of illness that test the bond
and make it stronger.
My husband and I have been married eight years now, not a
lifetime certainly, but enough time that we have had our share
of ups and downs. Thankfully, with God's grace, the good days
have outnumbered the bad. One of the best pieces of advice I
received before I got married came from a coworker who had been
happily married thirteen years at the time. She told me, "There
are many days when I get up and say, 'I will be married just for
today!'" Saying "I do" isn't a one-time proposition. We repeat
our vows each day we get up in the morning and choose to
continue to care, to overlook each other's faults and treat each
other with patience and understanding. Love becomes as much a
decision as a feeling.
We celebrate weddings for the act of hope that they are. For
those who have been married a while, it can be helpful to look
back at where it all started and tap into some of that hope. We
say "I do" to another day, cognizant of the fact that all those
little "I do's" will lead to a lifetime of love.