Five Years Ago Today

Adam and I wrote the following for friends and family who joined us to celebrate our marriage on May 1, 2004.

Amy and Adam were talking one evening. "What do we want to say?" Adam asked. "I want to make a statement about marriage," Amy replied. "And what statement is that?" he further inquired. "I want to talk about how we know marriage isn't just a walk in the part, but a lot of conscious choices to love one another."

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It is a daunting task to try to say something meaningful about marriage on your wedding day. Our marriage is just beginning and there are many who have a great deal more experience, insight, and wisdom. Yet here we stand, having grown in love for each other, knowing just enough to recognize that marriage is a lifetime commitment because that's how long it takes for the relationship truly to take shape and for love to grow and mature into fullness. Love, not merely in a broad theoretical sense, but in the nitty-gritty details of our life together, is impossible to maintain on our own. It is a gift from God and is sustained by God. Indeed, it is but a small part, a reflection, of His love for us. Nor is it simply a private matter. We as a couple live in a community that encourages us, and helps keep us faithful. Marriage is not easy. We know that even now, filled with the excitement of new love. It takes the wholehearted choice from both of us to love, repent, forgive, encourage, trust, adapt, and pray; it requires the sustaining love of Christ and the support of our community.

The unity candle is a symbolic representation of our marriage, the joining of our lives one with another. To more accurately depict the reality of our lives, we have chosen an arrangement that is somewhat more elaborate than the traditional pillar and two tapers. The highest candle, lit by the priest, is meant to represent God. It is from God that we have life, so each of our individual tapers are lit from this flame. In coming together as one, our lives are interwoven not just with one another, but with God's own Life, as is symbolized by the intermixed colors of the God candle and our individual tapers. Finally, our marriage cannot exist separately from our community. Each of you is represented by the island stones filling the unity candle holder and supporting the pillar. We invite each of you to take one of these stones home as a way of remembering your place in our lives.

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Thank you for all that we have received from each of you through the years. Your love and support have been invaluable to us and we look forward to where God will take us from here. We are so pleased that you are able to be here today to celebrate our marriage with us. May the peace and blessings of Christ be yours.