Today Jay and I celebrate 10 years of marriage. We give all the glory to God for sustaining us these last ten years. We certainly would not have made it this far without Him.On March 17, 2000 in San Francisco we had a small ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts. It was just us, my Mom and Ted, and Jay's friend Shawn as our witnesses. Back then we were not walking closely with the Lord and during our engagement (and living together) I became pregnant with Brendan...so we wanted to be married before he was born. Hence, the Palace of Fine Arts. Brendan was born in June. :-)
Fast forward exactly one year to March 17, 2001 in Anaheim...we renewed our vows in a church surrounded by family and friends.
It was a beautiful wedding, complete with 11 bridesmaids/groomsmen, a flower girl, a ring bearer (Jaylon) and a night full of dancing. It was so special and everything I had ever dreamed of. We even had green beer...not that I should boast about that, but our families (mine being Irish) love a good party - and so did we back then!My most favorite memory about our "big" wedding was my husband, who cried while he was saying his vows. His emotion and transparency was a huge reason I fell in love with him in the first place!
Another memory we always get a good laugh from is the fact that a piece of cake fell down the front of my dress and I fished it out with a fork...all captured on our video sad to say! These ten years have been like nothing I have ever experienced. There have been times of joy & happiness, times of stress & worry, times of irritation & anger and times of silliness & laziness. We have shared the birth of four children, the death of two grandparents, the purchase of our first home, a layoff, eight (yes, 8!!) moves, depression, tremendous growth in the Lord, counseling and a roller coaster of other typical events in life.
I consider myself truly blessed to call Jay my husband. He has stuck with me through some rough patches and I'm the first to admit that I am no peach to be married to. :-) He is such a family man and I appreciate the fact that he puts us first and desires to spend as much time with us as he can. His children adore him and my heart gushes with love when I watch him interact with them.
So thank you Jay for the past ten years, whether good times or bad, in sickness or health, richer or poorer, for better or worse, till death do us part. I love you and you are still my favorite!!
"There is no place on earth quite like marriage for the kind of transformation God is after." John and Staci Eldredge
4 comments:
happy 10th anniversary and the luck 'o the irish to you two! i was moved by this post (not to tears--you have not proof and i am not telling)because i have only known you in the "tremendous growth in the Lord" season and have been so blessed by your sweet marriage. i like your jay cause he is tender (though he tries to act tough when he is losing at a game of scattergories!)too. reminds me of another groom who cried when his bride walked down the aisle to start her life with him. oh the good grace of God. He knew we needed these good, strong, tender men to walk beside us stubborn, impassioned gals. that is why i like YOU! :) blessings and joy and many more years of wedded bliss, kelly
I always tell my husband he is my favorite too! I love reading what you write :)
Congratulations on 10 years! I can relate to many of your comments so closely...marriage is such a roller coaster but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Hope you guys had a chance to celebrate together. Many blessings in the next 10 years!
I'm a week late but always think of the two of you on the special day. Congrats on the big 10 and best wishes to many more.
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