23 years ago January 16, 1988.
I made my wedding dress. I had an old Gambles sewing machine, it must have weighed 30 pounds. All metal and pink! It had a straight stitch and a zig zag and the bobbin winder was broken. So while I laid out yards of fabric for the train down the long apartment hall way, my husband to be invented a bobbin winder. He used a tortillon (a paper blender artists use when drawing, cone shaped)
and his electric razor and zip....he wound me several bobbins.
I was NOT a bridezilla, and I am thankful for that. I let him pick the wedding color, much to my later regret. His mom was in charge of flowers, I turned over the entire reception to my wonderful aunts and everything fell into place. Today......I can't imagine me, a control freak, not being in every detail. ok...one exception. We trusted the pastor to pick our singer......
well let's say that was not wise. When she started to sing in her very soprano, vibrato voice our ring barer was caught on the video turning to look at his mom with eyes the size of saucers and his mouth wide open! I have to say that is exactly how we felt. Bless her heart.
We were married in a church but were not church attenders. Years later, after being saved by grace, I listened again to our ceremony and realized the pastor talked of love
agape- divine, self sacrificing, God given and God driven
phileo- friendship, affection
eros- erotic, sex
Marriage must have all 3. Eros generally comes easy at first and must never be forgotten.
Phileo must grow in trust, forgiveness, enjoyment of being together. Just like regular friendships, it requires work.
Agape- if it weren't for God we would not be together. This is the love that comes from him and for many years we were a couple when we should have been a cord of three. At times things were really rough, we both came from backgrounds heavy in baggage.
With God.... times can still be tough, but baggage can be laid down, hurts can be healed, forgiveness is possible, passion can be renewed and strength for the day is plentiful.
One word of marital advice.......don't change your partner, you can't. Change yourself.
With God all things are possible.
Even getting over blue satin. ( I would have picked mauve)
blessings and thanks for visiting
14 comments:
A great blog - and you looked so beautiful on your wedding day. Don't we all look so young, when we look back at wedding day photos.
Congratulations on 23 years of learning and growing together with God.
Happy Anniversary. Beautiful pictures and words. May God bless you both in the coming year.
Happy Anniversary!!! you all look so young. Lovely photo's and I am amazed at the fact that you made your wedding gown,it is beautiful.
Love this post, your blog is awesome.
Congrats to the two of you. That is so special and what a great post too. Happy Anniversary and God bless.
Happy Anniversary!
LOL at your ring barer's reaction to the singing. Although it may have been cringe-worthy at the time, at least you got a funny wedding story out of it. I spent our ceremony laughing, partly because the officiant was a kook and partly (mostly!) because I was nervously wondering what he might possible say next (he covered everything, including "midget leprechauns")
Happy Anniversary! I hope you're feeling 100% again soon :)
hi shannon! happy anniversary and thanks for your sweet comment!
hugs,
shelley
Happy sweet Anniversary! FB friends are good people. Blogging friends that inspire me, are better! You are one of them. Stay warm in ND, as we will try in TN.
Love you blogspot.
Mel's Cabin
Happy Anniversary my Dear friend...what a fun story and post...your dress is just BEAUTIFUL girl as you were...Hope you have a great weekend do something fun and stay safe...Hugs and smiles to both of you on 23 years Gloria
Oh Shannon Happy Anniversary! What a beautiful bride you were...gorgeous dress...I can't believe you made it.
Go hunt down that burlap and use it..lol..I've hunted all over the place to find some and not pay retail prices for it...luckily I found only $1 worth....lol...Thanks for your post on my blog this morning.
Take Care, Mel's Cabin
Hi Shannon and happy anniversary! Oh, this was a wonderful post! You looked so pretty as a bride and your dress was beautiful! You're very talented to have made it! I'm so thankful you've come to know Jesus as your Savior! How precious you can look back at a video of your wedding and hear how God is the core of a happy marriage.
Thanks for popping in to see me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I loved reading about how God had his hands on your life before your knwe Him as your savior. Wedding stories are so fun.
Congratulations on 23 years! The one word that caught my eye in this post was AGAPE. I use to work for a school called Agape and no one ever knew what it meant...and honestly I don't think I really knew what it meant either.