Our 25th wedding anniversary was fast approaching and we wanted to have a unique celebration. Most couples recite their vows as friends and family look on. 25 years of marriage is getting rarer and rarer and should be a cause for celebration. But we sensed God leading us in a different direction. The bible says that “Those who honor me, I will honor (1st Samuel 2:30).
If it wasn’t for Jesus and the friends and family that He put into our lives, I honestly don’t think we would have made it this far. We wanted to do something that would honor God, our friends and our family.
So, we rented a tent and put it up in our side yard. We invited about 50 of our closest friends and family. My wife and I gave our boys a list of our favorite songs. They put them together on a continuous play cycle that hooked into our computer and then hooked that up to a sound system that played softly throughout the celebration.
We had a catered lunch, some dancing, exchanged vows again and then did something very special. We had written on a card how God had used each person or couple in our lives. With all the people sitting down, we called each person/couple up front and read the card out loud. We then hugged them and gave them the card to keep. My wife gave them a beautiful long stemmed silk rose. Many of the people had never known the impact that they had on our life and marriage. Laughter and tears were in abundance as we recounted these stories.
Even though July 31st, 2001 was a very hot and humid day, many people said it was the most unique 25th wedding anniversary celebration they had ever been to.
Since then, several of the people have passed away. I’m so glad God gave us the opportunity to let people know how they had poured into our life and marriage. If we’re able to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, we want to do the same thing again.
Proverbs 16:24 (NIV) “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”.
Proverbs 25:11 (KJV) “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”.
For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://bsssb-llc.com