Mitchell and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary yesterday! I wanted to do a blog post to set up a reminder of the sweet, redemptive, Gospel-reflecting marriage the Lord has placed me in. I decided to do this both through pictures and by sharing the vows the two of us wrote and made exactly one year and one day ago with the Lord and with one another.
So, allow me to share the story of Wilda and Tuck.
Mitchell and I began our relationship as friends...a goofy and (as most of you would attest) somewhat awkward friendship...
After a year this friendship flourished into a fun dating relationship, long distance (for a year) and together in College Station (whoop!).
A year and a half later this happened...
And 9 months of engagement followed!
And then we got married. (and danced!)
And now here we are! One year into marriage. What a story. Of course, there is so much in between those big events; so much learning and refinement, tears and rejoicing and growth. I think the past 4 years are best wrapped up into the vows Mitchell and I wrote for one another on our wedding day. They encompass the depth of the promise of unconditional, steadfast love that we have for one another, and more importantly the absolute reliance we have on the Lord to walk in that love. I'll let them speak for themselves :)
Mitchell:
"I, Mitchell Cannon Hartt, with great honor take you, Lindsey Jo Letbetter, to be my beautiful bride. I will uphold this oneness by devotedly seeking our God as my primary love, that I may love you fully. In the same manner with which Christ loves the church and humbly gave himself up for her, so will I vow to lay down my life for you. I vow to honor, serve, and protect you. I will strive to continually remember our marriage as a thriving example of the Lord's love for us. I promise you my purposeful and steadfast love throughout whatever life may bring. I will remain faithful to you. I will not divorce you. Death alone will separate us."
"I, Lindsey Jo Letbetter, take you, Mitchell Cannon Hartt, to be my husband. On the foundation of grace, I promise to follow you and humbly submit to your leadership. I will love and respect you regardless of circumstance or condition, just as the Church loves Christ. I promise to keep the Lord as my primary love, to be faithful to you, and to never divorce you. I will serve as a reminder to you of the man our Lord has designed you to be and the Gospel which has redeemed and restored us both. I promise to walk this life together with you, Mitchell, 'til death do us part."
There are times that I look at those vows and think, "Man. That is BOLD." And it is. Those are bold words that we promised one another. But I have learned day after day that the only reason we are able to promise that kind of love is because that is the kind of love that has saved us both. We love each other through the love God has shown us, period. There is no other way for our marriage to succeed.
"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died, and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who, for their sake, died and was raised." -2 Corinthians 5:14
Today I am so thankful that the Lord chose to redeem Mitchell and I both, and has given us the opportunity to reflect that love within our marriage and to the world. Hopefully this serves as a reminder to all that we ARE capable of unconditional, steadfast love through the power of Christ's love, which controls us. Praise God for that foundation of grace.
P.S.
Farmers Market and Stoney Creek yesterday to celebrate!
THE END!
