Today marks 27 years of marriage for my husband Tommy and I. This is nothing short of a miracle. Anyone who has been married longer than a week could say the same thing.
27 years ago we walked out of that church as a “The” and not a “They”. Our faces in this picture crack me up. Two 21 year olds who had no idea what they were in for but they planned to do it together. Don’t you dare make fun of my dress, though. I loved my dress in all its lacy poofiness! Pages and pages of stories have been written since that day. Mostly good but there are some pages that we’d like to tear out and do over.
One of my favorite songs right now is Andrew Peterson’s song, We Will Survive.
“We’re gonna raise a glass to the past and say
It’s only when the straight line breaks and heals a little crooked
That you ever see the grace.” ~Andrew Peterson
So here’s to raising our glass and saying we’ve seen the grace in the crooked. We’ve survived the ugly pages and been blessed with the good pages.
Congratulations, Tommy, we made it another year! High fives and cheers all around!! We didn’t have this prayer 27 years ago but we have it now. May it carry us through the next 27+.
Wedding Prayer from The Book of Common Prayer
Eternal God, creator and preserver of all life, author of
salvation, and giver of all grace: Look with favor upon the
world you have made, and for which your Son gave his life,
and especially upon this man and this woman whom you
make one flesh in Holy Matrimony. Amen.
Give them wisdom and devotion in the ordering of their
common life, that each may be to the other a strength in need, a
counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion
in joy. Amen.
Grant that their wills may be so knit together in your will,
and their spirits in your Spirit, that they may grow in love
and peace with you and one another all the days of their life.
Amen.
Give them grace, when they hurt each other, to recognize and
acknowledge their fault, and to seek each other’s forgiveness
and yours. Amen.
Make their life together a sign of Christ’s love to this sinful
and broken world, that unity may overcome estrangement,
forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair. Amen.
Bestow on them, if it is your will, the gift and heritage of
children, and the grace to bring them up to know you, to love you,
and to serve you. Amen.
Give them such fulfillment of their mutual affection that they
may reach out in love and concern for others. Amen.
NOW for the GIVEAWAY!!!
This book is full of good stuff. I’ve taken the liberty to retitle it, “Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts – Or Ends”. Not really but sort of. If you want to be married, are about to be married or have been married for 27 years, there’s stuff in here that you need to read. I promise. Whether you win this giveaway or not, this one should be in your lineup. You can purchase #SYMBIS here.
Note that this giveaway is ONLY OPEN TODAY! I won’t count any entries after midnight tonight Central time, November 19th. I can only ship to Domestic US addresses. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow so be sure to check back here or on the FB page to see if you won.
There are very few hoops to jump through on this one. This isn’t about gaining likes or self-promotion. I just want to give away a copy of this amazing resource. I also want to make it easy for you and for me. ALL you have to do to post a comment either here or on the EPFH facebook page with one of your most meaningful marriage scriptures or quotes. Or really anything meaningful you’d like to share related to marriage. You post something about marriage and voila!, you’re entered in the giveaway.
Now go comment away! Share some great scriptures and quotes and stories with us! Let’s encourage one another on in our marriage stories.
~Andrea
Empty Plate . Full Heart 
Happy Anniversary! Beautiful prayer. We didn’t have this on our wedding day, either. It’s nice to have something like this to look at years into a marriage and see how you’re doing (and where else you can improve!!)
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Andrea, thank you for the anniversary kindness and for stopping by!
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Happy Anniversary! Great giveaway! Enjoy your day:)
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Thank you, Brianna!
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