I Do...Still

Tomorrow my little sister is getting married. It's true. Apparently she isn't 13 anymore, but I'm not exactly sure how or when that happened.

I was feeling a bit sappy tonight in the quite of my sleeping house. Naturally, reminiscing was immediately necessary! Recently I found the audio from our wedding, which I was convinced was lost forever. I was so upset about it being lost because I wanted desperately to have the words that we spoke to each other documented (I was always going to get them on the wall in a pretty way- never too late). There are LOTS of things I would change about our wedding in retrospect. Most all of those things are superficial. *PINTEREST DIDN'T EXIST YET PEOPLE!!* We didn't know people hadn't used heart-shaped candle holders for 10 years or so...


Annnnnnyway, one thing that I wouldn't change is the words we spoke to each other. I clearly remember spending LOTS of time searching and tweaking those vows to be different and personalized and representative of us. Words...man, I love words... 

But I couldn't remember them now. What did we exactly promise each other 7 years ago? Like, I know the big picture, but what did we actually say again? I am confident that we meant every word spoken and every promise made with our whole being. My heart overflows as I sit here and think about who I was when I made those vows and where life and love has led us. You know...we don't know what a day holds, but that is the beauty of marriage...it doesn't matter. Love perseveres.

 The pastor who married us has passed away. The friends who were such a huge part of our lives are memories. That dress will probably never zip up again. Need I continue?

Life is radically different. We are completely different people. Our relationship is completely different.  Jason is definitely not the same guy that I married. And that's okay. Actually, it's better than okay! I am not who I was when we got married. And that's okay. It's okay because he chose to love me and fulfill our vows every single day from who I was then to who I was now.

Maybe we're still "fresh" in this thing. Maybe life is going to get really hard. Maybe we're clueless. Maybe! Choosing love sounds simple, but I know it can be tough. But it also eliminates the maybes.

So, that's what I wrote to my sweet, young sister. Choose love. Every day.