The day has come and gone, but with witnesses and God and everyone, we made a promise!
Remember what we said?
“I Take You, to be my lawfully wedded wife”
To have – For Someone to ‘Have’ you means you belong to them. And Our Faith is clear on this – we are each other’s. We no longer belong to ourselves – we give ourselves to our spouse.
And to hold – You promised to hold her! So very often that’s all she wants. After a long day or week, just to be held and to know that you’ve got her. In your arms is what she’s dreamt of.
From this day forward – How many days have passed since these promises? How easy it is for us to forget them, but we need to remember!! We promised!
For better – Although it’s easier when things are going well, it’s still possible to forget what we promised. To Have and to Hold – when things are going well, we still need to take the time to stop, step aside, and care for our wives.
For worse – No one except God knows the crosses you’ve been through, and I don’t pretend to either. But for all you’ve been through, your wife, more gentle and more sensitive, suffers the more. Even if it’s you suffering and she not knowing how to make things better. So especially, especially when things are worse, do you need to have and to hold her. We Promised!
For richer – Have you given her things, and gifts and trips? They don’t mean anything to her if she doesn’t have you. Don’t think that material goods will take your place. She’d trade them all for quiet and consistent one on one time with you.
For poorer – when we’re worried about the bill collectors and the past due mortgage and if we’re going to have money to feed the kids this week, we can quickly forget that as strong as she is, she needs our courage and strength even more. We have to be the protection and security, even in the midst of financial trials. We promised!
In sickness, and in health – Our promise goes all the way down to basic health!
Remember what we’ve done? Our promise was so broad sweeping that it covered everything. We stood there and looked her in the eyes and told her that we’d hold her through any and every possible thing that could stand against our love!
Until death do us part – and then we scratched that line in the sand by saying we’d never stop.
A promise is a promise.
How good is our word?