Vows and Verses

I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.
But I can promise all my heart's devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that's ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.
Yes, I'll Marry You.

This day I married my best friend
...the one I laugh with as we share life's wondrous zest,
as we find new enjoyments and experience all that's best.
...the one I live for because the world seems brighter
as our happy times are better and our burdens feel much lighter.
...the one I love with every fiber of my soul.
We used to feel vaguely incomplete, now together we are whole.

Today I married my best friend,
Our bond complete, it hath no end,
We share one soul, we share one heart,
A perfect time - a perfect start.
With these rings we share together,
Love so close to last forever,
This special day - two special hearts,
Let nothing keep this love apart.

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.
I promise to respect you as your own person
and to realize that your interests, desires and needs
are no less important than my own.
I promise to share with you my time and my attention
and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.
I promise to keep myself open to you,
to let you see through the window of my world
into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.
I promise to grow along with you,
to be willing to face changes in order to keep
our relationship alive and exciting.
I promise to love you in good times and bad,
with all I have to give and all I feel inside
in the only way I know how,
completely and forever.

Let your love be stronger than your hate and anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise,
for it is better to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
People have a way of living up or down
to your opinion of them.
Remember that true friendship
is the basis for any lasting relationship.
The person you choose to marry
is deserving of the courtesies
and kindnesses you bestow on your friends.
Please hand this down to your children and
your children's children.

Never marry but for love;
but see that thou lovest what is lovely.
He that minds a body and not a soul
has not the better part of that relationship,
and will consequently lack
the noblest comfort of a married life.
Between a man and his wife nothing ought rule but love.
As love ought to bring them together, so it is the best way
to keep them well together.
A husband and wife that love one another
show their children that they should do so too.
Others visibly lose their authority in their families by
their contempt of one another, and teach their children to be
unnatural by their own examples.
Let not enjoyment lessen, but augment, affection;
it being the basest of passions to like
when we have not, what we slight when we possess.
Here it is we ought to search out our pleasure,
where the field is large and full of variety,
and of an enduring nature; sickness,
poverty or disgrace being not able to
shake it because it is not under
the moving influences of worldly contingencies.
Nothing can be more entire and without reserve;
nothing more zealous, affectionate and sincere;
nothing more contented than such a couple,
nor greater temporal felicity
than to be one of them.

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In marriage the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end
with the honeymoon, it should continue through the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation
and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding and a sense of humour.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow old.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

You are my <husband/wife>
My feet shall run because of you
My feet shall dance because of you
My heart shall beat because of you
My eyes see because of you
My mind thinks because of you
And I shall love because of you.

Marriage is a commitment to life,
the best that two people can find and bring out in each other.
It offers opportunities for sharing and growth
that no other relationship can equal.
It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.Within the circle of its love,
marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships.
A wife and a husband are each other's best friend,
confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic.
And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing,
and the love of the other may resemble
the tender caring of a parent or child.Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life.
Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher,
commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly,
and passes away more quickly.Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life
is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life,
new experiences, new ways of expressing
a love that is deeper than life.

When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage,
they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer
than any spoken or written words.
Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people
who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill.

Marriage is the closest kind of friendship.
Years of traffic wear away the lines
Between two souls with similar designs,
Ending more in unity than kinship.
Separate actors must play separate parts:
They must alone be riveted by need.
Far beneath that soil a single seed
Roots itself, tenacious in their hearts.
In love there is a trust beyond the word.
Each finds peace in each, as though the light
Needed the tranquility of night,
Deeper than what silence can be heard.

What greater thing is there for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen
each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,
to share with each other in all gladness,
to be one with each other in the
silent unspoken memories?

Love is a friendship that has caught fire.
It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving.
It is loyalty through good and bad.
It settles for less than perfection,
and makes allowances for human weakness.
Love is content with the present.
It hopes for the future and it doesn't brood over the past.
It's the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems,
compromises, small disappointments, big victories,
and working toward common goals.
If you have love in your life,
it can make up for a great many things you lack.
If you don't have it, no matter what else there is,
it is not enough, so search for it, ask God for it, and share it!

All my happiness goes out to you:
Pride and pleasure, joy, sweet tears, and love!
Reason, hope, and faith together move
In harmony to bless all that you do.
Let this beginning be the golden dawn
At which all dew-drenched nature sings its glory!
Nor should the darkness shrouding every story
Dim the blue-eyed beauty of this morn.
More of life will come than you can hold:
A flood no mortal witness can withstand.
Rest, then, within a quiet, gentle hand,
Knowing where love is as you grow old.

Marriage is the union of
A greater sum than two in love.
Relatives are made by vows,
Relating endless fields and plows.
In bringing families together,
A million lives are changed forever.
Go then in joy, yourselves to please:
Each love shapes many destinies.

On your wedding day, as you trade vows,
No ordinary moment hurries by.
You partake, as far as time allows,
Of something more than time and Earth and sky.
Unknowable, invisible, yet there;
Resplendent to the heart if not the face;
More than both of you, yet less than air;
A transcendental act conferring grace.
Reason might say, How can this be true?
Return then to the heart, for this is love.
In making vows, you make one out of two,
A mystery beyond what words can prove.
Go then as one flesh, one home, one heart.
Each still a whole, yet also now a part.

The vows I take will be forever.
I'll love you all my life.
There's no part way, no holding back
Once we are man and wife.The choice is made, and now I swim
In a far different sea,
The shores of which are bright green hills
Raised up for you and me.Our love is like a mountainside
Awash in lovely flowers:
It is our home, our solid rock,
Where all bright things are ours.And though of need we often must
Spend our days apart,
Our love will always be with us,
Held within the heart.

I feel it now, so strong and free,
So part of every breath
That it must live - I swear it will!
Even after death.

The vows you have just taken, pledging love,
Mean far more than words can ever mean.
May their gentle spirit in you move.May your years fulfill the beauty of
The feelings whose expression we've just seen,
The vows that you have taken, pledging love.And may you always put these vows above
The things that make life smaller and more mean.
May their gentle spirit in you move.

May your children know the power of
These words to shape a world that's sane and clean,
These vows that you have taken, pledging love.

Thank you for your friendship and your love.
However life may turn, this gift will be
A mountain that has made my river bend,
Nor will it flow the same way to the sea.
Knowing you is something I'm made of.

Years will not this part of me remove.
One lives for just a brief eternity,
Understanding truths that never end.

Let us be grateful
for the capacity to see, feel, hear, and understand.
Let us be grateful for this incredible gift of life.
Let us be especially grateful
for the ties of love which bind us together,
giving dignity, meaning, worth and joy to all our days.
This is indeed a day which the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice in it and be glad,
and let us count our many blessings.

Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
for the love that unites us,
for the peace accorded us this day,
for the hope with which we expect the morrow,
for the health, the work, the food,
and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Amen.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Father in heaven,
You ordained marriage for your children,
and you gave us love.
We present to You <bride> and <groom>,
who come this day to be married.
May the covenant of love they make be blessed
with true devotion and spiritual commitment.
We ask that You, God,
will give them the ability to keep the covenant they have made.
When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity;
when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength;
when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness;
if suffering becomes a part of their lives,
give them a strong faith and an abiding love.
Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge
and love of God, and of God's son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always.

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you,
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and
the fellowship of the Holy spirit be with you.
Amen.

Gracious God, richly bless <bride> and <groom>
in the promises that they have made to each other.
Grant that the courtesies, the thoughtfulness,
and the self giving which already
have laid the foundation for their love,
build the home which is raised on it.

May they be loyal and engaging companions to each other,.
and may they be loving and wise parents.
And in this world
where there is much disillusion and disappointment...
where love brings delight
and also wounding in the fraility of our ways...
make them a visible symbol of the love that does not wane when
the evening comes but is fresh with each new day.
And as you bless this special couple this day,
bless each union represented here.
Forgive us where we have not been good news
and glad days for each other.
Perfect our imperfect love with the joy that comes from above,
and may we grow ourselves and grow in affirmation of the other.
May the Lord bless you and take care of you:
May the Lord be kind and gracious to you:
May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.

Treat yourselves and each other with respect,
and remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness,
gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship,
as they threaten all relationships at one time or another,
remember to focus on what is right between you,
not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms
when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives...
remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment,
the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality
of your life together,
it will be marked by abundance and delight.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.

In joining your lives may God grant you both...
Love... to afford each other a special quality of time together.
Joy...in the accomplishments of one another.
Understanding...that your interests and desires
will not always be the same.
Friendship...based on mutual trust.
Courage...to speak of a misunderstanding
and to work on a solution
before the setting of the sun.
Compassion...to comfort each other in pain and sorrow.
Foresight...to realize rainbows follow rainy days.
Imagination...to keep with you part of the child you used to be.
Mirth...from your sense of humor.
Awareness...to live each day with the knowledge
that there is no promise of tomorrow.
May God bless you and keep you
in the Palm of His hand.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.