When I Said I Do
In the last two weeks I’ve had the privilege of attending two weddings of two precious family friend brides. In fact, since October of 2012, five of our community’s kids have married. We are definitely in that stage of life where our kids and our kids’ friends are starting new married lives together. This weekend’s beautiful wedding got me thinking about wedding vows and how much they actually mean. I love that Will and I get to occasionally hear couples pledge to love each other forever. The traditional marriage vows say simply:
I, ________, take thee ______, to be my wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part.
Those of us who’ve been married almost 30 years are pretty familiar with what that all means. We know that better and worse are going to happen. There will be both sickness and health and probably some richer and poorer seasons. One of my favorite couples wrote their own vows and in their ceremony they added the phrase “I am for you”. I was struck by those words of assurance and how comforting it would be to remember that from time to time. I am for you.
Another sweet couple said in their vows, “I trust you“. Knowing that Will is for me and that he trusts me makes the harder times easier. The part of the vows that pierces me the most is “till death do us part”. Standing there in front of family and friends saying it, every bride and groom means it.
Most couples have “a song” that means something special to them. Ours is When I Said I Do, by Clint Black. In the video, his wife Lisa Hartman sings with him, and when it first came out I remember reading that it was the first time she’d sung publicly. Known as an actress, she has a gorgeous voice. The lyrics are beautiful and meaningful and say till death do us part in a different way. For your enjoyment!
And they’re always gonna be, they rise and they fall
We take ’em all the way that we should
Together you and me forsaking them all
Deep in the night and by the light of day
It always looks the same, true love always does
And here by your side, or a million miles away
Nothin’s ever gonna change the way that I feel,
The way it is, is the way that it wasWhen I said I do, I meant that I will ’til the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That’s what I had in mind when I said I doWell this old world keeps changin’, and the world stays the same
For all who came before, and it goes hand and hand
Only you and I can undo all that we became
That makes us so much more, than a woman and a man
And after everything that comes and goes around
Has only passed us by, here alone in our dreams
I know there’s a lonely heart in every lost and found
But forever you and I will be the ones
Who found out what forever meansWhen I said I do, I meant that I will ’til the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That’s what I had in mind when I said I do
Truer than true, you know that I’ll always be there for you
That’s what I had in mind, that’s what I had in mind,
When I said I do