It's Our "Grace" Anniversary
So it's been FIVE years since Ben and I stood at the altar in the Pfeiffer Henry Chapel to say our wedding vows in front of a small intimate crowd of family and special friends. We chose Easter weekend because of the symbolic redemption story of our love from the ashes of previous hurts and wayward relationships. We are forever grateful for Dr. Patty Meyers for providing spiritual companionship to our family and officiating our special day.
The number "5" is special to us because it represents GRACE and the quintessential element of Sacred Spirit. For those of you who haven't heard our love story, here's a snippet of it (it's better heard in person, from the two of us) in hopes that it will either affirm you, reignite your dream of marrying your true soulmate or inspire you to hold true to what nourishes your heart.
Although we had met some years ago - serving at a board meeting of a local nonprofit ministry, The Hyaet's - we never saw or encountered each other until 3 or 4 years later through E-Harmony, an online dating app. After connecting online, Ben and I agreed to meet for dinner. It spilled over to an early morning jog meetup on the Clark's Creek Trail, after with Ben praying for us. That's when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart that Ben was who I am to marry (Ben already knew... he says from the minute my picture showed up on his computer screen in the EHarmony app). After introducing our families to one another, a few gatherings and marital counseling - we tied the knot 8 months later. Five gracious years later, we have not regrets about blending our interracial together on March 26, 2015.
Folk ask how it's going, and it's easier to connect it to an acrostic we came up with for GRACE (which also embodies 5 letters, you may notice). "G" is for GIVING; always seeking to please and consider the other.
"If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over." (Luke 6:38). Ben and I know that we have been shaped in the image of God and that we too have gifts that we can give one another as symbols of our love.
"R" is for RELIANCE in being assured that we each can strengthen the other in whatever challenges we encounter. "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weaker, and not to please ourselves." (Romans 15:1). Instead of highlighting each other's faults, we are careful to "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:10)
"A" aligns well with the later because ACCEPTANCE is a part of the empathy and deep listening that we have provided each other in those vulnerable "I see and hear you" moments (mirrored in the prayer that Ben shared when we first met).
For anyone that knows us, it should be assumed that the "C" is for the Christ-centered communion that we honor in our marriage. We both recognize that "As Christ is in me, and I am in Christ, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:21) We each know our Divine purpose individually and collectively.
And "E" is for edifying one another. Ben and I desire to be lifelong companions/best friends who enjoy many of the same things. It's important to develop mutual pursuits in relaxing and recreating together. "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)
We are enjoying this journey of true intimacy and love; and we ask for your sincere prayers that God will continue teaching us what it means to create a safety zone that allows us to be truly "one flesh" in the most sacred sense. "You are like a private garden, my treasure! You are like a spring that no one else can drink from, a fountain of my own." (Song 4:12)
