Dream Wedding: Our Vows, Rings, Kiss

 Chris and I memorized our vows... a combination of traditional vows and our own unique vow to each other.

"I, Brooke Sanden, take you, Christopher James Miller, to be my lawful wedded husband,
to have and to hold, from this day forward,
to love, honor and obey, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health,
as long as we both shall live.
Where you go, I will go, where you stay, I will stay,
Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.
Let the Lord deal with me be it ever so severely
if anything but death separates you from me."

I vowed to love, honor and obey, while Chris vowed to love, honor and cherish.

The unique part of our vows were the last four lines, "Where you go, I will go, where you stay, I will stay, Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.  Let the Lord deal with me be it ever so severely if anything but death separates you from me."

You might recognize these words from the book of Ruth.  Ruth 1:6-7 to be exact,
"But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

When I was in middle school, my church choir sang "The Song of Ruth".  I went home and read the book of Ruth for the first time because I was so captivated by the words of this song, "Where you go, I will go..."  I knew, around age 12 that these words were the most profound description of love I had ever heard and would ever hear.  Love was more real to me in reading these lines in Ruth than it ever had been before.

Chris and I talked about these verses in Ruth and if and how we wanted to incorporate these verses in our wedding.  We decided we wanted to vow most of Ruth 1:6-7 to each other with one exception.  We didn't feel like we could accurately vow, "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."  So, we omitted that part of Ruth's devotion.

We vowed, "Where you go, I will go, where you stay, I will stay, Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.  Let the Lord deal with me be it ever so severely if anything but death separates you from me."

I remind me of these vows when Chris and I see things differently.

What vows did you recite at your wedding?  Or, what was the first thing you read that made love real to you?