Complete Book of Wedding Vows (36 page)

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Authors: Diane Warner

Tags: #Family & Relationships, #Marriage, #test

BOOK: Complete Book of Wedding Vows
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Page 79
met and married a tall, handsome Italian man and a year later gave birth to a baby boy.
After they had been married for about five years they were each divorced. Bill's wife left him one day while he was at work, after loading up most of their material goods and cleaning out both of their bank accounts, leaving this note: "BillI don't love you anymore. I never loved you. I'm leaving you." Bill was, of course, shocked and devastated. Meanwhile, Anna discovered that her handsome, funloving husband was doing and dealing drugs, which led to heated arguments between them and their last day together was the day he physically abused her.
Bill and Anna each moved back home with their families and eventually began seeing each other, first as friends trying to comfort each other through the grief. Eventuallyyou guessed itthey realized how much they loved each other and had always loved each other, as a matter of fact.
They were married in a beautiful garden wedding as they stood before the minister with Anna's son between them, each of them holding one of his hands. It was one of the most poignant, emotional, tearful weddings ever witnessed as these two incredibly beautiful people became husband and wife. Here are the touching vows they wrote for their wedding:
Bill: "Anna, mere words cannot express my love for you, my need for you, my joy in finding you after suffering such heartache and grief I have been stumbling around this earth, only half a man, with a dark, gaping hole in my heart, but your love has filled that void completely, and I am whole again. As we become one flesh on this our wedding day, I vow to be
 
Page 80
a loving, faithful husband, always rejoicing in you and praising God for you, until death do us part."
Anna: "Bill, our God and Savior, the healer of broken hearts, has rescued us in His perfect time, and has given us to each other to love and to cherish for all the days of our lives. I promise to love and honor you, in all faith and tenderness, to live with you according to the ordinance of God, in the holy, sacred bond of marriage."
I love happy endings. Don't you?
 
Page 81
Chapter 4
Vows that Include Children
It has become quite natural for the children of the bride or groom to be included in the wedding service, serving as attendants or participants in the service itself. It is felt that by bringing a child into the wedding experience and helping him feel an integral part of it, the easier it will be for him to accept his new mommy or daddy and to feel part of the new family being created at this ceremony. Here are the ways several couples have included their children in their weddings.
 
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Minister (addressing the groomreferring to the child): "And do you, ___________________, take ____________________ as your own, promising to love her and care for her, providing for her needs, physical and spiritual?"
Groom: "I do."
Minister (addressing the child): "And do you, ______________, take ____________________, to be your loving father from this day forward?"
The child: "I do."
Groom (addressing the child): "__________________, I place this ring on your finger as a sign of my loving promise made this day."
Groom (addressing his bride): "I love you, _______________, and I love your children as my very own. My joy is multiplied tenfold because of __________________ and ____________________. Their love fills a void in my life, a place that has remained empty for all of these years; filled now with their innocent sweetness and trusting devotion, I am complete at last. And so, we are a family and I am blessed beyond belief as I marry you this day, my precious one, my Godsend. I vow to be a true and faithful husband / wife to you, in sickness or in health, in joy or in sorrow, in good times or in bad, from this day forward and forevermore, and I don't take my responsibilities as a father lightly, but with great gravity and sincerity. I vow to be a faithful, loving,

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