I wrote the following slightly lyrical piece for a wedding I attended in Wellington in May of this year. I ended up delivering a completely different speech but I thought it a shame to waste my original effort, which has been tweaked a bit. You might relate to some of this:
The Marriage Alphabet
A is for abacus and all the financial calculations and budgeting you will do together.
B is for baking and cooking and all the beautiful meals you will enjoy as a couple.
C is for caring for each other.
D is for dating each other after you’re married.
E is for earning, for contributing to each other’s needs, financial and otherwise.
F is for the freedom to express yourselves.
G is for the God-given covenant of marriage that is your bedrock.
H is for humility and not taking all the glory: whatever it is, we did it together!
I is for interesting conversations about lots of fascinating subjects.
J is for Jesus and the cross you carry together with Jesus helping you.
K is for the kids and grandkids and the many ways they add, love, energy and vitality to your marriage, but also more than their fair share of challenges too!
L is for listening, not just hearing.
M is for moving house and all the chaotic upheaval, and then the settling down again.
N is for being nice to each other.
O is for owning it when you’ve stuffed up or when you’ve hurt each other.
P is for praying in good times and bad, and P is for parking your criticisms (even if the criticism is about parking!).
Q is for the quiet times together, which must be cherished.
R is for a raunchy and exciting marriage.
S is for scones and eating them together – freshly baked with jam and cream. Yum!
T is for the trenches, when you protect each other from the barrage that life sometimes sends, and T is for the TV remote and peaceful negotiation over what to watch!
U is for understanding, and when we don’t, trying harder!
V is for marriage vows: not just saying them but keeping them.
W is for waking up with you next to me (unless you snore).
X is for X-rays, along with blood tests, GPs and specialists, hospital visits, and picking up prescriptions, and on and on and on…
Y is for the years ahead of us: may they be richly blessed.
Z is for ZZZZs as in sleep, and when you haven’t had enough and you’re on a short fuse, knowing when to not say those grouchy words, and for zeroing in on each other, with patience and sensitivity, as much as you can.
God bless your marriages.
Steve