Hey all.  So we pulled off the wedding and had a week long honeymoon with two receptions mixed in… one in Raleigh, NC with some of Berly’s family and one in Columbia, SC with my family.  We have been scrambling to get Kimberly moved into our new home in between my working 1 1/2 jobs.  It has been very busy.  for those with a more verbal bent, the ceremony follows:

Mark– prayer inviting God to witness and bless the wedding ceremony

Mark– short homily

Mark– prayer for the couple

Kent– (words honoring Kimberly)

Kent– (song ‘You Make Me Beautiful’)

Kimberly– (words honoring Kent)

Kimberly– (poem ‘Awake’)

Mark– ‘As an expression that your hearts are joined together in love, will you now please join your hands.)

Mark– Transition statement to vows

Mark– ‘Kent, before God, do you take Kimberly to be your soul-mate and wife, to love, honor and support her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be hers alone so long as you both shall live?’

Kent: “I do”

Mark– ‘Kimberly, do you take Kent to be your soul-mate and husband, to love, honor and support him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be his alone so long as you both shall live?’

Kimberly: “ I do”

Mark– ‘Kent, with what sign do you seal this covenant?’

Kent– ‘with this ring’ (put on finger)

Mark ‘Kimberly, with what sign do you seal this covenant?’

Kimberly– ‘with this ring’ (put on finger)

Mark– (pronouncement)

Mark– ‘You may now kiss the bride’

Mark– (prayer of blessing & commitment to God’s grace)

Kent’s words honoring Kimberly

‘Kimberly, next to his own Son, you are God’s supreme gift to me, the greatest expression of his love and care. Our hearts are intertwined in mutual trust, support, and love. Your wisdom and strength, courage and honesty, beauty of character and soul delight me. I am amazed at how God so intricately designed us for one another’s pleasure, fulfillment, and wholeness. You are so much more of a life companion than I could ever have thought possible, good beyond belief. Who you are, and all that you are, is exactly what I need. God has used you to set my soul free and alive in truth as I never imagined. You see me for who I am and who I can be and accept me as I am while believing with me for who I am becoming. I am safe with you, even my deepest, most vulnerable parts, but you also encourage me and challenge me to grow. I give myself wholly to you and receive you wholly into my heart.’

Kimberly’s words honoring Kent

My life until I met you was about bearing the things that happened to and around me, and trying to make sense of it all the best that I could. My life since knowing you has been about discovering who God made me to be, and how to become more of the beautiful creation He had in mind when He knit me together. Through you, God has shown me what is truly good. You believe in me, support me, listen to my heart, draw me out into the light, and love every part of who I really am. You lead me into the real truth of God, and help me piece together the parts of life and love that I have never understood. By being who you are, you have invited me to join you in a quest for grace and truth that has taken my breath away, and I am honored to give myself wholly to you and receive you wholly into my heart.

Kent’s vows

‘Before God our Father and by his grace,

I promise to listen and seek to understand you, to accept all of you, the good and bad, and to share all of my life with you, to hold nothing back; to love you without reservation and receive your love for me; to trust you more deeply day after day and be more worthy of your trust.

I promise to acknowledge the differences in our interests, opinions, desires, feelings, and needs,and to respect and honor yours while taking responsibility for my own. I will laugh with you and cry with you, comfort you in times of distress and welcome your comfort, and be attentive to your needs. And when I fail, we will discover more of grace.

I promise to seek God together, to grow in trusting him and receiving his love and truth, to pray for you and with you; to be a channel of God’s grace to you, and to receive God’s grace through you; to expect us to have failures, shortcomings, inadequacies, and faults, and to be patient with both of us, resting in God’s unfailing grace. 

I promise with you to choose the way of growth and to welcome the changes that will bring in each of us and in our relationship, the hard as well as the pleasurable; in humility, to learn from you and to offer my insights to you and to encourage and support you to discover and be your truest self as God intended.

I will cherish you and commit myself wholly to you for as long as we both shall live.’

Kimberly’s Vows

Before God our Father and by His Grace,

I promise to listen to you, and accept you as you are—seeking to understand you and to increase understanding between us ; and to continue to share all of myself with you, taking necessary risks and doing what I can to foster our growth in mutual trust.

I promise to nurture the bond between us by making choices to express my love for you in ways that you can receive, to respect your individuality in the form of thoughts, opinions, feelings, and needs without taking responsibility for them, and to receive your input and insight into my life and heart in a meaningful way.

I promise to follow your lead as we seek to discover and relate to our loving and gracious God, to pray for and with you, to grow in trusting Him and in giving and receiving His grace and truth, to seek Him for strength when I come to the end of myself, to be a channel of His truest love for you and to continually seek for ways to do so.

I promise to encourage you in growth and health, even when that requires significant risk on my part. I will do exactly what it is most difficult for me to do—trust and respect you enough to speak the truth in love and expect that it will bring growth and not destruction. In this way, I promise to produce life as a result of our union.

I will cherish, respect, and commit myself wholly to you for as long as we both shall live.’