Happy Anniversary!

"The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world. We marry to assist each other in this larger task. Though we should indeed love our spouse with true satisfaction, the most selfish and hateful life of all is that of two beings who unite merely in order to enjoy pleasures. The highest calling is that of the man who has dedicated his life to serving God and doing good, and who unites with a woman in order to happily further that purpose."

--Leo Tolstoy in a letter to his son upon his wedding day.

My sister, Jessica, and her husband used this quote in their wedding. It was a beautiful wedding! Being from a small town it had this wonderful underlying theme--one of people attending the wedding, not just there as spectators, but truly as well-wishers. They were sending this couple off, now united, on a journey that God has ordained for the two of them.

The recessional, a Dave Mathews song, sung under shadows of the pipe organ and the filtered light of the stained glass that once looked down upon her dedication, baptism, and now surrounded her marriage, married together the traditions and foundations of her past with a new future. The one with her husband.

Celebrate we will
'Cause life is short but Sweet for certain
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
Things we cannot
Celebrate we will, you and me
Climb on two by two, to be sure
These days continue
Things we cannot change.

This is a little late, but Happy Anniversary Jessica and Bret!