Thursday, July 06, 2006

10 Years...How Time Has Flown By!!

As I woke up 10 years ago, it was like any other day...you open those eyes, put one foot in front of the other and get out of bed, get dressed, eat, etc. The major difference was that I got up and got dressed in my mom's wedding dress (altered to how we thought would be good for me) and I drove with my sister and parents to the photo studio to have pictures with our wedding party and the love of my life, whom would be my husband by later that afternoon. After pictures we went to McDonald's and ate lunch and actually my sister and I then went to the shopping mall and just went walking for an hour or so, purchasing a couple last minute things.

The thing which I remember so very clearly was how calm I was that day. Before Mr. Cinder and I had even started dating, I'd prayed to God and said give me clarity and discernment to know who I'm supposed to be with and he did. So for me, I was pledging my life and me to the man who I knew God had handpicked for me, so there was nothing to be fearful about...I was happy and really excited about that unknown adventure I was about to begin, but I knew our foundation was firm...that no matter what and through everything, He would be leading us in His direction and be with us no matter what!


I knew that there would be certain aspects of our wedding which would be traditional, because there usually are, but we also really wanted our wedding to be our own and yell, "The Cinders". So what were some of those untraditional moments...well the first two caused a huge uproar...LOL...story of my life depending on the day or week!

- Mr. Cinder came with me to make sure the alterations to my mom's dress were exactly as he, my sister and I had talked about.

- We got our pictures taken before the ceremony, as there were 5 other weddings in my small hometown city that day...apparently a few family members would have been willing to pay for a photographer to drive from out-of-town so that we wouldn't have seen each other until after the nuptials!

- We made our own wedding invitations, which wasn't really heard of when we got married. We took pictures, went and got them developed onto CD, made the invitations and then printed and folded them all.

- I was bound and determined to not walk down the isle to as people said, the required song, as I didn't feel it very uplifting to walk down with, "Here comes the bride, big, fat and wide" in my head...wanted something a little more positive!

- Headed straight for 7-11 following the ceremony to get a nice, cold refreshing Super Big Gulp in the nice hot July weather. Then, because we didn't have to rush to pictures, the wedding party high-tailed it back to the hotel and just sat and RELAXED for an hour or so!


There were definitely others, but those stood out. What were some of the most memorable moments of our day?

- Our ringbearer and flower girl getting in a tiff on stage...go figure that would happen with a 2 and 3 year old...if I only knew what I know now...they really were precious, but truthfully they should probably be a lot older.

- Our ringbearer picking his nose through the ceremony!

- The moment I had with my two little second cousins moments before we began the ceremony...they were precious and I have an amazing photo of it.

- The look on the 7-11 clerk's face when we came to the counter to pay for our Super Big Gulps.

- Instead of people trying to calm my nerves, it seemed I was the one calming people's nerves, breaking up a fight between the flower girl and ringbearer right before they headed down the isle.

- The sound system at the reception hall kept cutting in and out, so our bestman dutifully went and helped with trying to fix things. Well, apparently the reception hall also has Bingo nights, so to entertain the crowd while the technical difficulties were fixed, our bestman kept ringing the Bingo siren to keep everyone entertained and laughing.

- Mr. Cinder's brother and our bestman created a new version of the polka...it was catchy and soon the wedding party was out there doing it to...I don't know that those who knew how to truly polka like our version, but it was fun.


I could go on and on, as it was a blast. We wanted that day to fun and memorable, but also realized that it was just the beginning of many days and precious memories with each other. So much has happened in the past 10 years, good and hard...here's just a small glimpse:

- Three amazing blessings created by God...intertwined with bits and pieces of each of us, yet still very much their own person and now growing into young men and woman of God.

- Restructuring and layoff

- 3 church amazing church families and the friendships which come from that

- 1 town and 2 cities which we called home
- 5 houses we've called home, plus 2 other homes which allowed us to stay as we transitioned and found homes in cities during our moves.

- So many poignant experiences which have strengthened us as individuals and also as a couple.

- Stepping out in faith so many times and knowing that God would provide for our family in the exact way He knew we needed...this current mission of faith being embarked on.


Life with you is so amazing. It's been an adventure, at times a learning experience...trial and error, but the truest blessing and one which leaves me speechless. It's funny how when you walk down that isle, 10, 25, 50 years...they seem so far away. Time with you has flown by so fast...it's like we blinked our eyes and WOW...we're now here! When I am weak, you are strong and when you're weak, I'm strong. We truly do complete each other and I couldn't imagine life any other way.

I can't wait for the next decade of life together and each one after that. I've always lived life wanting to dream big and reach for the impossible, because all things are possible with Him. God-willing, 60 years from now, we'll be sitting together, rocking in rocking chairs, celebrating 70 years of marriage, looking back at how God has so richly blessed us and our family and know that we have left our family the strong Godly heritage we always wanted to.

Happy Anniversary sweetie...I love you and I'm truly yours forever and always...hand in hand we'll walk this life together...amazing and breath-taking is what life with you is, each and everyday that's past and every one that's yet to come!

9 comments:

Corry said...

Happy Anniversary to y'all!!!

May God bless y'all with many more years in love, joy and happiness.

God's Grace,
Corry and Kc.

dwg said...

congrats to the "cinders!" mrs. "dancewithgod" and i will also celebrate 10 this summer. i perfomed a wedding recently where the best man was arrested before ceremony . . . and he had the brides ring!

audrey` said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Cinder said...

Corry ~ Thanks so much...we're kind of laying low and are going to celebrate tomorrow, as that's when we could get a babysitter ;D !

I pray he'll continue to bless the two of you as well...God bless!

Christopher ~ Nice to hear from you and cool to know there's another couple celebrating 10 this summer! Funny you should tell the story about that recent wedding...our groomsmen had a little traffic incident and actually thought he was going to lose his license, which would have meant he couldn't drive the wedding car up to the ceremony. So we were scrambling to try and find alternate wedding car arrangements, but things were okay and he ended up not losing his license and has been good ever since!

Blessings to you and yours!

Audrey ~ Thanks so much Audrey...it's so good to hear from you...we'll talk soon...God bless!

Anonymous said...

congratulations! happy anniversary!!!

wow, i'm looking forward to celebrating our 10th year too. how exciting. :)

dwg said...

yes, at that wedding, a usher had to step in for the best man and use someone else's ring.

Jenny said...

Happy Anniversary, Cinders!!!

Curious Servant said...

Happy anniversary! It sounds like it was a very special day.

Congrats!

The best is yet to come!

Cinder said...

Pia ~ Thanks so much...that's so cool that you too are looking forward to a 10th anniversary celebration! I hope you are doing well right now...blessings to you and Jec!

Christopher ~ Well, the main thing being that the wedding took place and that the wedding day is such a small part of an amazing journey that couple will take together! Blessings to you and yours.

Jayleigh ~ Thanks so much girl! I hope you are feeling better and am glad to hear that things went well for you this weekend. I hope this week will be a blessed one for you...remember the words of Deuteronomy 31:8, especially in the Message...Blessings and Love to you!

CS ~ I'm so glad you're back...it's good to be reading your posts again...your pictures from your trip throughout looked like you had an amazing time! You are so right that the best is yet to come and I can't wait!!

Blessings to you and yours.