Our 10-year Anniversary!

We celebrated our 10-year Wedding Anniversary on June 29th. It was such an amazing day. I am so thankful for God's amazing grace and the work He has done in our life together. Ten years ago we had a very short engagement. We had been together less than 5 months before we were married! There was still a lot of "getting to know each other" going on when we first married. There are wonderful memories but we also had rocky beginnings. If it were not for the grace of God we would not still be the intact family we are today. If we hadn't understood God's unconditional forgiveness of us, we ourselves, would not have been able to forgive. Derrick had been planning this anniversary for over a year and I had no idea. The morning started with breakfast in bed! He went to Ihop and got us omelets with fruit! That was a lot of fun. The kids slept through the whole breakfast we enjoyed. ;) In the afternoon Derrick had to go up to the base and work on something for a little bit. When he got back I left "the bigs" with him and took "the littles" with me to run some errands and go to the grocery store. If I had known how big a day this was I wouldn't have stayed gone so long and make sure they and I had good naps before the grandparents came to watch the kids! I went to rent a movie for the kids to watch and was going to order pizza for them but Derrick told me not to and that his parents would take care of it. To back up a bit, a month or so before Derrick took my ring to be cleaned and resized because it has always been a little tight on my finger (especially when my hands swell in pregnancy). They also fixed a prong and I got my ring back. About a week and a half before Derrick told me to buy a new dress. He said semi-formal for our date. The dress I chose was actually a little more casual than that. But, if I had known the occasion and how big of a deal it was...;) I am really glad I didn't and that he surprised me though because it was perfect as it was. I like surprises. To back up a little further we had talked about renewing our vows before because of our difficult beginnings. Derrick and I got dressed and he was dressier than I was. He asked if I had something more semi-formalish because I had not shown him the dress I picked until then. I said I could possibly wear the black and white semi-formal dress I wore to the Military Semi-formal event if he could zip it over my growing belly. It actually did fit! But, he's got this thing with black. I love to wear black and brown and he likes to see a little color. I think the dress looked great but he said I should wear the other one I picked out. It was blue up top and all different colors on bottom. So, I put that one back on. The grandparents showed up with Aunt Kay Kay and we left. But before that, he opened the truck door for me and gave me 10 longstemmed beautiful roses! I enjoyed every bit of being pampered like that! ;) We went to Molly's Landing in Catoosa. It was very unique! I really enjoyed it there. Also very expensive. Derrick said to pick out whatever I wanted. I thought about the $30 filet but just could not do it. I picked the almost $20 chicken with sauteed mushrooms, salad, and a baked potato. I had Lemonade mixed with tea. Derrick had the best Chai I have ever tasted and a Seafood platter. If we ever go back we should split a meal. Hopefully not seafood though because I'm not much of a "seafood person"! We gave each other gifts after dinner. I gave mine to him first. I explained the gift in the card- "the peanuts- elephant food" "the olives-olive juice" "the pen- a symbol of writing the rest of our story together" On our honeymoon he had given me a jar of olives, peanuts, and a little framed picture of the Love chapter in 2Corinthians. Elephant food and olive juice sound like,"I love you." He has been wanting a nice fountain pen for a while so I got him a good quality one. I also wrote some other things in his card. Then came my gift~which I was totally unprepared for~! First he pulled out his bible. He began reading from Ephesians 5 and then he opened a box with a ring (that fits onto my wedding ring) and asked if I would do it all again. I was SO surprised! Then he took me to our church and we renewed our vows in front of family! Afterward we had a reception at my mom's house where we had snacks, cake, and sparkling apple cider. Derrick planning all of this was incredibly sweet. The kids also came up and said vows to us that they would honor and obey us. Again, if I had known what we were doing that day I would have made sure the two little ones had naps and were well rested. They were wild up on stage and had some antics of their own. Derrick reminded me the next day that it is a picture of our life together- that we need to honor our vows even in the midst of chaos sometimes. ;) Since we were a little distracted by them we also said our vows to each other again (just us) that morning. Here is how the ceremony went: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) Entrance: • Ted & Derrick walk down, then the girls, followed by Bailey & Amber • Pam Devitt plays “Give Thanks” 2) Ted: Welcome We are here this evening Derrick and Amber to publicly reaffirm their marriage vows before God, one another, and their family and friends. Marriage is not merely a social convention or a convenient legal arrangement. God Himself created the covenant of marriage, as culminating act of His creation, by bringing the woman to the man as his complement and companion. And God said they were to be as it were one person. In doing so He established the significance of the marriage relationship (lifelong, completely united, inseparable). Derrick and Amber, 10 years ago you promised one another that you would live together in marriage. But by your own admission, you both neither fully understood nor fully honored those vows. But, now as you have grown in your relationship with Christ, you have come to understand God’s full design and purpose for marriage, and by His Spirit residing in you, you have the desire to fulfill those vows you made, and to pledge before God to seek to reflect in your marriage the biblical picture of the love between Christ and His people, the Church. I want to talk more about that in just a minute, but first, I want to ask Pastor Terry Devitt to come and reflect on the change that has come about in your lives. 3) Terry Devitt – reflection on growth / change in Hildebrant’s marriage 4) Ted: Ephesians 5 picture Before you restate your vows to one another, let me speak for a minute about God’s purpose for marriage. God’s Word tells us that there were several purposes for marriage. 1) For Companionship and Enjoyment – it is not good for man to be alone, so God made woman. Not just for companionship alone, but also for enjoyment of one another in the fullness and richness of the marriage relationship 2) To extend the human race through the bearing and training of children (He said we were doing a good job of that and everyone laughed. ;) ) 3) That this family would form the foundational building block of all society All marriages fulfill these purposes to one degree or another. But the Bible tells us that there is another, special purpose for marriage. To be a living, moving, breathing, active picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His people, the Church. The reason we know this is that God speaks in Ephesians 5 of this correlation between husbands and wives and Christ and the church… (READ Eph 5:25-33,23-24. Christ in this picture is represented by the Husband (like Derrick) – He selected for Himself a bride, gives Himself fully for her and to her, continually pursuing her, making every provision for her, protecting her, tenderly drawing her up close to Himself that she may be always with Him. This is how Jesus Christ relates to His people. Even while we were sinners, Jesus Christ came from heaven to die for us. He bore our sins as He died on the tree, so that the punishment our sins deserved might be paid for by His sacrifice. This is true love and compassion that Jesus has for His own. Christ’s followers are pictured as a Bride, like Amber, though she is not perfect, she is beautiful in her husband’s eyes, giving herself fully to her husband, devoting herself to His purposes… This is how men and women are called to respond to Jesus. Responding to Him in faith, turning from their sins, and devoting themselves to Him as their Lord and Savior, and living their lives for His purposes. Not out of a sense of trying to earn His love, but in response to the way in which Jesus has loved them. Derrick and Amber, God has opened your eyes to the love of God in Christ, and you both have embraced Jesus Christ in this way. The new heart He has given you allows you to truly love and serve one another with joy and gladness. This is what is possible for everyone who embraces Jesus Christ, and it is on this basis that you are going to renew your vows today, echoing the unique calling for each of you in your role as a husband and as a wife. 5) Derrick – vows I Derrick, pledge to you Amber… (1) to sacrificially love you and daily give myself up for you as Christ does the church (5.25), (2) to purify you and build you up in God’s holy Word (5.26), (3) to treasure you as my crown and jewel as Christ does with the church (5:27), (4) to love you as my own body by nourishing and cherishing you and our marriage (5.28-29). 6) Amber – vows I Amber, pledge to you Derrick… (1) to submit to you my husband, as to the Lord (5.22), (2) to honor you as the head of the family, as Christ is the head of the church (5.23), (3) and to respect you as my husband, even as I do Christ (5.33, 24). 7) Kids: Say vows (below) and give more flowers to Amber Bailey, Samantha, Isabella, Olivia, will you seek to… (1) to obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right? (2) to honor your father and mother that you may receive God’s blessings in this life? …if so, say, I will. 8) Derrick/Amber (join hands with kids): pray for marriage & family 9) Ted: Blessing / Benediction Derrick & Amber, and children, May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you. May the Spirit of Jesus who dwells within you continue to give you the desire and the strength to honor these vows you have made, and give you great joy as you do! 10) Derrick, it is customary at weddings after stating such binding vows for the new husband to kiss his bride. Though this is not a wedding, I think it is a good custom anyway – Derrick, you may kiss your bride! 11) Derrick and Amber want to invite all of you to a reception at Linda Adams house. Come up here and congratulate them!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was truly romantic! Supposed romance that many modern movies try to portray as true romance cannot hold a candle to an imperfect person that humbly asks forgiveness and desires by the grace of God to change. Although, the movie, "Fireproof" showed this. It showed their flaws and fallenness and Caleb got on his knees and humbly asked God to forgive him, his wife to forgive him, and God worked in his heart to bring about change and make him be more Christlike. It was then that he truly began to love his wife.