Let's Get Married... (sing it like Jagged Edge)

So.... I got married!  Wahoo!  There is so much I want to write about.  So much I want to say about our big day and all the leading up to it.  I want write about our sweet family and all they sacrificed to make our day possible, and I want to write about our wedding party and their selfless love they poured out to us.  I want to write about or friends and family who came to support us... friends from high school, from our childhood, from Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland.... all over the US and even some friends from Japan.  I want to write about our loved ones who couldn't be there, but supported us with e-mails and letters and prayers.  We are so blessed.

There is just so much that I want to write about.  Today, though, I'm going to write about our vows.

Kevin and I spent a long time thinking about what we wanted to promise each other.  We chose to go through 7 months of premarital counseling.  When I say that some people think, "Whoa... was your relationship that bad?"  Ha!  Our relationship has always been for me quite the opposite.  We have had rough patches, but I have never seen Jesus more than I have when I am with Kevin.  And that is comforting and exciting and joyous!

So... During the 7 months of counseling (which, just a small selling point, was the BEST decision I think we ever made for our marriage), the magnitude of this commitment finally hit me.  How silly was I to think I was making a promise just to Kevin.  It's so much more than that.  This was my promise to my Creator.  To the One who calls me His Beloved.  This was my promise, my covenant, to my God and my husband.

So here are our vows.  I post them, not to be showy or even for a good read.  I post them because most of the people who read this are the people I mentioned in my first paragraph.  I do want the world to know what commitment I made on that day.  I want them, you, to know because I kindly request that you hold Kevin and I accountable to them.  Even if you don't believe what we do about marriage, or God, or anything else mentioned in our vows, we still hope you love and respect us enough to hold us to them.  You don't have to believe what we do to remind us of the promises we made to God and each other on August 5, 2012.

As I marry you today, I am making a lifelong and irrevocable commitment to know and love God and to know and love you.

I promise never to stop seeking to learn how to love you better.  As in 1 Corinthians 13, I want my love for you to be patient, kind and enduring, not jealous or envious; a love that is content with what God is pleased to give us; a love which is not proud or selfish, not rude or inconsiderate; a love that is gentle with your weaknesses and seeks to point you to Christ, not me; a love that responds graciously when we have a disagreement.  Most of all, I want my love to be a love that points you to the source of all real love, our Savior Jesus Christ.

I commit myself to seek God’s help to love you with a love that absolves annoying wrongs, failures, sins or inconsistencies; a love that is glad to forgive and grieves when you are hurt or troubled or sinful; a love that reaches out to give help; to restore and uplift rather than demean, despise, expose, or condemn.

By God’s grace, I resolve to love you with a love that does not demand its own way; a love that is creatively thoughtful and looks for ways to encourage; a love that is not self-seeking, putting your needs before my own.  I promise to protect you and stay with you.  I pledge myself to a love that will know no limit to its trust, no fading of its hope; a love that will stand when all else around us has fallen.  I promise to give myself wholly to you.  I dedicate myself to finding my ultimate contentment and satisfaction in Jesus Christ and not to seek it from you or anything else.

I promise to share with you my thoughts, my dreams, my hopes, my joys, my successes, my troubles, my fears, my failures, all of my life.  More than that, I will encourage you to share yourself with me too.

I promise to keep God at the center of our marriage and give Him the glory for anything good that He does through us.  I marry you with the conviction that for me to be a good husband and for me to be a good wife, I must know, worship, and serve God.  I make these promises with the understanding that I am first committed wholeheartedly to God.  This is my commitment to God and to you as your husband and as your wife.

Bring it on 28!

So here are some crazy thoughts:

Kevin and I are putting together our home. WEIRD!  We just purchased all kinds of random items for the house including... our baby-making bed.  That was, well, weird to purchase together.  It is so weird to think that in less than 3 months I am going to live with a boy.

What is even CRAZIER is thinking that I could be pregnant in the next year.  I have NEVER thought of any of this before.  I guess I have been so caught up in the "honeymoon" stage of engagement that these thoughts never crossed my mind... until now.

Though I am 28, I get short of breath just thinking about the fact that I could have a baby relatively soon in my life.  Yikes.  Now, I would love to have children one day, but the thought that, that day may be soon... wow... well it leaves me a lil' dizzy.

Lets be clear though, the world knows we are waiting until August 5th. So don't get any ideas =)  I'm just sayin'.

So lets rewind a bit and talk about another crazy thing that will happen.  I'M GETTING MARRIED!  WHAT!?!?!?!

When I was a little girl, I honestly daydreamed about this day.  I even have to admit that in junior high, my friends and I cut up wedding magazines and made a journal of what we wanted our weddings to be like when it finally happened to us.  The dress I chose back then is hideous!  It is so gaudy and it has a train that is as long as the aisle you walk down.

Thank God that reality is so much better than my dreams.  I don't even know how to put into words how excited I am to marry Kevin.  I honestly cannot describe it.

People have been asking me lately if I am ready to get married.  How do I answer that?  Is anyone ever ready?  Am I?  I'll tell you what I know.  I know that I am still selfish.  I know that at times I still seek my own ways.  I know that I am stubborn.  I know that I have learned to fight and stand my ground in life because at one time, those characteristics were very crucial and necessary.  I know I am slightly a perfectionist.  I don't see the point in doing something unless you are going to do it right and do it the best way possible.

I also know I am in love with a man who makes me want to die to myself.  He loves in such a compassionate way that I don't want to seek my own way; I want to look out for him.  He shows me a whole different side of love that makes me want to surrender my stubborn pride because loving him is so much better than being right or getting my way.

So am I ready to get married?  The answer is probably no.  I'm not ready because of all the reasons I mentioned earlier.  But when you put Kevin into the equation, the whole scenario changes.  Am I ready to marry Kevin?  HECK YES!  I am ready to marry Kevin because Kevin is the most courageous, selfless, pure-hearted, Christ-led man that I have ever met, and he inspires me to love in ways I have never known before.

I'm getting married folks!  Mark your calendars and bring your dancin' shoes because we're gonna celebrate!

The Proposal: The rest of the story

So there I am with MB shopping for what seemed like hours (it was probably 45 minutes).  I get a text message from Autumn, my roommate.  She is one of the sweetest people I know. Her message comes across a bit more forceful than normal.  She said something like, "Meet me at Next, I want to come shopping with you guys."  A typical Autumn text would say something closer to, "Hey Steph!  If you wouldn't mind, can I join you and MB for some shopping.  If I am an inconvenience, please don't worry about it.  I don't want to intrude."

Just then I had a great idea!  If Autumn wants to go shopping and MB wants to go shopping, why don't I just go home and let the two of them be on their way, merrily shopping together. MB didn't go for the idea and quickly changed the subject.  Instead, she thought it would be a great idea to go for a walk to Yamashita Park.  It's a beautiful walk when it's not 30 degrees and oober windy.

So off we went in the freezing cold.  MB was walking so friggin' slow and taking her sweet time capturing pictures of the most ridiculous things. She took pictures of fireworks that hadn't gone off yet, meaning she took pictures of white tubes on the sidewalk.  She took a picture of an empty dock, of men up in a forklift, anything silly and pointless, she took a picture of it.  I thought she was crazy and my irritation was building more and more.  At this point, we had been shopping and walking outside for like 3 or 4 hours.  Around 5, Autumn finally texted us again to tell us to meet her in World Porters (a big shopping mall.)

As soon as we went in, Autumn's first suggestion was to go take Purikura.  Purikura is a RIDICULOUS photo booth that you pay $4 to take these pictures of you and the camera gives you these giant doll/doe eyes.  I HATE THEM!  The only time I have ever been in a good attitude about them, is when I am with some students that want to take them.  Otherwise, I'd rather spend my money on Starbucks.  I was at my last stages of niceness at this point.  We left the mall.  Autumn and MB make a suggestion to walk to this other mall, to do some more shopping.  "SHOOT ME NOW!" were my thoughts.  I just stayed quiet and walked about 3 steps behind them as we left.

It was dark outside at this point.  Autumn suggested we walk closer to the water to take more pictures of the ferris wheel.  I just shook my head and continued on behind them. I was desperately trying to find the happies deep down inside.  I really did want MB to enjoy her time here, I just didn't know how to fake that I was having a good time. And that's when I heard him...

"My gift is my song... and this ones for you."

I looked down the sidewalk and way in the distance I could see this tall figure.  "Is that Kev?" I asked.

"Yup," MB replied.

"Is he in Japan?"

"Yup."

At that point, I was about to run to him.  But then he kept singing and I realized HE'S PROPOSING!

That's when MB started videoing me walking towards him. That's when I realized that all the silly pictures, long walks in the cold weather, and shopping were all just to get me at that exact spot at that exact time.

"Your Song" is a song originally by Elton John, but it was remade when Moulin Rouge came out.  The day before Kev and I started dating, we were in my car singing that song at the top of our lungs.  He changed some of the lyrics to this:

From the moment we met
Girl you captured me
I had to be with you e'en
Date you overseas

But the Lords been kind
While we were apart
He brought to Japan and
Joy filled up my heart

So excuse me for my lines
They're cheesy I know
But I really missed how
Your beauty how it glows

And you see the thing is
What I want to say
I love you so much
I could not stay away!

He is the most amazing man!  Of course I said YES!  We always joked that I was too unpredictable, so neither of us knew how I would react when he proposed.  Would I cry?  Would I laugh? Would I do both?

Yes, he even danced with me!

Is this really happening?

I love him!

SO HAPPY!

Wahoo!

Autumn, Luke, Kev, MB, and me... Great friends who put up with my belly aching all day!

The box says, "Kevin and Stephanie" and a light turned on when you opened it so that I could see the ring in the dark!  Brilliant!

I could not stop smiling.  I was so excited and so completely surprised that he was standing in front of me.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.  This was by far, the happiest moment of my life!  I love Kevin so much... and I can't believe I get to keep him!

Here is the video in case you didn't see it (It's perfect!):

The Proposal... or at least we are about to get there

So here is the background to the story...

Kevin and I both really wanted to go home for Christmas.  He wanted to spend time with his family and I really wanted to attend Kerry and Chris' wedding.  The rough part was remembering a bulk of the reason I came to Japan (to pay off my student loans).  It was hard for me to justify spending $1700 for a flight, knowing that I hadn't made a big dent in my student loans yet.

Kevin booked his tickets home from December 21 - January 5th.  I decided not to go.  It hurt.  A lot.  Especially when I Skyped with Kev's family and when I saw updates on Kerry's wedding.  I just wanted to be there.  But, I was here in Japan.

Japan had it's own blessings.  My friend, Mary Beth, came in from Miyako-jima for Christmas and New Years.  We had a blast! We looked up old photos from college.  Here are a few that brought back terribly awesome memories... A lil' "Brown Squirrel" anyone?

Even with all the laughter and fun activities, I missed Kev like crazy!  We dated for a year long distance. You would think 2 weeks would be a cake-walk... WRONG!

On December 30th, I had not heard from Kev in 2 days...GASP!  Mary Beth thought it would be a great idea to spend the day shopping in Sakuragicho.  If you know me at all, you know that those are two of my least favorite things: shopping and crowds.  But, MB had spent little time in the Yokohama area and if this is what she wanted to do, so be it!

So off we went to stare at overpriced trinkets that have no purpose and to get shoved around by people who are 50 pounds lighter than me, but can throw me into a wall way too easily.  The more we shopped, the more irritable I became. And thus starts the beginning of the most amazing proposal...  

More to come...