Mr. Love Bird and I had been taking assessment of our marriage recently as we're coming up on our 3-year anniversary and right on time our church sent us an e-mail asking if we'd like to renew our vows. Perfect timing! We decided to sign-up for the vow renewal that took place this past Sunday which was also our wedding date anniversary {we got married on June 26, 2009 - you can find the link to the photo gallery and read more about it here}.
There were about 6 other couples with us, and we had been told that we would go in front of the church while the pastor read a passage of scripture, prayed over us and allowed us to have a kiss! We saw one other couple from our premarital growth group that we did the summer before our wedding, and it was good to know so many others were on the same page.
I really focused on the words that our pastor read, and it reminded me how important it is to have our marriage based in Christ. His love for me is the perfect example of how I should love my husband.
We also learned in the sermon that day some amazing statistics on marriages*:
- The 50% divorce rate applies to all U.S. marriages regardless of religious/non-religious
- Couples who attend church together bring that rate down to about 35%
- Those who do the following 3 things bring it down to 10%
- Pray together
- Attend church together
- Attend pre-marital counseling or newly-married counseling within 2 years of marriage
After our vow renewal we signed a covenant of recommitment. Here's an excerpt:
Building a Godly marriage that lasts a lifetime requires a commitment to:
Build a foundation of passion
Build a foundation of intimacy
Build a foundation of commitment
What are your thoughts on vow renewal?
P.S. I don't have the source from the stats, but if you'd like to know you can shoot an email to our church and they'd be happy to answer!
I wasn't aware of those stats. It breaks my heart that we rarely attend church. It is the one thing I do not like. Our excuse, "time"...which isn't a valid excuse. I think vow renewals are beautiful and a breath of fresh air for a marriage.
ReplyDeleteAww, how beautiful! I love the idea of a renewal! You two look very happy :)
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