Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Anniversary, Baby!


Another fun thing that happened on our trip, besides the ocean and the sea turtles, was the Captain and I celebrated our 12th anniversary! Well, actually we checked into our room, took a sunset walk on the beach, while Maren convinced us how the ocean was just not for her. Then we fell into our nice king sized bed after a long day of traveling non-rev, probably snoring in unison as befits a 12th anniversary celebration. Here's the card I gave him.







Here's a tip for bride's to be. Pick an obscure American holiday, one that might get mentioned in passing, but not many people make a big deal out of it, and then get married on that day. You know, like Columbus Day or say, Flag Day. Flag Day works great! DJ might mention it on the radio, your hubby might be driving around town and notice all the flags and think oh that's right, it's our anniversary. The Captain has not once forgotten our anniversary in 12 whole years. Actually, I may be more likely to forget than he would, so that road runs both ways.

I was trying to think of a song that would adequately describe our marriage, and a few came to mind. For example, the chorus of the Grand Old Duke of York.

And when they were up, they were up, up, up,
When they were down they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.

I feel like we spend a lot time in that weird transition phase of being neither up nor down in our marriage. We are either waiting for the Captain to get home, or getting ready for him to leave again. Neither up nor down. Not really anniversary song material though.

Then there is the new Kelly Clarkson song, My Life Would Suck Without You. What a horrible song title, but it is a great song to put on your iPod and walk to. Have to go about 4.2 MPH to keep the beat - a real calorie roaster for sure- and as usual, I digress. Though I hate the title, the chorus has some truth to it and really, my life would suck without him.

Because we belong together now (yeah, yeah)
Forever united here somehow (yeah)
You've got a piece of me,
And honestly,
My life would suck without you.
Of course you would have to belt that out like Kelly (I would love to be able to sing like that for just an hour or so - just to see how it feels) and have a good techno-dance beat (and don't forget the yeah yeah's) going to make that work, so then I came up with this one.

We had the opportunity to hear Brandon Heath in concert in March and this was one of the songs he played and I thought it would be a perfect song for a wedding. Since we have already done that, I deem it the perfect song for an anniversary. It's called Love Never Fails. See? It works doesn't it?

One of the lines that I like is love is a river that flows through. Have to admit that I do a less than stellar job of loving the Captain sometimes. I try, but there are times when I do feel I have failed - miserably. The hope that this song gives me is that Christ already has that covered. Christ's love is the river that flows through. There is someone doing a better job with this love thing than I am, and I know that will sustain, nourish, and protect us and keep us going strong for another couple decades or so. Even when things are neither or up nor down or just generally suck. I stuck it on the playlist if you want to have a listen.

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most
Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside
Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you
Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time
Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don’t
Love is the arms
that are holding you
Love never fails you
When my heart won’t make a sound
When I can’t turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this
Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life
Love is the river that flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you
Love you Honey!

3 comments:

@nnie said...

What a sweet post, Shannon.
Happy Anniversary to you and the Captain.

I looked at my own hubby last night and said "I can't believe we've been married 15 years." He said, "it's only been 13." I said, "Oh. well, it's still been a long time. I feel good about that." You guys are just right behind us. Congrats.

Craig said...

Shannon, thanks for the beautiful post, I'm touched. An emotional 'blowfish' (now don't tell, that's an I.J.!) Yep, Christ's Love is the river.

Wishing you were here with me in BTV. We could each have our own bed and snore in peace. Peace my dear.

The B Keeper said...

Thanks for the song suggestions. We have our 16th anniversary coming up next weekend....think I'll borrow your ideas. Mr B is all about music & loud speakers.(some things never change). Maybe I'll burn him a CD. OOH. That's kinda smooshy, corny, lovey dovey-like. :-)