Key West Wedding Vows

Irish Wedding Blessing

The Irish Wedding Blessing

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face and

The rains fall soft upon the fields.

May the light of friendship guide your paths together.

May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home.

May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, 

a twinkle in your eye.

And when eternity beckons,

at the end of a life heaped high with love,

may the good lord embrace you

with the arms that have nurtured you

the whole length of your joy filled days.

The Art of Marriage

To learn more about Wilferd A. Peterson
The Art of Marriage

Wilferd A. Peterson

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.

A good marriage must be created.
In marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude
of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation
and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding and a sense of humour.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best.

Prayer of St. Francis

There are several versions, this is recognized as the most popular and is traced back

to 1912.  The original is attributed to the 13th century saint Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

The man in the arena

Having trouble thinking of just the right thing to say?  Think about what U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt once said at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910: 

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Words to keep in mind not only when writing your vows, but also in working through the challenges of your lives together.  

Here is another message that Steve Jobs gave to the Stanford University graduating class of 2005.  He discusses his life and source of inspiration: