On December 20, 2003 in Fort Worth, Texas, we were married. Has it really been 8 years?! We have a framed photo of our wedding vows above our bed. Lately we've been reminded about how the Bible speaks of marriage as a reflection of Christ's relationship with His children, the Church. God says to us, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." What a beautiful promise and truth to hold to and to live out through our marriage relationship, especially during tough seasons.
Todd Carleton and Katie LeeAnn Bates
Married December 20, 2003
Todd, do you take Katie, whose hand you hold, to be your lofty
wedded wife,
and do you
sincerely promise in the presence of this company, and before God,
to love, honor, and protect her through all the seasons of
life,
keeping yourself unto her alone
until death
separates you.
I do.
I, Todd Bates, take you Katie Mills, to be my wife.
I will seek the help of the Lord to be the husband you
need,
to love you as Christ loves his Church,
and to serve you as the leader in our home.
With the help of our Lord, I will nourish you and cherish
you as my own body.
I will cleave only to you,
bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,
until death do us part.
Katie, do you take Todd, whose hand you hold, to be your lofty
wedded husband,
and do you sincerely promise in the presence of this
company, and before God,
to be to him a loving and respectful wife through all the
seasons of life,
keeping yourself unto him alone
until death separates you.
I do.
I, Katie Mills, take you Todd Bates, to be my husband.
I will seek the help of the Lord to be the wife you need,
to be subject to you as the Church is subject to Christ,
to love you and to be an expression of Christ’s love.
With the help of the Lord, I will be a complete wife,
having a gentle and quiet spirit.
I will cleave only to you
as a loving, faithful, and obedient wife,
until death do us part.
Together we commit our lives to the Lord and one another.
We shall love the Lord our God
will all our heart, with all our soul,
with all our mind,
and will all our strength.
And we will worship and serve only Him.
With these rings, we reverently seal, before God and man,
the covenant of marriage,
until death do us part.
_______________________
We also have the title of this poem by Elisabeth Elliot engraved on our wedding rings to remind us that God must be the center of our individual lives and our relationship. Without Him as our foundation, our relationship would not be able to weather through the tough terrain that life and our own sinfulness brings us through. Our affections are first for our Savior Jesus, and than His overflowing unfailing love gives us the strength to love each other.
Cross
Between Us
Hold
thou thy cross between us blessed Lord.
Let
us love thee Oh God, to us thy power afford.
To
remain prostrate at thy pierced feet.
There
is no other place where we may meet.
Set
thou our faces as a flint of stone.
To
do thy good will our goal be this alone.
Our
hearts are fixed, let us not turn.
Consume
all our affections, let thy love burn.
_________________________
Ok, now get excited for the photos. Believe it or not, our photographer took film photos! So these few are scanned. The next year or two after we were married, digital photos became more common. The few digital photos I have of our wedding are tiny file sizes! Yes, this does make us feel like we've been married a long time, but it hasn't been that long, right? :)
At our reception.
Our first time in SE Asia, Summer 2003.
Dating, 2002, TCU. This is the only photo I have scanned during the time we dated. We had just finished sliding down a muddy hill with roommates and other TCU friends while it poured down rain and hail on campus. Random but fun!
