Lukas Grant – Chapter 1.5 – I Take You

Moving the old house, adding the pond and gazebo and building the new house took about 3 months with the help of Norman, Lucky, Sherman, George, Roger and a few subcontractors. Elaine has been planning our wedding during this time. We decided to have a small wedding on the property and she kept her promise not to sneak a peak until our wedding day. This is my first wedding gift to her.

 

Norman brought Elaine to the property about two hours before our wedding. To say she was speechless, is an understatement.

She will be in the guest house getting ready until she walks across the bridge to the gazebo and we exchange our personal vows.

Norman walked into the bedroom of the guesthouse and was over wrought with emotion at the sight of his daughter. He had never seen his daughter so happy or so beautiful. Her mother Jenny would be so proud and he was sure she was looking down watching her daughter marry Lukas. She had hoped that Elaine and Lukas would eventually marry but after their breakup and the fiasco with Hal, that didn’t seem even seem possible. For Lukas to come back into her life four years later and help her pick up the pieces of her life was a miracle. As a father he felt helpless that he did not know what to do to help her, especially since Jenny died two years ago. Those unhappy days were over now. Elaine was radiant and was marrying a remarkable young man who cherished her. What more could a father ask for.

When I saw Elaine walk from the guest house in her wedding dress I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked and how lucky I was to be marrying my soul mate for life. As I watched her walk from the bridge to the pier, it was all I could do to keep from rushing to her and putting my arms around her.

The minister, Roger Logan, from Riverview Community Church presided over the wedding. We have become friends since I moved back and started attending the church. He even came out a couple of days to help with the build of the property. I put him in charge of the grill since he isn’t too handy! He can sure grill some fine ribs though!

Dearly Beloved we are gathered here today in the site of God to join these two lives. Let us not take these vows lightly for they are words that bind you together in God for a lifetime. There will be times of happiness and struggles but you should always remember this day and the joy and love that you share in each other. Along with faith in God, this is what will get you through the hard times together. There will be days that you may look at your marriage and think, it is not what it was. Marriage is an ever changing voyage through rough and calm seas. You started this journey together knowing what is at the end, not what is in between. Keep your faith and keep your eyes on the beginning and the end and cling only to each other during the journey. It is the journey that makes us who we will be and binds your love even stronger by taking it together.

 I understand you have chosen to write your own vows. Lukas, you may begin.

Elaine, I have loved you for 5 years. I will love you for 5000 more. You are the light in my life, the smile on my lips, and the reason for opening my eyes every morning. Tomorrow morning to open my eyes to see your face next to mine for the first time will be my hearts delight and my delight every morning for the rest of my life.

Lukas, you have awoken me from a long sleep. I was getting up every morning and just existing in my sorrow, but not really living. Our last six months together have been the happiest of my life. You have shown me what real sacrificial, unconditional love is. I don’t know how I deserve you, but I will spend the rest of my life loving you and trying to be the wife that you deserve. You are my knight in shining armor Lukas Grant!

 May I have the rings you plan to exchange? Repeat after me:

 

I, Elaine Suzanne Joy, take you, Lukas Steven Grant to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, to honor and cherish in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

I, Lukas Steven Grant, take you, Elaine Suzanne Joy, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, to honor and cherish in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

Lukas, you may kiss your bride!

 

May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Lukas Grant!