Here are the personal vows Luz and I prepared, then shared during our renewal ceremonon November 15, 2014 - verbatim:
Luz to Sam:
"My Husband Sam,
I love you. I have walked with you side by side in all of life and in the work of the Lord for 25 years. I have kept the vows I made to you and will continue keeping those vows until death separates us from each other. It is my promise to love you, to help you and to encourage you when times are good or bad and to stand by you as I have for 25years, every day, no matter what challenges that life may bring. I promise to honor God, our family and our marriage with all my heart, soul mind and strength all the days of my life. I love you and I give you my solemn word!"
Sam to Luz:
"My Dearest Luz,
25 years ago, I made a sacred vow before the Lord and many witnesses that I would love, honor and cherish you, in under any conditions, for all time. Today, I renew my vows to you not because I have forgotten my pledge or that I am entertaining any intention to renege on the promise that I made that day in Manila. I am simply taking a moment in our life together to thank you for being my best friend, my fiercest and most loyal supporter and the best soldier in my Army in a journey that has been wonderful – yet a journey that has given us many challenges that the Lord has enabled us to endure and overcome together as one. In a world of broken promises and corrupted loyalties, I feel compelled to restate my commitments on this our Silver Anniversary, and to reemphasize my honorable intentions and to renew my vows to you and to our family. It is for that reason - understanding that the best and the most challenging years of our lives remain before us - that I pledge to you my unconditional love, my unflinching loyalty and my undying commitment to stand by you and for you in any and all circumstances - be they the highest of successes or the lowest of failures now and for all time. Other than Our God, I will place no one else before you, or allow another to occupy the place in my heart and life that is reserved exclusively for you, Maria-Luz Bautista de Jackson y Roda. I further devote myself to the advancement and protection of our entire family: our daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren until death or mental incapacitation prevents me from leading as I have been called to lead. This is my solemn oath to you; pledging my heart, my body, my soul and my life to you by my sacred honor according to the grace and power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from this day forward until He comes again or until He comes for me."
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