I shared this poem during the wedding ceremony with my wife Molly in October 2010.

What moves a man to choose a bride?
The same that moves the bee
To set his path to petals blue.
‘Tis beauty’s mystery.

Her charm, her eyes, her tender words…
The wise and fool agree:
‘Tis beauty that consumes the heart
That drives him to his knee.

But beauty shan’t sustain a vow,
Its arms won’t hold the weight.
So though I stand with pride today,
I walk with humbled gait.

To be her strength, to never fail,
How could a man so bold
Before his bride proclaim these vows
That only God could hold?

For who am I to say that I
Can love without repose?
Through sickness, health, and life’s tumult
Through woes that none suppose?

Before the Lord, I sound my plea:
God grant me strength to stand,
To lay my life before my bride,
To seal what vows demand.

And now my love, if there’s a chance
A man can hold these true,
Then I’m convinced, by heaven’s grace,
I will for only you!

So come, let’s scribe a new romance—
This cosmic tale reversed—
As daily we aspire to love
The way Christ loved us first.

© Tanner Rinke 2010