Shannon here: The final installment of Kimberly Zweygardt’s real life romance. Final day to leave a comment to win a copy of Stories from the Well or a kiln made, fused glass paperweight. Deadline: 8:00 PM Central. Here’s Kimberly:
Zweygardt Family Happily-ever-after
The Wedding
We originally planned to marry in the Gazebo in the Lake Park, but then a series of events made us change our minds. Instead we planned a small wedding for family and friends at a Bed and Breakfast near where we live. The owner of the B&B was a retired minister from Scotland and he married us in full kilt. We asked him to do our ceremony in two parts—joining us as a couple and then joining the kids with us as a family. The girl who introduced us was my Maid of Honor and Kary’s cousin, his Best Man but our other attendants were our kids. They were so excited that we all were getting married. To this day, Lauren says, “When we married Dad and the boys” and the boys say, “When we married Kim and Lauren.” We have been incredibly blessed in truly being a family and I think that is why. God has honored our vows and the kids have known from the beginning, “We’re all in this together!”
The morning of the wedding, Kary and Jordan had a prophetic conversation. Jordan said, “Somebody told me if you lock your knees, you pass out. Is that true?” Kary told him it was.
Kary did not want to see me before the wedding. As we got ready upstairs, I could hear the boisterous laugh of my future husband downstairs as he greeted guests. Finally the music began and I came down the stairs and through the door on my Dad’s arm. Kary stood at the front of the room. Our eyes met and the rest of the room faded away. There was no one in the world except us. The love in his eyes drew me to him as if my whole life had been leading up to this moment and I believe it had been. Our children took their places beside us and the wedding began.
We were in the middle of our vows when I heard a whisper from behind Kary. “Dad! Dad!” The whisper from Jordan sounded desperate and my first thought was he had to go to the bathroom! I looked past Kary and Jordan was white as a sheet and I knew immediately he was going down.
I began whispering, “Jordan! Bend your knees! Jordan! Bend your knees!”
He told me later he could see my lips moving but by then the roar was in his ears and he couldn’t hear a thing.
Kary and I were facing each other holding hands. I saw Jordan wobble and so I dropped Kary’s hands, stepped around him, grabbed a chair from the front row and scooped Jordan into it! There was a collective gasp from the congregation and a friend stepped over to fan his face.
A retired preacher doesn’t get many chances to preach and Peter wasn’t giving his up. “He’s fine! Stay with me! Stay with me!” and he just kept preaching about our duties in marriage.
Color had returned to Jordan’s face by the time we began the family ceremony and he finished strong. We all did.
We’ve been married for 13 glorious years. He still makes me laugh like no other and fun characterizes our family. God has brought wholeness from brokenness in both our lives and that is what I want to portray in my writing.
In my WIP, my heroine is a prodigal who returns to her faith when she learns that no one is beyond God’s grace. She meets the small town sheriff when he pulls her car over for a minor infraction. Sparks fly in more ways than one before romance arrives. My working title is RUNAWAY HOME.
I loved reading this real-life romance. May Kim and Kary have many more happy years together.
Thank you for sharing you love story with us. It gives me hope that God has a special someone for everyone.
Thank you again for sharing such a sweet and romantic story filled with the message of faith and hope.
Thanks, guys, for the kind comments. I honestly could write a blog post everyday about all the wonderfully romantic things my husband has done for me. God truly saw the desires of my heart and answered them above and beyond what I could ask or imagine.
God is the restorer of broken dreams, the repairer of broken walls, the healer of broken hearts. One thing that I learned through this is that the preparation time is long–God brought Kary and I both to the end of ourselves where we wanted His will more than anything. And if that meant being single, we would. It took about 5 years for each of us and in that time, we stumbled, we took steps forward and then fell down, we looked for love in the wrong places, etc. etc. BUT each time, we turned back to God and let Him work on the things that needed worked on. He dusted us off and away we went again….for 5 years. Each of us came to the same conclusion–we were not willing to settle for less than God’s best for our lives, so we prayed….and waited on God.
But when God finally moved–He moved quickly! Kary and I talked on the phone for the first time Oct. 13. We had our first date, Oct. 19. We got engaged Dec. 7. We married March 1st. It was a whirlwind! But God was in it and we knew it.
We’ve had some hard times. God had to knock the rough places off of us (As iron sharpens iron :0) We thought it would be easy because God put us together and we thought He’d fixed both of us in that 5 years….but there are some things you only learn with another person. Like selfishness–it’s easy to think you’re no longer selfish when you are living alone and you get your way! :0)
So, the final lesson is this…..if you want your dreams to come true, give them to Him. Nothing else satisfies. Nothing else is worth living for. He knows your heart and so only He can fulfill the things you desire. Bless you guys! Can’t wait to see who wins the book and paperweight!
Kim, this was a beautiful conclusion – and beginning! Thank you so much for your words of wisdom, and for your willingness to share your story with all of us. “My” verse – the one I claim – is Psalm 37:4–“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” It’s so true. We have to be willing to let God put His desires in our hearts and make them our own, rather than thinking God is a “sugar daddy” who just exists to give us what WE want!
God bless you!
Regina
Regina, I call it the vending machine version of God. We put in the right amount of quarters–say the right prayers, go to church, say the right words–then we want to pull the handle and get what we asked for. I am so grateful that God is bigger than that. That He saw my broken heart and knew exactly what I needed to heal it. Sometimes the healing was not easy and really not pleasant, but like surgery for an infection where all the infected tissue has to be removed for healing to come, it was oh, so necessary. Blessings!
Wow, y’all are getting deep on these comments. Enjoying it.
“God has brought wholeness from brokenness…” I love that! That is truly what God does – and who He is… the mender of broken things. And when God does it, it’s even more beautiful than before. (Think of stained glass windows – formed from individual pieces of broken glass.) Blessings to you and thank you for sharing your special story! Warmly, Pris
Thanks Kim for sharing your story with us. It was very heartwarming and just shows you what God can do, if you let Him.
This week’s winners: Tanya won the copy of Stories from the Well and Julie Jarnigan won the fused glass paperweight. I’ll contact you both to get your addresses, so I can forward them to Kimberly.
Enjoyed reading your story. I couldn’t imagine Kary any other way. Very heartwarming!