~~DECAversary~~

DECAVERSARY: deca meaning ten, versary [from anniversary] meaning celebration or commemoration

s* made this word up in celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary! how sweet is that? she also made us a beautiful scrapbook (using file folders, printing pictures of us from her computer), and on thursday, (8/5) she cued up our wedding video, sprinkled rose petals from the kitchen to the living room leading the way...we all sat together and watched the video - which at first was so loving and sweet....and then....
we had a lot of fun making fun of ourselves and laughing about how the events of that day unfolded, etc...it was a great time!
we extended our DECAVERSARY from thursday to sunday...we watched the first 3 Rocky movies (s* was on the edge of her seat, and loved them! especially the music!), we had mike's fantastic Beef Stew to munch on all weekend, and then we followed it up with a study on the word "Marriage" in Scripture - here are some of the Scriptures we looked at, if you care to look them up:

• Exodus 21:10
• Psalm 78:63
• Matthew 22:2, 4, 9, 30; 24:38; 25:10
• Mark 12:25
• Luke 17:27; 20:34, 35
• John 2:1, 2
• 1 Colossians 7:38
• Hebrews 13:4
• Revelation 19:7, 9

we also looked up the definition of marriage in the 1828 dictionary:

MARRIAGE: The act of uniting a man and woman for life; wedlock; the legal union of a man and woman for life. Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parites engage to live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall seperate them. Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.

Marriage is honorable in al land the bed undefiled. Heb. 13.

1. A feast made on the occasion of a marriage.

The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage for his son. Matt. 22.

2. In a Scriptural sense, the union between Christ and his church by the covenant of grace. Rev. 19

then we looked it up in a 'modern' dictionary (http://www.dictionary.com/) :

1. a. the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

b. a similar institution involving partners of the same geneder: gay marriage

2. the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock: a happy marriage.

3. the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of two people to live as a married couple, including the accompanying social festivities: to officiate at a marriage.

4. a relationship in which two people have pledged themselves to each other in the manner of a husband and wife, without legal sanction: trial marriage.

5. any close or intimate association or union: the marriage of words and music in a hit song.

6. a formal agreement between two companies or enterprises to combine operations, resources, etc., for mutual benefit; merger.

7. a blending or matching of different elements or components: the new lipstick is a beautiful marriage of fragance and texture.

8. cards . a meld of the king and queen of a suit, as in pinochle. compare royal marriage.

9. a piece of antique furniture assembled from components of two or more authentic pieces.

10. Obsolete . the formal declaration or contract by which act a man and a woman join in wedlock.

????????obsolete?????? (isn't it interesting how the 'modern' definition has so changed?)

We did this for three reasons: 1} a 'refresher' for mike and i - 2} to show s* what God has to say about marriage - 3} to see how the meaning has changed!~ there is so much more to study on this subject, and mike and i will further our study by looking to the more specific subjects of husbands/wives - woah, there is a LOT about that! i'll share a little about that study in the future...