Complete Book of Wedding Vows (55 page)

Page 122

Up Close and Personal

When Warren and Verna Riopel told me how they met and fell in love, I decided their story was as poignant and as "goose-pimply" as any romantic movie script ever written, from
Shadowlands
to
Sleepless in Seattle
. You see, Verna was a 33-year-old schoolteacher who owned her own home and 19 acres of productive grapevines. Her life was full and satisfying, except for one thing: She was still looking for "Mr. Right"the man whom God had chosen as her life's companion.

Along came Warren, a man in his mid-30s, the "new guy in town" who planned to enroll at the local university in the fall. Warren met Verna one Sunday at church and it soon became known that he, being the typically destitute American college student, needed a job if he was to survive the summer and have enough money to enroll for the fall semester.

The summer work season was just beginning at Verna's vineyard and,
of course
, it was perfectly understandable that she needed help with the annual weeding, so Warren offered to help her pull the weeds if she would promise to cook him just one home-cooked meal per day. As Warren labored shoulder-to-shoulder with Verna under the hot California Central Valley sun, it was only natural that he worked up quite a thirst, so,
of course
, it was only logical for Verna to join him for an icy cold lemonade. And,
of course
, a man can't work straight through without a little rest in the shade every so often, so,
of course
, it was only logical for Verna to join him occasionallyafter all, it wasn't polite to leave a guy sitting there all alone.

Well...after a few dozen jugs of lemonade, many hours visiting under the shade of the big oak tree, and plate after plate of good home cooking, they realized,
of course
, that

Page 123

they had fallen in love and were meant to be and by that September they were engaged to be married. They knew in their hearts that God had brought them together that summer and their personalized wedding vows reflected this assurance:


Minister: "Will you, Warren Riopel, have Verna Plett to be your wedded wife, and do you solemnly promise that you will loyally fulfill your obligations as her husband, to protect her, to honor her, and to cherish her in adversity as well as in prosperity, and to keep yourself unto her alone so long as you both shall live?"


Warren: "I will."


Minister: "Will you, Verna Plett, have Warren Riopel to be your wedded husband, and do you solemnly promise that you will be unto him a tender, loving and true wife, in sunshine and shadow alike, and to be faithful to him so long as you both shall live?"


Verna: "I will."


Warren (to Verna) and Verna (to Warren):

"_____________________, I acknowledge God's presence in our lives and I believe that He has led us together to share our lives with each other, so I pledge to you my undying love, my respect, my devotion, and my life, without reservation from this moment on. I promise that, with God's help, I will be a faithful, loving wife / husband, and that whether times are easy or hard, I will always remember that each of us is meant for the other, with Christ as the head of our home."

By the way, Verna still teaches school and they live in her home on the 19 acres where Warren is now a full-time dairy farmer. She's still feeding him pretty good, and if you should happen to drive out their country road some warm

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