God Gave Me You

Our church, NewSpring, first introduced us to Dave Barnes. While we had heard some of his songs on the christian radio station as background music in the car, we both fell in love with one in particular when NewSpring opened up a Sunday service with "God Gave Me You" during a marriage series.

The chorus caught us initially, repeatedly saying "God Gave Me You," which is a phrase we would casually say reminding each other of how blessed we equally felt to be in our relationship. When we met and became friends in August of 2008, neither of us had intentions of anything more than friendship.

Philip, a good ol' Southern boy who loves the South, his truck, hunting, wakeboarding, finishing his degree in Construction Science & Management and has a passion for the work of his father. Then there is Carla, a mid-Atlantic coastal girl who was ready to finish her senior year of rowing, her degree and thesis and return to California or Annapolis for career, career, career.

Needless to say, the friendship became great, the great friendship became an awesome relationship and the awesome relationship built a foundation for a blessed marriage ahead. We are so far from perfect, but so comforted by a perfect God - making this our perfect love song. We chose each other for the ups and downs, days of doubt and losing our way. We know that separate, we are only "half of what" we could be. We chose ropes/knots for our unity during the ceremony (and for decoration) to only add to the fact that "we are stitched together, and what love has tethered." 

"God Gave Me You" has such strong lyrics if you choose to involve Him in your relationship. While, it is a beautiful song even if you do not have a relationship - for us it is a powerful definition. Therefore, this being our First Dance was a perfect way for us to seal our ceremony and start the adventure of being married!

It was a faster love song to dance to, compared to most, but we will always groove a bit more if it means that we selected something that has significance for who we are as a couple.

Dave Barnes is an awesome artist and even country singer Blake Shelton found himself enamored by "God Gave Me You" when flipping through radio stations - which is why he recorded it and the song will be released July 12th on his new album! Already heard a snippet - and it sounds good with that deep country voice. 

Till then, Dave Barnes for our memories, "God Gave Me You" for our hearts and excited that we have each other for any ups and downs!