Anniversary Poem, 2026

Taken off of Google Images

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 2:6-7

Cherry Red Vows

I choose you

For richer or poorer,

In sickness and health,

For better or worse,

‘Til death do we part.

A scarred Blacksmith

Stands beside water and a furnace,

Two sheaves of steel in hand -

Both reflecting an image of their Creator-

Lying their heads upon the anvil

Ready to be hammered.

Fairy tales bow before

The realities of life.

Happily ever after not

Fought in a day;

But on the moment by moment

Daily submitting to the duress

Of the Blacksmith’s swage.

In fire and pressure,

He punches through

The individual impurities,

Drifting through their separate stories.

In their yielding to His will,

He welds their purposes into one.

The annealed heart pliable

To His mind,

Trials becomes the forge

In which tempering proves

His peace for each piece of steel.

Together, the Damascus blade

Finished with lines that mirror

The love of the Master Craftsman.

In the endurance of pain

Within the praise of His twisting,

May the glory of His Name

Usher an unfailing faith,

A persevering hope:

A joy having its perfect work

Unveiling a consistent

And an unconditional love,

Initially scarfed by the Blacksmith’s staff.

Blacksmithing terminology:

• Cherry red: optimal temperature (1,500-1,600 degrees F) for which to forge metal
• Anvil: the metal “block” which steel lays while being hammered into its desired form
• Swage: a tool used for shaping the metal
• Punching and Drifting: creating holes and reshaping the metal
• Twisting: Rotating one part of the metal while holding the other, often for decorative purposes
• Scarfing: tapering the ends of two metals, readying them for a forge weld
• Forge welding: heating two pieces metal to a white-hot temperature and hammering them together
• Annealing: Heating metal and allowing it to cool slowly, so the metal is softer and more workable
• Tempering: reheating hardened steel to a lower temperature to reduce brittleness and increase toughness