It’s been over 25 years since Michael and I said, “I do”
before God and our loved ones. We married
on June 20, 1987 in Arvada, Colorado and, while sometimes it seems like only
yesterday, it was over a quarter century ago! We’re planning a trip to the
beach this fall to get away and celebrate.
We look forward to the quiet and rest of a sabbatical where we can slow
down, reconnect, and just be. There’s
not much I love more than having Michael by my side (unless, of course, you count
the time we spend with our kids), and I’m already getting butterflies thinking
about having him all to myself. No
meetings, very few phone interruptions, great conversations, lots of time to
pray and study God’s Word together, sleep late, catch up on our list of “must
see” movies, walks along the water, and hours of comfortable silence with my
very best friend. I can’t wait!
It is easy to make our marriage sound as if it’s always been
romantic and filled with bliss, but that is not the case. Throughout our blessed years of raising
beautiful children, living life, and enjoying many reasons to celebrate, we’ve
seen our share of struggles. We’ve
buried loved ones, experienced job loss, watched our kids suffer, and battled
spiritual attack. We’ve each worked to
the point of sheer exhaustion and family neglect, placed inappropriate
priorities ahead of each other, and wondered if our marriage should
continue. There were times we handled
the stress of heartache, disappointment, and near-collapse situations by
attacking each other. Yes, we’ve
experienced separation and at various times turned our back on the Lord.
In His great mercy and abundant loving-kindness, God has
always drawn us back to Himself, both individually and together as a couple. He alone has helped us refocus on the big
picture and learn to let the small stuff go.
Christ has knit our hearts together in love and deep friendship and to
Him alone we ascribe the glory - not only for the longevity of our marriage,
but the joy and happiness that we experience. We realize that we walk in His
strength, together as a team of three (God, Michael, and Cathy).
Our marriage has not always been a bed of roses, but I’ll
tell you in all honesty, I wouldn’t change a thing. Each trial has made us rely more fully on the
Lord and has drawn us… eventually… closer to one another and closer to
Him. It has not always been fun (but
most of it sure has been), and not one single moment was wasted. God has used every second for our good and
for His glory. Our marriage has been
worth the effort, worthy of the fight, and it is, without question, a gift from
the Lord.
In honor of 25 years together, Mike and I, for the next many
weeks, will write these blog posts together and share our best advice as a list
of “Top 10 Tips for a God-Honoring Marriage.” We pray you’ll be blessed and
that you’ll find these posts worthy of sharing with those you love. We hope to offer our stories honestly,
vulnerably and selflessly with you, with the aim of glorifying the One who gave
it all.
Stay tuned. Our Top
10 List is coming soon!
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