17 years ago tomorrow my husband and I were married. What an adventure this has been! We have lived in three states, had two biological children, were matched to adopt 8 children...bringing 4 of them home. Most importantly we have learned that this is not our home, our citizenship is in heaven. My husband and I marvel in the love that Christ has shown us and how he continues to prod us, never giving up in molding us (at times painfully) into who He has called us to be. We did not know Him 17 years ago...but thankfully He knew us:)
Memorial weekend I attended a precious wedding. The bride and groom both had grown in Christ before marriage. They both kept themselves pure for one another. They took their courtship seriously and the wedding was a beautiful ceremony of their lives becoming one. I cried a lot during the wedding. As I contemplated why it was so emotional for me I thought about how I have known the bride for several years and have loved getting to know her heart through the Bible study that we did together. I also thought about how as a mother of 6 children, one being a teenage daughter, I long for each of our children to wait for marriage and to be equally yoked with a spouse who will live life with them to the nth degree of what Christ wants for their lives (and that our children would be spiritually mature to even be equally yoked!!)...that they would faithfully serve Christ and one another daily. Finally, I'll admit that I grieved. My husband and I were not saved when we were married and I consider now and again of what our marriage would have looked like if foundationally we started at a different place. Praise the Lord that He drew us to him 4 years later. I think that a part of us is stronger having come to Christ together...but that is not how I would write my children's love stories... We have thought of renewing our vows. Perhaps someday we will:)
Tomorrow we will celebrate by... Going to church and listening to our oldest daughter sing on the worship team. We will eat lunch at the Potato Bar (always a favorite - my husband is excited he doesn't have to come up with a lunch plan!). We get to come home and pack up the children to drop 4 of them off at camp. It will be Superman, Grace, and Ellie's first time at over night camp. They will only be gone 42 hours and I work all day Monday and Tuesday so it won't be much of a "break" for us. I hope they do well and wonder if I should be more concerned about them...or the camp leaders lol! I am thankful that Beautiful will be there with them if anything is amiss:) We get to eat supper with them (again, my husband is thrilled that we don't have to cook either meal lol!). We will come home and go to the church to listen to a team that recently returned from the other side of the world report on their missions trip. It will be a full day and typical of where our lives are at at this point in our adventure of marriage.
I love Gary Chapman's book The Five Love Languages. I use his concepts daily to think of how to better fill the "love tank" of my husband and children (not always successfully...but I am thinking about it!!!). My husband's love language is the total, complete, and utter opposite of mine. He is all about gifts. I find gifts to be a waste of money and non-functional (can you tell mine is acts of service lol!) Anyway, I have been thinking about all of the birthdays, Christmas', Anniversary's, and Father's Days that I have not given him much more than a token gift (if I gave him any at all). So, this year I decided to make up for it. He has been asking for a particular purchase for awhile. I have found it frivolous and purposeless (other than for fun). I don't do well with purposeless or frivolous (I can't even make myself play a game with the kids if it isn't educational lol!). So...I decided to show him how much I love him by just...buying him an ATV. It is used (makes myself feel better) and it can be used to move snow (also my justification for making it have purpose) ...but most of all my husband is having a blast on his new toy...maybe after 17 years I am learning something!
No comments:
Post a Comment