…years ago today, at 11:00 in the morning, I began this adventure called marriage with Jeffrey.
From the foot of the Bridger Mountains in Montana, to the suburbs of Detroit, to Ephrata in the Amish Country of Lancaster County, to Imola, Italy and back to Amish Country, our journey has taken us many physical miles from where we started our walk together as husband and wife.
This adventure has been filled, as is every marital journey, with joys and sorrows, ups and downs, day-in and day-out, everyday activities, challenges, laughter, growing and changing ... all that mark the progression from newlywed status to marital longevity.
From newlyweds to parents 4 ¼ years later, we have been blessed with four children – three with us on this earth and one waiting for us in heaven. With them, our adventure has changed, but has been enriched all the more with these blessings God chose to bestow upon our marriage.
We are not the people we were twenty-one years ago. We have grown and changed and what this adventure now holds for us, I do not know. But I do know that the commitment is stronger, the love is more mature, and our faith, trust, and dependence upon the Lord for the stability of our marital journey has brought us to this day. He has taken us through every moment, challenge, and event of this adventure called marriage.
As I remember that day, twenty-one years ago, I have found myself reflecting on the Scripture we had read at our wedding.
From the foot of the Bridger Mountains in Montana, to the suburbs of Detroit, to Ephrata in the Amish Country of Lancaster County, to Imola, Italy and back to Amish Country, our journey has taken us many physical miles from where we started our walk together as husband and wife.
This adventure has been filled, as is every marital journey, with joys and sorrows, ups and downs, day-in and day-out, everyday activities, challenges, laughter, growing and changing ... all that mark the progression from newlywed status to marital longevity.
From newlyweds to parents 4 ¼ years later, we have been blessed with four children – three with us on this earth and one waiting for us in heaven. With them, our adventure has changed, but has been enriched all the more with these blessings God chose to bestow upon our marriage.
We are not the people we were twenty-one years ago. We have grown and changed and what this adventure now holds for us, I do not know. But I do know that the commitment is stronger, the love is more mature, and our faith, trust, and dependence upon the Lord for the stability of our marital journey has brought us to this day. He has taken us through every moment, challenge, and event of this adventure called marriage.
As I remember that day, twenty-one years ago, I have found myself reflecting on the Scripture we had read at our wedding.
Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things. …
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13
Happy Anniversary, Dearest Jeffrey.
I love you more today than I did the day I said “I do.”
3 comments:
This is a wonderful message! It's a witness, too, in an age like this. The marriage between Liz and I has seen some hard times but some blessed times. It nearly broke up once because Liz suffered in a certain way during childhood and the emotional fallout caught up with her. But God saw us through it; and we gained much more from overcoming the difficulties than giving way to them. May you have many more good years, unless the Second Coming is soon. Blessings.
I had to revisit this post, because I value the chapter that you mention, the Bible's description of love, and the celebration of a Christian marriage. When you read this description of love, it shows up the poor idea of it that some people have, i.e. 'I'll like you while you're making me feel good.' This is why people need to hear the Gospel, and the whole Christian message. Unless I'm mistaken, no other creed spells it out as clearly as this. Those who obstruct Christian witnessing are being cruel to those they claim to be protecting. Blessings to you and yours, always.
Good to know you have been married for 21 years. All that haappened through this period of time could easily fill a thick volume in paper if you'd tell ita all in detail, of course. The only really sad note you stroke in this brief account was the loss of one of your children. If you had no faith I don't think such a blow woud be bearable. The rest leaves a striking impression that you know what the possible happines is. Few things in life compare to a good marriage, for sure.
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