As we stood face to face, young and in love, nervous and excited in our beautiful wedding white. Waiting for those words "you may kiss the bride". The pastor stood proudly handing us our rings. He said repeat after me. "As this ring has no end neither shall my love for you."
As a 19 year old I was pretty sure I knew what that meant. I remember repeating those words and meaning them. But we were young. How could we really know?
Over the years those words would come back to me. Sometimes like a brick being thrown through a window.
We would learn.
It would be through struggle and sacrifice.
Through laughter and tears.
Through hard work and play.
Through broken hearts and mended souls.
Through building homes and growing relationships.
Through enjoying vacations and forming friendships.
Through the quiet and the chaos
Through the messy and the joys.
Through worship, prayer and church experiences.
Through doubt and fear.
Through feast and famine.
Through gain and loss.
Through accidents and broken bones. Through babies and bottles.
Through teenagers and cars.
Through heaps of laundry to empty nest.
We would often learn the hard way and at times things would come easy.
Today, 40 years after we said our "I do's," it seems we say less words because we're pretty sure what the other is thinking.
We've learned to extend grace. Not that we always do. But that's our desire.
We've learned to laugh more. Sometimes laughter is the best medicine.
We're learning to choose compassion over comparison. That's not always easy.
And did I mention sarcasm. We may use it on occasion. Ok maybe more than on occasion. It works for us. Let's face it sarcasm is sometimes the language of love.
From long walks on the beach to motorcycle trips. From date nights to small groups. We look for our groove. We seem to breathe the air of spontaneity.
Do we get it right? Sometimes yes, sometimes not at all. We no longer look for perfect or right.
We look for grace. Grace wins.
Grace has changed us. Struggle has changed us. Pain has changed us. Perspective changed us. Life changes us.
Wisdom comes. Our corners are softened. We mellow with the seasons. We become less fretful and more grateful.
We begin to see the good in the hard. Sometimes the right in the wrong. The simple in the complicated.
We see Gods hand in the broken parts and the put together parts.
We know that God redeems and grows and renews. He brings beauty out of ashes. Growth out of struggle. Grace out of the mundane.
The rings we wear remind us of Gods endless love. When we felt we weren't enough, He stood in the gap. He kept the circle for us.
The experiences we've shared, the family we've raised, the places weve been.
Indeed it is a beautiful inheritance!!
Psalm 16:6.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Yes! Grace is the light at the end of the day!
July 31, 1976
40 years later!!
Our family.
