Why a Wedding is like a Birthday…
A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Ecclesiastes 4:12
A letter to my children…
You know cinnamon roles are usually a special treat we have to celebrate birthdays in our home. I loved that you asked if we were having them yesterday. Eighteen years ago I married your father, and to me our wedding was like a birthday. It was the day we kissed our parents goodbye, and moved forward together as one.
The day we looked into each others eyes and said, “I do” is still fresh and clear in my mind. I can picture his smile when our eyes met, and his eyes on me as my Dad and your Pop-Pop walked me down the aisle together to give me away.
You need to hear this – because it could have been so much different from what it is today.
A few months before we decided to get married, your Dad and I began attending a small church that met in the auditorium of a middle school. The beautiful church family reached out to my broken family and took us in as their own. At this church we heard about who God is, how He loves us, and how He has a great plan for our lives.
Your Dad proposed and we asked Pastor Robby to marry us, but first we had to agree to marriage counseling. We met with Pastor Robby several times, and then the question about raising our children came up.
See when Pastor Robby asked us how we were going to raise our children, we looked at each other and said, “As Christians, of course!”
Pastor Robby knew my mom raised me on her own in a Jewish home. We knew God, but we didn’t know His Son. Pastor Robby knew your Daddy had two parents at home, but they did not attend church regularly.
He looked at us and said, “Do you know what that means?”
We looked at each other and our answer to him was, “Um, no, I guess we don’t.”
And that’s when he told us…
He told us about God’s eternal promise to both Jew and Gentile.
He explained how Christ came to die for us in order to fulfill that promise.
He talked to us about what it means to be a Christ-follower and described what that looks like “lived out.”
He told us that when we believe we are set free from sin and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Which means we are never alone in the decisions we make.
Which means a marriage is made of a cord of three – Husband, Wife, and God.
Pastor Robby shared with us what it means to be a follower of Christ, what that looks like in a marriage, and how important it is to pass down a legacy of faith to you.
We built our marriage on The Rock from the beginning… this doesn’t mean we don’t have struggles. We have definitely had our fair share of struggles, however how we handle them is different.
We fix our eyes on Him.
He forgave, so we forgive.
He showed mercy, so we show mercy.
He loved well, so we love well.
He treasured others, so we treasure others.
Things which were once important, don’t seem as important anymore.
Mutual respect towards each other is more important than always being right.
Have we let each other down? Absolutely, but Christ picks us right back up again. Have we made mistakes? Absolutely. Christ didn’t come for those who appear well, He came for those who recognize brokenness and are in need of a Savior.
So kids, your dad and I know that regardless of how hard we try, we will never completely satisfy each other. We will always be in need of more. We love each other dearly, however the satisfaction we give each other is temporary. The satisfaction God gives is eternal.
A marriage is about so much more than what you can see.
A marriage is the closest example to oneness that we have here on earth. Our wedding here on earth is a symbol for the great wedding which will happen one day in heaven – when Christ and the church will be one.
One day you will say the same words, “I do.”
One day you and your spouse will choose how to raise your own children. It will only be for a short period of time that you have them in your home. We hope you will choose to raise them on The Rock and continue to pass down the legacy of our faith, but that choice will be up to you.
All we can say to you is, it could have been so different…
Basking in His Light
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By When God... - Basking in His Light
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