Celebrating Anniversaries

Today would have been my 39th anniversary with Frank. I met him when I was sixteen, in an ice cream shop in our home town. He was home from college for the summer and I was fresh out of high school. We dated three years. Man oh man, seems like a lifetime ago. He's already been in heaven for SEVEN YEARS!

I wish I could call his cellphone and hear his voice and ask what he’s been doing all this time—though for him, it may only feel like a few days have passed. When we are finally cut loose from these bonds of time and space, I think it will all feel different.

This month, my three kids are all celebrating anniversaries, too. I can’t believe my daughter has been married 15 years and my sons for 10 and 6 years!

If I could give any advice about marriage it would be, ENJOY every bit of it! The struggles, and all the ups and downs! They are all part of your unique journey together and the memories will only sweeten with time.  

Don’t worry. The things you don’t like won’t last forever. But YOU are something special! CHERISH one another! Remember that you are a TEAM, one flesh, and all the trials along the way are only meant to make you stronger. Sounds cliché, I know, but they will!

I just finished reading Joni and Ken, the Untold Love Story. Wow! Joni Eareckson was part of my own life as a young Christian. In fact I got to meet her in Boston once, and we talked about the time I was “paralyzed” in New Guinea. Carried out of the tribe on a stretcher, I didn’t know if I would ever walk again.

I had a small taste of that limitation, being bedridden for only a month, then progressing to a wheelchair for another month, and finally, I made it to crutches when my youngest was 4 months old. That was hard at the time, but a perspective-changer for sure.

Joni’s story had encouraged me through it, and I was happy just to hold her hand and thank her. What a precious daughter of the most High God, a champion in my eyes! Here, 33 years later, she is still bravely continuing from her wheelchair to touch millions around the globe. She paints with her teeth, sings with all her heart, and travels to encourage broken lives all over the world.

 

Joni and Ken Tada have been able to embrace affliction, their love for one another has deepened with time, and God has used them mightily. What an inspiration they are!

So, to all my kids and all my married friends, Happy Anniverary!

Live well.

Love strong.

Savor your time together.