Good Like a Medicine

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. — Colossians 1:15 - 17

The best gift I have ever received in my life, second to my adoption into earthly and heavenly families, is my husband. Today was the fourth anniversary the covenant of our marriage, and although I would never fully attempt to express my love through a blog post, I have been pondering many aspects of this gift throughout the day today.

All gifts come from God’s hand. According to the Bible, which I believe to be the perfect, infallible, living word of the one true God, Jesus made the invisible (God) into someOne we can see and know. All of creation points to the truth that Jesus is God’s glory made manifest. Every human being owes him his complete and total allegiance, for we were made to reflect his beauty and are “held together” by him (Colossians 1). This allegiance includes the gift of a Christian marriage. God’s Word speaks of marriage as a mystery which represents the relationship of Jesus to his people, his Bride, his church. It’s truly amazing to think about how the gift of marriage between a man and a woman who love Jesus actually represents how He loves us! So in my marriage to Eric I owe allegiance to the One, Jesus Christ, who authored it and makes it work to make his name glorious to all people.

To celebrate (you may remember that Eric was out of town today), I popped our wedding video into the VCR this afternoon during the kids’ naps. I sat on the carpet in front of the TV with a bag of jellybeans and cried like a baby. I cried when I heard our friends Paul and Mollie singing worship, I cried when I saw Eric walk out into the sanctuary with his sweet, humble grin, I cried when I saw Papa and Nanny on the front row, I cried when I heard my father-in-law reading Scripture and my father praying, I cried when I heard Eric and me singing “Draw me Close,” I cried during the exchange of rings (out of pure sadness), and I cried because I missed Eric and wished he could be there with me to watch it all! That’s a lot of crying, you may be thinking! Well, I am pregnant, you know. But I certainly wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotions that hit me as I watched this first day of the rest of our lives together.

Dr. McWhite, who performed our ceremony, said so many things that day that made me reflect after I heard them again today. He cautioned us to never take each other for granted. How many times, much to my dismay, have I done this? He announced to us the sober truth that we would have hard times, times of sickness and perhaps even danger, and Christ would be our glue and hold our hands as we stayed strong in our commitment to the permancy of our relationship. Already in four years we have experienced this. Boy, have we experienced this! He reminded us that our marriage in action is the good news of new life in Jesus Christ going out to others, and that God would use our faithfulness to make disciples. He finished by saying, “Let no man or no thing separate you…” I thought about some of the “things” that seem to crowd into our lives and try to pull the two of us apart: selfishness, busyness, laziness, materialism, worry, money, legalism, the praise of men, pride . . . and the list goes on. How petty everything else seems when you put it in its proper place! Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Do I believe this in my marriage? I smile because every day I am learning to trust and say, “Yes, I do.”

Do I think we have had a great marriage so far? Well, yes, and no. We could improve in so many ways, but most of all, we need more of God and his truth in our lives. If you think about it, a “Christian” marriage without Christ makes no sense. We need him every hour of every day just as much as the first day of our marriage. That means thinking of him, talking to him, reading his words, and letting his thoughts guide our life together. I can’t imagine trying to make a relationship work without the Creator of all relationships being the very foundation! I realized, too, that I would have to bow my head in shame if I spoke with Dr. McWhite today and he asked me, “Do you take each other for granted?” That’s what made me think about all of these things and want to write them. I am truly thankful for my husband, but it is so easy to let “the worries of this world” get in the way of whole-heartedly loving the one God gave to me. There are so many things that I love about him!

• I love his sweet humility
• I love the simplicity that governs his life
• I love how he is big and strong
• I love his smile
• I love how he sways and smiles as he plays guitar and sings
• I love how he pushes up his glasses when they’re falling off his nose
• I love his voice on the phone
• I love how he wants me to stay at home and be a mother to our children
• I love how he never gets tired of playing with the kids on the floor
• I love his servant’s heart: how he helps around the house and with the kids when I don’t even ask for help
• I love how he gets so excited when he has some news or a funny story to tell me
• I love how passionately he eats food
• I love how serious he is when he puts on his ties on Sunday mornings
• I love his warmth - I am never cold when he is near!
• I love how he will get the kids up on a Saturday and shut our bedroom door if he knows I need some rest
• I love how he says, “MMMmm, that was gggooood, baby” after dinner is over as he folds up his napkin
• I love how he smiles out of genuine love when someone on my side of the family calls us on the phone
• I love the fact that church is somewhere he loves to be
• I love his incredible memory (because I seem to be losing mine with each pregnancy)!
• I love his optimism and hope
• I love his zeal and hunger for God

I love him, and I renew my vow to never take him for granted! Happy Anniversary, honey!