The Flame of our Marriage

As our family faces what seems in our eyes a rather monumental time of separation, I've been contemplating how incredibly blessed I am to have a man that I can share my life with. We have been through a lot together in our almost 23 years. We've had our great times, and we've had our times when -- well, I'm thankful we made it through those times! Interestingly, I think the lighting of the unity candle at our wedding ceremony was very prophetic. We lit the candle and were kneeling on the "prayer bench" while the soloist sang "The Lord's Prayer". As he was singing, the flame on our candle grew smaller and smaller until it was imperceptible. The entire wedding party and everyone in the audience were holding their collective breath as we watched the floundering flame, fearing its "bad omen". Suddenly, just as the soloist hit the climax of the song -- "for thine, is the king-dom, and the pow-er, and glor-y..." -- just as he hit the high note that accompanies the word, "FOREEEEVER" -- the wick burst into full flame again. It was pretty awesome! Looking back now over the past nearly 23 years, we did have a period of time when it seemed the flame of our marriage was so low it would not be able to be rekindled. It was a horrible time that seemed to cause every aspect of my life to mimic my marriage -- going through the motions. There were a lot of voices during that season of our marriage -- voices that offered all sorts of advice, mostly unbiblical. There was really only one friend that knew about our difficulties during that time that encouraged me to stay the course and to keep my wedding vows. Through her encouragement and a lot of grace from my precious Heavenly Father, I was able to begin seeing some areas in the marriage in which I was falling short. I realized that I was not the godly wife I thought I was. I had been so preoccupied with spousal shortcomings, I failed to recognize my own. I will never forget the exact moment when God began to show me my pride. Had His voice been audible, it could not have been more clear. It was a very painful moment, but the beginning of a season of healing.

I cannot imagine where my family would be had I listened to the many voices that told me to give up. They were well-meaning voices. Many even able to use scripture to dispense that advice. My thankfulness to my Father is inexpressible. I praise Him and give Him glory for bringing beauty from ashes. There are those things in life that can only be explained by God. Those are the things of highest value! I have much more to say on the subject of marriage as our anniversary approaches later this month. Much, much more...