Today marks a milestone! John and I are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage! YAY! One quarter of a century! And, if we make it to the half century mark, we’ll be extremely blessed – and very, very old!!
A few things have changed over the years. Some things have stayed the same. We still enjoy date nights – usually dinner out with friends. But with age comes the necessity of flexibility. Turns out, one date night became a date event.
Recently, we just happened to schedule our colonoscopies on the SAME DAY! What are the odds? Instead of a nice dinner out, we drank chicken broth and a nasty concoction in preparation. Our date night turned into several days of togetherness. It takes a lot of love to support one another through the irritability caused by near starvation. Oh, the joys of purging together, hee hee! And it’s true what they say: Misery really does love company!
“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other…” Colossians 3:12-13a NASB
In addition to flexibility, we’ve learned not to get our feelings hurt. You know how it is: someone says something (or texts something) and you take it the wrong way. We’ve learned that we can’t always gauge the meaning of someone’s words from their text or tone. We don’t know what they are going through.
However, there is an exception to this rule. It’s grandkids. They are the exception.
John had taken several family pictures of us and our grands on Easter Sunday. We were all looking at them on the computer, oohing and ahhhing at how nice they turned out. John air dropped one of the best pictures to our grands. Do you know what happened?
“DECLINED”
Our oldest grandson, sitting right next to John, refused to accept the pictures of us!! Ouch! That one hurt! Rejection from the grandson!
“I don’t need those pictures!”
“Well just pretend you want them and delete them later! Make us feel loved!”
We’ve made our share of mistakes over the years, but have learned so much, too. One thing that we’ve found is most important: follow the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. Even if you don’t know why He’s asking you to do something difficult, even if it doesn’t make sense, follow His lead and His promptings. When you do, blessings will abound.
You know, kinda like that time I was prompted to say “Yes” to John Chauvin when he asked me to marry him!
Then our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord had done great things for them.” Psalms 126:2
Grace be with you,
