November 9, 2012

Good morning all-

Well today marks a very special day for my husband and I.  On November 9, 2001 we were reunited after a 2 year divorce.  So today, we mark our 20th anniversary and I give God all the glory.  I have to say it hasn't always been easy, Mark and I are very different people.  We have had many bad times and have had to work through them, compromise and find ways to become closer again.  Marriage is always a work in progress.  You must seek God, repent and ask Him to constantly protect your marriage.  If you do all those things, God will guide you through the storms and show you the rainbow.

I woke up this morning thinking about the day Mark came to me in 2001.  He had so much courage that day and for the first time in a long time, I saw the man I fell in love with.  He was stripped of pride, shaking and not knowing quite what to say when he asked me to give him another chance.  My first thought was heck no!  But through prayer and petition the Lord showed me that it was the right thing to  do.  We began to date and I began to fall in love with him again, not an easy feat since I had divorced him but nonetheless, God is capable of miracles, and that year one happened.  We were reunited with our parents and our sons there to witness us once again speaking our vows and although we endured rocky times, I'm glad I walked in obedience.

Staying through troubled times is hard for most people.  We like to have one foot in and one foot out.  In marriage that's a dangerous course.  If one foot is out, both will eventually leave.  I would never have imagined that God could take my heart from empty to full again for my husband.  I felt like a wrecked ship that couldn't be repaired and yet, God repaired my heart, repaired my husband and repaired my marriage.  Wow, what an awesome God we serve!

We're beating the odds one day at a time and as we bow before our Lord we can see that walking in obedience, loving Him and trusting that He is in the middle is the only way to live.  I'm not perfect and either is my husband.  We both landed together with a lot of baggage and we're very different people.  We are one through Jesus and that's who I count on to calm the storms.

If you're doubting that your marriage will last one more day, get on your knees and ask friends and family to pray for your marriage.  You don't have to give them the specifics but you do need prayer warriors lifting you up.  If you're single, pray that God would help you stay obedient to Him.  Pray for your future spouse and realize that love is a commitment not a feeling.  It's a covenant between God and a couple.  Remember that and cherish it.  Marriage is a beautiful institution as long as both parties are dying to themselves and putting God first.

I am so grateful to God that He cherished us both enough to help us see through our feelings and gave us the courage to be obedient, not for us, but for our sons and theirs to come.  Future generations will know that their grandparents loved each other and that they lived for Christ and not themselves.  That's my continued prayer!

Revelation 19:7 NKJV:

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."

Our marriages are a representation to the marriage that will come.  One day, Christ will come out from heaven and His bride will be waiting.  We are His bride and just like our marriages today, we must be patient and wait on the Lord.  May God bless those of you that are single, be faithful and pray for your future spouse.  And likewise, women that are married, pray that the Lord of the Universe will be one with you and your spouse.  Bow down before Him and ask Him to heal the hurt, lift up the spirit and unite you together for the good of His glory!  He deserves all our praise.

My prayer today:

O, Lord, I come before You a very thankful woman.  You have taught me what it means to love someone more than myself.  You continue to direct my path and in my obedience I see You.  I am not perfect and often fall on my face but You are always there to pick me up and for that I am truly grateful.  Today, I'm praying for the covenant of marriage.  I'm coming before You asking to go before the singles in the world and help them find good men to marry.  Men that will cherish them all their days and that will partner with them so that future generations will seek You.  I'm coming before You asking that the marriages that are on sand would be sifted through Your hands and that You would sit them upon a rock, making them strong and enduring.  I know that You are a God that loves Your people and that marriage is sacred to You.  Our future generations need to understand that marriage is not about feelings but about a commitment to You and to the men they marry.  Life is not easy and we need You to be at the forefront, leading us and guiding us so that future generations will be secure.  You are the keeper of love, so I ask You to pour it out around the nations.  Challenge us, O, Lord to be faithful when the seas are rocking and to be bold in times of doubt.  We must trust You in everything and I just ask that as we trust You, You will protect our homes, our marriages and our children.  The generations are Yours, show them the way!  Thank You again for taking two sinful people and writing on our hearts, we need You always and without You we wouldn't be here.  In Jesus name, AMEN