Tuesday, August 20, 2013

When You Want A Great Marriage


“You make Us great." I whispered the words to my husband one night as I lay in bed after another day of learning about love from watching him live it out real and raw.

 The words came from deep within. Spoken with the conviction of eyes that have watched him forgive – when it would have been so easy to resent. 

They came with quiet awareness- from a heart that had known an embrace, though I stood with arms crossed, trembling in my rebellion. Here was one who entreats, when I am at my most stubborn. This man has shown me Christ.

 Grace.

 We don’t earn it. We never deserve it. We can only give it and receive it. Like the gift that it is.

 I don’t know how many times grace has come to the rescue in this long journey of two becoming one flesh. I have lost count as the days have turned to years.

 But gratefulness drives me to change. It’s while standing in the light of someone’s choice to show you grace, when deep down you know how undeserving you are, that you see it most clear.

 That this kind of love, chosen and given, can build a beautiful life.

 Two becoming one is so much more than the beautiful mystery of sex, two bodies joining. It's the greater mystery of two hearts finally merging into one, that beats together, in rhythm and unison, pumping the blood of Christ into the dead places and making them live. And sing. And soar.

 The road there leads down before it leads up. It brings us low in surrender. Obedience and submission yield their own fruits. And we are the blessed. Love begets love and life begets yet more life.

Enough to keep a home warm and safe, and plenty left over to share with others, too.

It's become a saying now in our married life. Spoken with gratefulness in the moments of awareness that we have received from the other- the Gift of Grace, undeserved.

 "You make Us great."





Sharing today with:

125 Titus 2 Tuesday ButtonThe Alabaster JarMissional Women