Day 18 - Thankfulness
Today I am thankful for committment. I was picking up medicine at the drugstore yesterday and noticed a magazine I usually buy was on the newstand. I picked it up and saw who was on the cover and put it back in the rack. This is a couple who profess to be believers (she does for sure and I'm pretty sure I've heard him say it, too). She was married before and declared a few years back how he was her soul-mate, their love would never end, their marriage was so wonderful and their belief was such a big part of their marriage. It wasn't more than a year later that we heard they were divorced. I don't remember the details (who let whom, etc), but it really irks me when people publicly profess to be Christians and have wonderful marriages, with belief so important and then get divorced. Now she is married to another person and of course, she is saying the same thing. My sister's husband left her for another woman. He really did a number on her mentally and emotionally. I don't think she's ever been the same. It took me a very long time to finally give all my hatred and loathing for him to the Lord, as it was making me so miserable. When I was in KC a few years back, Trudy and I were taking her wedding pictures out of the old album to put them into an acid-free one (for the girls to keep I guess) and it struck me how her ex really didn't live up to his end of the vows he said in front of witnesses and before God. Now whenever I hear vows I wonder if this couple are really listening to what they are saying and are going to make this a lasting committment. Dale and I have been married 37 years. We have not had a perfect marriage and there were times when we could easily have thrown in the towel. But, we were and are committed to this marriage and to making it work. Did we really understand what our vows of committment meant when we made them? Probably not. We didn't have pre-wedding sessions with our pastor like couples do today, so we probably weren't 100% prepared for all the struggles we would face. We were in love and that was all that mattered. But, over the years and throughout the struggles, we have recommitted ourselves to each other and to making this marriage work. When Paul wrote in I Corinthians 7 about marrying or not marrying, he was right on the money. I kind of chuckled when I read this not too long ago. Verse 28 says "...but those who marry will face many troubles in this life and I want to spare you this." He was right. But I pray that no matter what happens in the next years, we'll be able to look back and say it was all worth it and we'd do it again. So, I am thankful for committment. I hope you are, too.
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