“What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Matthew 19:6
I spent the first five years of my marriage waiting to be divorced. Like I would just wake up one day and be divorced. This despite the fact that my husband and I got along very well and showed no real signs of trouble in those first five years. But as a child of divorce, I think in some weird faulty wiring of my heart, I feared I was doomed.
As I know, the painful split of divorce does happen. And so, as my husband and I celebrate 28 years of “loving and hating one another well” on Saturday, I am not gloating, but wondering. Wondering at the mercy of Jesus, who I see in this photo, bringing us together and holding us together, despite our numerous failed attempts to tear each other apart.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been far more sweet seasons than hard ones, but the hard ones could have so easily taken us down. We are two glorious children of God who brought such a heavy sinload of baggage into our marriage that these days it would be too expensive to fly. And yet, somehow, our covenantal, committed God, has pursued our hearts, and our marriage had not only survived but thrived.
People have asked me this week, “How does it feel to be celebrating 28?” My answer, HUMBLING. I am in awe as I remember. His many wonderful mercies. His penetrating kindness. His redemption. This weekend we will tell really good stories. And they won’t all be as pretty as this picture. But, like this picture, they will all reveal Christ bringing together what we and others might have easily torn apart.
