Guard your heart; for it is the wellspring of life. ~Proverbs 4:23Two months have passed since my last post. Life has been full of joy and sorrow. Our faith has been tested and our love strengthened. Our marriage has, once again, undergone some open-heart surgery. The incisions are far from being fully healed but we are under the care of the Almighty God. Aaron and I are finally beginning to see the power of spiritual discipline; the power of the Holy Spirit to work through His Word and prayer ro strengthen our union. We strongly believe, as a visiting pastor from Ecuador said today, that strong marriages create strong families, which in turn, create a stronger society. (it sounded better in Spanish:) I have learned through this trial that marriage is always worth fighting for. I have learned, once again, that my covenant with Aaron is for a lifetime. My commitment to him on our wedding day is one that I shall willingly hold on to until the day that I die. He is my Lord's gift to me. Although at times, I am tempted to view this gift from a wordily perspective and measure its benefit to me, love is to be much more than what is reciprocated. With God's help, my love for Aaron must reflect the love described in 1 Corinthians 13… Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.No matter what I do and no matter what Aaron does, our commitment is "for better or for worse." I ask God to strengthen my trust in Him, so that I can live this out when it becomes difficult. I ask Him to guard my heart from pride and thinking as the world does. And tonight, I ask God to help me not to behave rudely towards my husband. He needs my respect even when I don't feel he deserves it, even when he hasn't earned it. Am I a doormat? That's the way the world thinks. God is not calling me to allow abuse. He is calling me to encourage my husband; to stand by him and cheer him on; to help him up when he falls; and to be perfectly content and satisfied in Christ, so that my husband receives the overflow. I have often found that when I am depending on Aaron to meet my every need, something happens to remind me that he is not called to do that. Neither of us are made to do that. We just finished the Art of Marriage in a small group venue. It was so rewarding to participate in this intimate setting. The biblical truths resounded in our hearts once again and the wellspring flowed freely within us. The rekindled flame in our hearts towards God and each other has trickled down to our little guys and the amazing family time we have had with them lately. I hope to always be brought back to this place of complete surrender. It's storming in our lives once again but the Prince of Peace stands with us.
