So many times over this past year I have wanted to sit down and put my thoughts of marriage into words. The messiness of our marriage just seemed to make for a messy message every time. So I avoided forming words until things moved away from disorder and closer to order. Today as I reflect upon last Valentines Day and the year in between, my heart is ready to share the chapter of our love story marked by God's KrazyGlue.....
Valentines Day 2013 "Cupid" shot love darts all through my day. Willie left love notes and gifts to my heart in every part of my day.....when my head hit the pillow that night, I felt loved and cherished to my very core. He "knocked it out of the park" as we tease each other in his familiar baseball language. The perfection of that day will always be remembered, however it was unrealistic to think it would carry us through the other 364 days of that year. Ups and downs continued. Marriage swung between messy and marvelous. As we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in Turks & Caicos, we once again experienced a mountain-top like none other and our marriage soared to new heights. Again, not enough to realistically carry us through the remaining days that year. We struggled. We fought. We hurt. We loved. Cycles repeated themselves and the roller coaster never seemed to end. Trusted friends gave godly counsel. Countless prayers were lifted. Marriage counseling was sought. Mentors were found. Our heads knew God was in this, yet our hearts hurt from the humanness that steers us away from one another; focusing on our own brokenness and expectations. Broken pieces in desperate need of glue.....God's KrazyGlue.
We continued moving forward, even when at times we didn't know how we would make it one more day as a couple. Too many pieces and fragments to know how to rebuild our marriage. Through God's grace, we faithfully and painstakingly trusted God and exercised much patience, grace, and love. Through God's grace our marriage slowly began to look more like what God designed us to be. We both brought baggage into our marriage and both contributed to accumulating more over our years together. Marriage is hard work and not always roses and chocolates. Two messy people joining as one do not cancel out the other's messy; we just make a bigger mess together. :)
Looking back over the past year, I can see God's hands with us in every moment together and every person He sent across our path. He never left us alone, nor did He allow our brokenness to defeat what He joined together for forever. While we were focusing on putting the pieces back together to be what our marriage "used to be", God knew He could glue our pieces back together to make a new marriage. The love of Christ in us is the KrazyGlue of love that binds our hearts together. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39), and when He is the center of our marriage, nothing can separate us from one another. We are KrazyGlued together, forever.
This Valentines Day, 2014, we can look back and see how God became (or should I say, has always been) the KrazyGlue in our love story. He never let anything pull us apart and He promises that nothing ever will. Will there still be trials? Yes. Will there be seasons of regression? Yes. Will there be moments when marriage gets messy again? YES! There is no perfect wife or perfect husband, so there is no perfect marriage. BUT, there is a perfect God who glues two broken pieces together in such a way that they become the strength of the adhesive love between them and thus, inseparable with the love of Christ!
While the memories of the amazing Valentines Day last year are still fresh, and can threaten to create expectations for a repeat this year, our simple gifts this year of a WillowTree "Together" couple and a homemade banana cream pie reflect far more intimate gifts. We are together, holding one another tightly; knowing each other's heart and what makes them feel loved. The greatest Valentine's gift this year is the season in our marriage marked with God's KrazyGlue.
Resources that I highly recommend for marriages:
#1 is God's Holy Word. Read the Bible and pray together DAILY
http://lysaterkeurst.com/capture-his-heart/
http://lysaterkeurst.com/capture-her-heart
http://sharonjaynes.com/store/products/becoming-the-woman-of-his-dreams/
http://therespectdare.com/about-the-book
http://sharonjaynes.com/praying-for-your-husband/
http://www.familylife.com/audio
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/momentstogether/
http://drjamesdobson.org/broadcasts/archive
http://mensteppingup.com/
http://www.mansfieldsbookofmanlymen.com/
http://beyondordinary.refineus.org/
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