At the beginning of this month on October 2nd, my parents celebrated 35 years of marriage. Last Friday, October 14th, Dave and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and 11 years of love together. Yesterday, we recognized 1 year since we lost our little Punkin, our second pregnancy. And on the 25th of this month, we will remember 5 years since we found out we were expecting Angel. So many anniversaries this month, some wonderful and some very painful. I was thinking this morning about the post I made last year on my wedding anniversary, a post devoted to my amazing partner in life, Dave. At the time of that post, we were still pregnant with Punkin, and I found myself reflecting on the bumps in the road up until that point in our life together- and how we overcame them and became stronger because of them. It’s interesting to see how the last year wound up playing out, as clearly God felt there was even more adversity we needed to face. In the last year alone, we lost Punkin, found out I needed surgery to remove a “cyst,” found out I needed a second surgery and removal of an ovary because the “cyst” was actually a tumor, had a scare with one of our fur babies, went through job loss, and have dealt with incredibly difficult work schedules that have Dave working 7 days a week, over 75 hours a week, and conflicting schedules that often allow us to see each other only twice, maybe 3 times a week for a couple of hours at a time. That’s a pretty heavy year. But through it all, we have increasingly become stronger in our support of one another and in our love for each other, and that is so amazing to me. I think of the people in my life whose relationships have not been as tested as ours, and I admit that at times I am jealous of how seemingly easy they have had it. Not to say that it isn't a challenge to make a marriage work without adversity, but it’s easy for me to fantasize about a life where there wouldn't have been pregnancy loss, where better financial decisions would have been made, and where there would be no significant health issues to face. But when I allow myself to really think about it, the truth is that every single difficult thing we have had to face and that we have been able to overcome has created this strength that makes me feel like we can conquer the world if we have to. And I find myself feeling grateful and blessed that God has tested us so greatly, making us so strong. There is a song by Christian artist Laura Story called “Blessings,” and it captures this message so well. Here is the chorus from that song:
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are
Your mercies in disguise
Come what may, difficult as it may be, I think we’re ready. Thanks for listening and God Bless. J
