๐๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด 31:10-12
In June 2016, I was a mess. I never knew what it meant to be eviscerated, but the events of those past years showed me. For those of you who know pain, you know the reality of wondering if the mysteries of death would be better than the realities of life. I lost everything, and in losing it all, there was no one more lost than I.
I felt like a piece of trash flung on the dung pile of life. I felt worse than worthless. Then she reached out to me. She knew I was hurting, so she became my friend. Why? Because thatโs just who she is. Itโs something about her beautiful heart that causes her to see what others canโt. Instead of seeing garbage, she saw a broken man who needed the healing balm of kindness.
I never met anyone so patient. I must have sounded like a raving lunatic ranting about the injustices of life while at the same time extolling the glories of the sovereignty of God. And just as wounded animals involuntarily nip when you get too close to the injury, so, at times, I would lash out even while she was showing compassion.
Even in my hope to repair the past, she remained present, steady, and true. As yesterdayโs doors permanently closed, so new windows opened. Who knew that the opening would bring in rushes of fragrant spring air long imprisoned in the harsh winter storm?
She never stopped believing in me, even after I stopped believing in myself. Godโs gifts are often right before our eyes, but we sometimes are blind to their presence. Itโs only as He opens our eyes that we can see what was once beyond our capacity.
๐๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ... ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด 12:4
Who knew that I could be transformed from trash into treasure? And whatโs even more remarkable is to receive the greatest treasure a man can have, that of a godly and beautiful wife.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด 18:22
Kelly, our first year of marriage has been lovely. How can I thank you for your love, beauty, kindness, and patience? You donโt just make life an adventure, you are the adventure. I pray I can be as great a gift to you as you are to me. Happy 1st Anniversary!
