BECAUSE MARRIAGE IS HARD AND SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT – LIVING WATER DEVOTIONAL

I looked at our old photos today, back before we had digital cameras, and was reminded of the story of our long love affair. Before the images of our first baby boy just minutes old, before our wedding day, university graduations and our first apartment, before high school graduations and endless parties. I found myself back at the start, when this all began. A 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy enraptured by young love, when we only thought of each other. Our feelings were all-consuming and overwhelming. Photos of my young face intently staring at yours, lying in the grass with a silver wine glass cradled in my hand. Do you remember these days? I’m crying just thinking about them; partly because they were so amazing – young love is so amazing – and partly because I think I almost forgot them.

Life has beaten us up over the years. It hasn’t been the magical and enchanting ride that those early years were when we had nothing but time and each other to spend it with. Life got complicated. With all of our thrilling highs we’ve had terrifying lows, times when I didn’t know if we would make it through to the other side. We’ve struggled. We’ve hung on for dear life, nails dug in tight, praying to make it through each ordeal. Despite my strength, there were times that I almost gave up. Despite your strength, there were times that you almost did too. But there was a part of our souls that didn’t let go.

Then we found God together and we learned to put our trust and faith in Him. He began to restore us. He helped me forgive. He helped you forgive. He has blessed us in so many amazing ways, our old scars fading and our new life rising up. Today we stand here united, holding hands and moving through the seasons of our life, like chapters in an extraordinary book that I just can’t put down.

Now 10 years married and 18 years of calling you mine, I remember where we came from, what life has thrown at us, what we have endured and overcome, and I thank God that He gave me you. We fit together in a way that is too perfect to be anything other than destiny. As we walk through the next chapters of our life together, we owe it to ourselves to remember where this journey started: That sunny September day in high school when I wore a silky, flowery dress and you – a stranger – introduced yourself and told me I was beautiful. I’m still trying to catch my breath.