Give Thanks.... day 2

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor."  Ecclesiastes 4: 9

Give thanks -    30 days of  thankfulness...

Recently during a conversation with my husband of twenty years, I shared a dream of mine with him.  I am speaking of the kind of dream which requires me to make a plan, set goals, work toward those goals, and work hard to not only make it happen, but then keep it happening.   His response was, "Let's get started."

In the following days as I thought about that conversation, I realized that the idea I had shared with him was bigger than anything I previously would have considered.   It's huge.  And yet he encouraged me and started talking with me about babysteps  toward making it happen.   And I am so grateful that God has used him to help me grow into this type of dreamer.  

We celebrated 20 years of marriage this past August.  Those twenty years have not been pure bliss.  We have put each other through so much pain.  Just over eleven years ago, we reached a breaking point.   We almost separated.  But through prayers and support from a very special small group of friends, we found the help we needed and managed to stay together.   One wise woman in that group once said to me, "God is using John to help you become who you need to be in order to get to heaven."    I probably did not receive those words graciously at that time; but I have heard them many times in my memories of that time and in day to day relationship struggles as they come up.   And those words keep me focused where I should be focused - on God's intention for my marriage.  And they remind me to focus on the foundation of His plan for marriage -  love. 

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.   It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.   Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."
                                                                                                       I Corinthians 13: 4 - 8
    

  My husband has an entrepreneurial spirit that just won't quit; I know I have held him back through the years.   I am much more cautious in decisions we make about the numerous ideas he has had for business.   But in this last year, I have found myself dreaming with him about our future, setting goals, and even coming up with my own business idea which will be part ministry and a lot of sweat equity and hard work. 

So for day two of this month of Thanksgiving, I am grateful that God saw fit to bring this man into my life, enabled him to put up with me (and me with him), and to bless us with our first twenty years together. I am honored to be loved by him and to have been chosen to love him for eternity. We do not have a perfect marriage; but God is growing us day by day and helping us to become more Christ-like, and guiding us to work together to bring Him glory in all we do in this life.