HMMMM...that would be very Hollywood movie material...but maybe I will stick to the truth a little more than that...besides the story is so much better anyway!
There were many who told us that it would never work...that we were too young and starting out our married lives for all the wrong reasons. It reminds me of the song..."Like Two Sparrows in a Hurricane" (even though we were a little older than the couple in the song). And then there was the more fitting song that someone played at our wedding reception..."My Blue Heaven."
Yeah...we did things a little backwards...welcoming a little bundle of joy into our lives before the wedding, but we were given the wise advice of our pastor...Fr. Mike...to embrace our marriage with baby and he spoke at our wedding about the importance of family...even announcing us to the wedding guests as "The Reynolds Family" at the end of the ceremony. We never really could imagine our lives any different. Now in spite of what people like to think about our big family...many have said a baby after every deployment...in actuality we have spaced our additional blessings out every three or more years. And we truly do feel blessed. However, it was not the eight babies that make our marriage...these children are the fruits of our bond with our Creator and are true blessings.
Our marriage vows that have lasted these twenty years and will continue throughout our lives are a bond united by God's love. That bond that began twenty years ago has been tested but with God's grace, we have persevered. I have told this story many times to people along the way...our marriage is like the ivy that grows in our home.
You see when we planned our wedding, I did not want cut flowers that would die after a couple of days. It always seemed so horrible to justify killing flowers for an hour long ceremony. Not against it for those who like flowers but Michael learned long ago that buying me cut flowers is a wasted effort on me! So in order to decorate the church that had several beautiful windows with large edges...I decided to place small potted ivy. Then...as the centerpiece...my mother made a special pitcher in a bowl (handcrafted and fired by her own hands!) in which we planted a large ivy...she actually had a similar ivy that she kept in our home all the years we were growing up ...the ivy planted for this occasion came from a clipping of her ivy. We also placed Scripture verses at each of these ivy related to love and vines (many beautiful verses that we have cherished throughout our marriage).
As for the ivy...well those who know me...know that I do not have a green thumb! Yet the ivy in our home has continued to grow for these twenty years. So...the message is clear to me...it is not through our effort but through that grace that our marriage continues. We have had years that resembled the desert and years when we were overflowing with abundance. Through good times and bad we have had the grace of God in our lives...it is through His love that we continued to share our love with each other even when we did not feel like it...even when we did not think we could go on. Just as our ivy continues to grow...knowing that I forget to water it for days (even weeks at a time!) and hardly give it a second thought...so also our marriage continues to grow....even when we forget that we need that extra nourishment...or when we are apart...God continues to be there giving us what we need as the tremendous third party in our marriage bond.
God is so good! All the time God is good! Our marriage is proof of that...we are a witness to love and compassion...to forgiveness and mercy...but none of this would have been possible without seeing it through God's eyes and not our own.So...it really is more like the song..."Forever and Ever Amen." No fairy tale...just real life and real love twenty years later and many more to come..God willing! Our very own happily ever after story!
And a big thank you to all you who offered well wishes and prayers twenty years ago...today...and all the years in between! We need all the blessings we can get!
SIDE NOTE: I spent the morning with a dear friend I have known since grade school. Michael and I joked that I went off to see my boyfriend to celebrate our 20th anniversary! Good thing we are secure in our marriage to know that is so far from the truth.
However, all joking aside...my friend is in serious need of prayer. He is in the hospital after having a series of grand mal seizures. The doctors have not been able to determine the effects it has had on him or why they have occurred. I ask that you please pray for him (KC) and his dear girlfriend (Johna) who has been there with him through this trial, as well as the doctors as they search for answers.
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