Bill & Jody Get (and stay) Married-An Anniversary Story
July 14th, 1973
Nothing says ‘tine machine’ quite like a blurry photo or a guy with a bushy beard and a wearing daisies in her hair on her wedding day. I say ‘time machine’ because my wedding dress was made of cotton eyelet and my bridesmaids wore yellow checked gingham. My cake topper also had daisies on it. It was definitely the 70’s.
Also in the 70’s something else eventful occurred–I made a decision to surrender to Jesus as Lord of my life. It’s been one surrender after another over time. Maybe you can relate? In the vein of surrender, what life circumstance other than staying married offers such an opportunity to give up to God our layers of protection and let Him make us into more of ourselves as we love others? Yes, a life time of daily yesses (whilst dragging our feet kicking and screaming–but maybe that’s just me) add up to months and years and poof! you’re on year forty nine. As a crosspost for you, gentle readers, here’s a little snippet from Instagram, reposted just for you, to commemorate this to-God-be-the-glory day.
Forty nine years ago today on Bastille Day, two clueless Jesus people said in front of God and everybody else that they would stay married until death do them part.
I don’t know how that seems possible, that next year we’ll be celebrating fifty years of marriage, but the bedrock of that decision is based on God’s grace and glue alone. I suppose you could say we’ve been, as Eugene Peterson coined, taking a “long walk of obedience in the same direction.” (I added the “walk of”).
The miraculous result of surrendering to God over and over again to learn how to love better is the easy joy that comes with building something together, whether it’s repairing a fence or blessing our children and grandchildren, leaving a legacy that encourages them to do the same, take a long walk of obedience in the same direction.
It is worth the struggle.
