Another Year

What a beautiful time of year. As a child I always favored the idea of being married in the spring. As I look back, however, now celebrating an anniversary in the fall, I can't help but be grateful or this time of year. This is the time of the harvest. The Lord has taught us that whatsoever we should sow, that will we also reap. This year we celebrate 23 years of marriage. It is hard to believe so many years have passed! They have been good years, laced with the challenges of life, yet it is those very challenges we have faced that have yielded the fruits of a strong marriage: serenity, unity, peace, strength and increased love. Without the challenges, the increase in the yield of the fruits of a strong marriage would have been less.

So this year my cup is full even to running over. The harvest is great and my joy is overflowing. I am so very grateful for a good husband who has never failed to support me in my many endeavors and projects. He has permitted me to stay at home with the kids... the place that I have been able to do my greatest work. He values my views as I do his and this allows us to counsel together in ways that we can share our unique views and ultimately come up with solutions to our concerns. We read together and study together and by so doing we learn and grow together. We feel safe and secure sharing our thoughts and insights with one another. To me, this is the becoming one that The Lord commanded of Adam and Eve. I am so grateful for my marriage and anticipate greater growth and love to continue to bear fruit.... even eternal fruit that will bind not just our hearts together but also our souls.

This year we have celebrated once again with a camping trip. It has been a beautiful and peaceful time. The food has been good, the weather a little cool but very enjoyable and our lodging... one of our own choice consisted of our 13 man tent this year. It is like having a little house in the mountains. Big enough to set up a table, cots, chairs and bed. It has given us a cozy and secure little place to take refuge from the rain... and the rain has been perfect! Just enough to create that peaceful lulling on the walls of the tent with no threat of penetrating the nylon fabric.

I am so thankful for the institution of marriage. I have learned some of life's greatest lessons I this school! I have found my dearest friend and from our union, we have been blessed with 8 of the sweetest children a parent could desire. The Lord has been so very good to us.