happily ever after: Milestone to Millstone to Rock

     Del and I are celebrating  our anniversary this week.  36 years!  And they said  it wouldn't last
Seriously,  they really did  say it--or at least  thought it!  You see,  we had both been married before--we had married young, he at 17, and I at 18.  We were both going to be parents, way too young!  Well, it probably comes as no surprise that those marriages ended in divorce.  I don't say that lightly, however;  I say it sadly.  I was 21 when I got divorced and I felt the responsibility was totally mine.  I felt guilt, regret, fear;  mostly I felt sadness and depression because I  had to leave my 3 year old girl with her dad.  I felt helpless and out of control.
     I didn't know then that help was coming very soon, in the form of my loving husband Del.
     Each of us had our own problems,  but somehow, some way, we were able to make a life together. We had been married less than a year when he introduced me the Lord.  I was all in!  We lived our lives serving the Lord as best we could.
     Fast forward 25 years...
     After our 25th anniversary, we started on a rocky journey.  We were being tested in ways neither of us had ever expected.  I remember waking up one morning, hearing these words, just as if they had been spoken aloud, "Your best friend is going to die and you will be getting a divorce."  Well, my best friend, who had cancer, did eventually die.  But as for divorce, I determined after a period of thought, that divorce was not going to be an option for me.
     Thus began a period of over 10 years that we, separately, began to seek the Lord with all our hearts. But our hearts were far away from each other!  We lived in the same home, but in many ways, we were apart.  Finally, one morning as we were lying in bed, angry and distant from one another, I begged Del to pray with me, and he grudgingly did.  My prayer was that we would each be able to open our minds and hearts to admit to one another and to God where we were wrong.  And I prayed that we would once again be in agreement on those matters that caused us so much disagreement, even if it meant giving up our own ways.
      Well, it didn't happen overnight, but little by little, the Lord restored our relationship--actually He made it better than ever!  What it took was our hearts crying out to him,  and our giving up our wills to His will.
     I learned over these years that the enemy of our souls wants to steal from us what is good in our lives, especially our marriages.  I learned that we should never entertain thoughts of divorce, because, as it says in the Word, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
    If you are experiencing doubts about your marriage, don't give up on it!  Don't allow the devil to maneuver you into a place you shouldn't go.  Make my own personal verse from Proverbs the rule for your own life:  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path."  He really will!