Yesterday we celebrated 18 years of marriage!. It seemed like it was just yesterday… but the truth is it has been about 6570 days, and we learned and are still learning.
It hasn’t been easy, but in God’s grace He has carried us through. Carried in the honeymoon stage…carried in the love stage, the work hard stage, the business stage, the stressful stage, the lying stage, the unfaithful stage, and the worst stage – when the truth comes out and we stop living the masqueraded life that buried us in our own deceitfulness, which created a false reality from which we needed to escape. “How?” we say…“Marriage is over” we say…and then we hear “I LOVE YOU!” yelled from the heavens. We hear a voice that with grace resounds the echo of the phrase “it is only a potential battle…an opportunity…don’t give up – grow up.” “How I desire your happiness, your joy. Since you got married I knew that being alone was not good. So I gave you that person to be by your side…for you to love. So now that the lie is over, start again and learn from your mistakes, and be the husband that I made you to be.” And I said “yes, Lord…I will love like You love – unconditionally, sacrificially, forgivingly, obediently.” And Jesus gave us the strength; He gave us the love, the patience, so that we could be victorious in this potential battlefield called marriage. Jesus showed us how to forgive and be victors over every lie. Jesus showed us how to be obedient, so that the failures of the heart will not prevail. Jesus showed us how to love so that we would not hate and be lost. Jesus showed us how to trust so that the ungrounded jealousies would die, and the grounded ones will be the sustainability of the stronger prayer. How happy are those who are willing to go the extra mile in their marriage…just like Jesus did when He went to the cross!
God in His loving grace has kept my marriage…my part is to be a good steward of my Father’s daughter.
Father, I thank You for Your grace in giving me her, who completes me. My heart melts at the thought that Your love for me extends up to the reality of her love for me, and that You sometimes use her arms to embrace my lacking heart. Please, Father, may my discipleship of her be pleasing to You…after all, You gave her to me for a time. May our love for You be the springing fountain of our love for each other. I love you Lord, and I love Denise.
To all of you out there: marriage is a potential battlefield that has no foundation if you forgive. It is the disarming of all enemies. After all, Jesus fought His battle that way and won! It is the maximum expression of love.
Praise God and Hallelujah for such a wonderful couple who are so transparent about the truths of marraige!!!! We are all hurting sinners who struggle with rejection, fears, and unforgiveness, but we have a Redeemer who went to the cross for us to give us a 2nd chance. You guys seem to have taken ahold of that 2nd chance after going through the refining fire. You have come out stronger than ever and I thank God for you both....God gave us such a great blueprint for marraige and if we follow it and don't give up, then He'll see the marraige through. You GO GUYS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHermanos,
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing, Congratulations on your 18th wedding anniversary. What a joy it brings to our hearts to see God blessing marriages. May the Lord continue to bless you with many more years together, and may He continue to bless your ministry. Sorry that I don't check your blog everyday, but when I do, It's wonderful to read all the Lord in doing trough you and in you both. Love and miss you both!!
Hola Geiner y Dennise,
ReplyDeleteQue bendicion tan hermosa leer este blog. Les mando un saludo muy carinoso. Me dio mucha pena no verlos antes que se fuera. Tuvimos unas luchas tremendas, pusimos en venta la casa, la vendimos, que embarazada, perdi el bebe, nos mudamos a Rio Rancho, empece la universidad, quede embarazada y otra vez perdi el bebe. ect. Ha sido muy duro, pero Dios a estado con nosotros y nos ha mostrado la prefeccion de sus planes. Aun cuando nosotros no podemos verlo, el tiene un proposito hermoso con nuestras vidas.
Muchas gracias por siempre mantenernos informados de las bendiciones de Dios en sus vidas. El nos bendice a nosotros a travez de ellas. Nos deja ver que si nos rendimos a sus pies como el quiere, todo es posible. Dios los continue bendiciendo.
Veronica