Thanking God for One of the Greatest Gifts

God gives us many gifts and blessings throughout our lives.  Starting with the gift of salvation right down to the gift of a beautiful day.  The gift I want to acknowledge and thank the Lord for today, is the gift he gave to me 22 years ago today….my wife.

My wife Holly and I started dating in 1988, we were married in 1992 and now 22 years and 4 kids later, I can look back and say that God’s gift to me was absolutely perfect.  It wasn’t like that shirt you may have received on your birthday that was slightly too big or perhaps the wrong color, but you wore it anyway.  It wasn’t like the video game that you finished in a week and put it back on the shelf never to look at again, it wasn’t like the fancy dinner that you were taken out to to celebrate some event that you enjoyed, but then was gone and forgotten in hours…..no it was like none of those.  It was the gift that has lasted these 22 years, the gift I never grow tired of, the gift that I won’t take back because I outgrew it….no it is the gift that changes,  but gets better as we age, the longer we are married, the stronger we become.

The other side of that, which we often forget to mention, is that we are prepared as a gift to our spouse.  God gave me as a gift to my wife.  I need to be aware of that and make sure that I treat her like someone deserving of a fine gift….and make sure that I am that fine gift.  Oh, none of us are perfect, we all have our flaws, but if we think each day that God gave me to her and her to me as gifts, that God created us for each other.  If we think that way each day, we’ll be conscious of when we are not acting like that fine gift we were meant to be.

When you enter your marriage, one prepared by God, it can do nothing else but succeed.

We received an anniversary card this year that says’ something that truly stands out to me.

Because God has chosen you for each other,
Because you have made Him your partner in marriage as well as in life,
Because your deep faith allows Him to work in your hearts in beautiful, all-knowing ways
Yours is a marriage abundantly blessed with love and joy…

What a great thought to leave on this day. God has chosen us for each other.  We have asked him to be a central part of our marriage.  We are married because God chose us for each other.  Because of our faith that God will help us through the rough spots.  Our marriage is and has been abundantly blessed.

To my wife, Holly, who I know reads my posts……I love you more and more each day.  I thank God for the wonderful gift he gave to me all those years ago and I pray that I can be the gift to you that God intended me to be.   Love ya babe!