Drop Sixty-Five

Philippians 4:8

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things”(NASB1995).

 SPOILER ALERT!! Not one of us is perfect. A little over twenty-four years ago, I did something I thought that I would never do. After that, I concluded that things we think we will never do often become the only viable option. I left my husband. I took our children and left. We stayed with family. I saw a lawyer. And the lawyer asked good questions and concluded, “You still love him.” I agreed and nothing further happened beyond that simple conversation with the lawyer. Within six months I moved back home, only to find our communication was not in sync. I left again. This time to an apartment with just our girls. I started going to marriage counseling alone. I also started reading a book, Dr. Tim Clinton’s “Before a Bad Goodbye”. Through that book I learned to focus on what I loved about my husband and tell him. It also confirmed what I had suspected - I wasn’t that easy to live with either. We were voluntarily separated for 14 months. During those 14 months we worked harder on our marriage that we had in the previous 14 years. Now, within a couple weeks we will be celebrating 38 years of marriage. So glad we did not throw out all the good because of rough patches.

Heavenly Father,

You are good. You know what we need before we even recognize it. Thank You for choosing to create us in Your image and cherish each of us. Help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). May we trust You in our brokenness and love each other as You love us.

In Jesus’ name,

AMEN.