Smelling the roses

Tonight I received these from my man.

He is out of town for seven days and I have family here with me. He left on Friday. I began memorizing Psalm 105 this summer. Verse 3 says, "Tell of all His wonderful acts. Glory in His name." As I have mentioned before, God has worked miraculously in my marriage. My husband is a pretty awesome guy, but still I give God all the glory for our relationship. As I have shared before, a couple of years ago before Lydie bug was a sparkle in our eyes, our marriage was hurting, deeply. Looking back, it was the most desperate, painful time in my life. But I would take that pain again and again for what I have now.Truly. By God's grace and mercy, we turned to Him. (James 4:8) We felt like we were walking with Him before, but this time of falling face down on our knees was pivotal. I realized that through the previous trials in our marriage (moving, renovating, medical problems with our child, etc.) my true refuge was my husband. I would dig my claws in deep and depend on him for my emotional well-being. But the rubber hit the road when I couldn't do that any more. (See his one and only comment on my blog under "My cycle of loneliness" from September 26th. )My faith was tested and I was forced to cling to Jesus. For the first time in my marriage I did not trust my husband, he couldn't save me.

What a wonderful, excrutiating place to be. That is where my relationship with Jesus and my husband changed forever. The Lord performed what seems like miracles in my life. By looking away from my husband and towards Christ my marriage was restored, redeemed, and better than I ever could have imagined. Now I am in a place in my marriage where I feel the freedom to really support my husband in his hopes and ministries. I am not always trying to reel him in like a fish, but I am excited to see God use him away from home. And the amazing reality is that this support and respect has lead him to discover exactly how to love me. I can only give credit to the Holy Spirit for giving us new hearts that are so much more compatible and passionate than ever before. I adore my husband. I can honestly say that I think he is the most incredible man on the planet. I know God will accomplish great things for Himself through this humble, generous man of God. And I just can't believe that I get to walk through life with this guy. Wow, God is so gracious.