Looking Back

Friday was our 22nd anniversary. To be married to the same person for that long is quite a feat in this day and age, I suppose, but to us, the time has flown by. It doesn't seem like we could possibly be married for that long (we certainly don't LOOK like we could be married for that long :-) ) And yet, in some ways, it seems like there has never been a time when we were without each other.

So true to form, we ended up spending a very quirky, but very fun, weekend together. We don't normally get to spend the entire weekend together because my duties as the producer of our weekend services usually have me working Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday morning. And if Lyle isn't serving in his ministry, he's camping with his Boy Scout troop or doing work around the house. So it was a real treat for us to actually spend all weekend together, reminiscing and laughing through the past two decades.

Anniversaries make us look back. Back to those two very young kids, so in love and so ignorant as to what life would hold and how immature and unwise we were. Yet, in spite of youth, ignorance, and a supreme lack of wisdom at times, God has brought us to where we are today. No one could have told that young couple all those years ago that this would be the life we would lead nor could they have warned us about all the difficulties, heartaches, and trouble we would encounter along the way (although I think our parents tried). And they couldn't have described to us the deep love we now share or the pride that we have when we watch our children growing and maturing into devoted followers of Christ. Most of it is completely beyond description.

But looking back has its disadvantages: the attack of the "what ifs". What if we had made the decision to stay in the Army? What if we have not bought our first house? What if we would have taken this job instead of that one? What if we had tried going back to school? We'll drive ourselves crazy asking all those questions.

Nope. Instead, I choose to think back over these past 22 years with a smile. Sure, they've been hard at times, especially when we had an over abundance of children and an under abundance of cash. But even then, or maybe especially then, God was so faithful. We had happy children and and everything they needed. And my self-sacrificing husband, who worked two jobs for almost 10 years so that I could stay at home and be the mom he knew our children needed.

And as we are getting ready for the next few years--children flying the coop and all--I know God will make them just as adventurous, just as lesson-filled, just as faith-building as the first 22. Hopefully, even more.

Or is that like praying for patience...?