Monday, July 20, 2009

30 years

Last week my beloved husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. What a miracle!
A couple of weeks ago I was putting together a photo album of pictures that were taken of Jerry and myself before we were married. They were from our months of dating. We had no knowledge of what lay before us. We were living on joy and fun, never realizing what would come. Dreaming of all the blessings that we thought God would bestow upon us: children, careers, house, material goods, spiritual growth... Never could we have imaged that any of those things would come with consequences. We figured we were good christians and that God would surely make our marriage be all sunshine and butterflies, hearts and sweetness.
Now that I look back over the 30 years, I am amazed that we are still married, let alone very happily married. God has done so much in our lives. The blessings came in ways that we would have never imagined. They came in the five miscarries. They came in the disabilities of our only child. They came in mental illness. They came in trials and tribulations. They even came through bitterness and hatred.
Romans 8:28 promises that God will work out everything for the good....of those who love him. There were so many times when our stinking sin tried to ruin everything, but God, in his amazing love and patience, won every victory. Once we confessed our sins (which is a daily need), God forgave us and cleansed us and did miraculously in us.
I truly believe that my marriage is all due to the Lord. He is the one who has kept it together, strengthened it, and made it what it is today. For that, and for so much more, I give all the praise, glory, and thanksgiving to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I am not condemned

I have been enjoying our Sunday school lessons. Our ladies class has been studying from the book "Really Bad Girls of the Bible" by Liz Curtis Higgs. This last week we were reading about the woman taken in adultery that was brought before Jesus. (see John 8:1-11)
Not that I can identify with her, except for the fact that Jesus says to her in verse 11, "..., Neither do I condemn thee:..." I too am not condemned by the LORD. Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them whick are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
As a person who struggles with depression, it is easy for the mind to condemn myself. When I feel the worse, is when my stupid self talk says to me that I am no good, that I am a failure, that even God condemns me. But as a person who is saved and who has the Truth, I must constantly tell myself the truth in love. And the truth is God's Word. What a blessing to see that I am not condemned because I am in Christ Jesus. That is the Truth (no matter what I think!)