One True Love

I have been married for 37 years. We’ve had years when our relationship was just beginning: starting a family, struggling to build a business, and growing up ourselves. Then there were the hard years. Years when needs didn’t get met and disillusionment set in. Years when the word “divorce” was seriously considered, and then there were the building years. Finances stabilized and kids left the nest. Times where we saw each other as partners. We’d weathered the storms together. Now we’re in the golden years. We truly cherish each other and the history we share.

I’ve learned a lot from my marriage. I’ve learned that love isn’t the beginning or the end. It’s in the process. It’s good times, bad times, and everything in between. That a real relationship changes over time. It deepens. It can bring out the best showing that the worst doesn’t define a relationship.

Relationships aren’t all rainbows and roses. Sometimes they’re torrential rainstorms and thorns. But if it’s a good relationship, the good days outnumber the bad and the bad days teach you perspective.  You learn that God may be perfect, but His children are not. And you learn that you don’t have to be perfect to be loved. You can show love even when you don’t want to, even when the other person doesn’t deserve it.

Don’t worry about me. Don’t feel sorry for me. God has blessed me through my spouse, and my spouse has taught me trust. Trust in her, trust in hope, trust in God. I trust that I will be taken care of. I trust that I can be myself, that I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. I trust that the struggles in my life will fade. Maybe not in this world, but I can look beyond the present moment to an eternal future. I can trust God’s promises because He’s already given me the best. My wife is my world, and all is right with my world.

Photo by Dương Trần Quốc on Unsplash