Love - Years in the Making

It seems a lifetime ago.  A product of the 80s, I dressed like an idiot, danced like a fool and sang like a sick moose.

Was the 80s good to anyone?  And that moose reference was for my fellow Canadians.

Anyway, despite all that, one of the prettiest girls in town was smitten by me and accepted my proposal of marriage.  We just celebrated 19 years this week.  It was a quiet, too-short celebration that, despite the absence of words, the quiet passing of this milestone in marriage spoke volumes.

It spoke of commitment.  Perfectly executed commitment?  Not at all.  Perfectly demonstrated commitment?  Well, you would not have thought so during some of the events of our marriage but looking at it today, the answer is an emphatic 'Yes'.  I say this only because what else could it be that would have taken us through the challenges of our marriage?  You take two imperfect, selfish people, throw them into an imperfect life together, add five children into the mix, shake them up with lots of trials and tribulations along the way (some of their own making, some forced upon them) and what do you get?  A perfect example of commitment.

It was a commitment to ourselves.  As selfish as it sounds, it's not a bad commitment to have.  After all, having gone through some of the trials and tribulations that we did, walking away just seemed too much like admitting personal failure.

It was a commitment to our marriage.  Despite the rough times, separation and divorce was simply not an option.  That's not to say that in the frailty of our minds it wasn't considered ..... after all, we aren't perfect.

It was a commitment to our children.  I'm the first to confess I'm not a perfect father.  In fact, I sometimes think the failure list is longer than the success one.  However, it never occurred to us to put our children into a situation that so many other children of our society have had to suffer through - the separation of their parents.

It was a commitment to the Lord.  Despite the tendency towards being selfish and self-serving, the Lord always remained a constant in our lives, personally and as a couple.  Having made our vows before Him, walking away from that just didn't sit well with either of us.

Finally, it was a commitment by the Lord.  We had some fun times.  Happy times.  Genuine "married couple" joyful times.  But it wasn't all fun and games.  It wasn't a bed of roses.  It wasn't a perpetual "Disney" experience of a beautiful, happy princess and the prince who loved her.  And at times it was down-right un-Christian-like.  But despite our failings, despite our human frailty (in fact, probably because of it), the Lord remained with us, steadying us when we needed steadying, lifting us when we had fallen, lighting the way when the path seemed so dark.

It was 19 years in the making.  Should the Lord tarry long enough, there will be another 19 years .... in the making.

It was, and is, and will be .... love.