As the last blog notes (and depicts), Kristin and I just returned from a PHENOMENAL vacation! 8 days on the road took us on a 56 hr, 3488.5 mi trip through North Carolina, and ultimately down to Fort Myers Beach, FL. We were blessed with the opportunity to see wonderful friends and family, to see breathtaking views, and to enjoy a combination of snowy mountains and sunny beaches in one fail swoop! One of the first of what I hope to be many opportunities to see the country (and ultimately the world) together in a life promising to be full of happiness with Kristin by my side. But as amazing as that trip was--the skiing, the sightseeing, the jet skiing in the ocean, etc--it is not necessarily those experiences that make me realize how lucky I am to be readying myself for our future together. In fact, it's the everyday gestures--the reminders in every form.
For example, I always give Kristin a hard time (jokingly, most often) when she cleans, because I sometimes find it humorous or odd that she seems to choose the most random moments in time to do so. Like last night, for instance, after a day so long that we both found ourselves napping at some point during the time we spent together (on one of the only 3 nights each week we actually get to see each other), when I woke from a nap to Kristin vehemently vacuuming the entirety of her apartment. She then took the opportunity to clean the kitchen. All of this the week following our AMAZING vacation that drained us beyond belief! Here I am--still exhausted, and now thrown back into the reality of life that engulfs me with challenges stemming from homework, studying, preparation for my 2 small group Bible studies each week, church, work, etc--fighting any opportunity to procrastinate, while for Kristin procrastination is not an option.
Instead, she has used this week to cook on several occasions, as well as clean her apartment to a point of being arguably immaculate! But out of humbleness (or exhaustion--though most likely humbleness), I notice she has not mentioned any of those incredible meals on here. So, I simply wanted to point out that I have enjoyed some of the most amazing food this week, and this is no deviation from the normal. Buffalo wings and beef stew...amazing! I am blessed to have a woman in my life who is capable of not only cooking, but doing so well, and who strives to maintain a perfectly clean apartment, all without complaint!
Oh yeah, and Tuesday night when I begged her to indulge me in tagging along to take advantage of the wind gusts in North Texas by going with me to the large field in front of our church to fly the kite, she obliged. We packed up Skipper and enjoyed an hour of outdoors entertainment at the expense of the wind and a very nice kite we invested very little in. Despite being ready to leave long before I was, she continued to allow the kid in me to enjoy the moment!
When I negligently avoided using sun screen on our FIRST day at the beach and ended up looking like a lobster in SERIOUS pain, Kristin lovingly applied aloe vera and lotion, knowing it hurt me too badly to try and do it myself.
I am a lucky, lucky man!! But all of this seems trivial when compared to the realization that she agreed to marry me...again. By accepting my proposal again and putting her ring back on, I'm reminded that through it all, the good times and bad, the trials and tribulations of our future are nothing compared to the joy we will see through the Lord our God so long as we keep Him in balance in our relationship. After all, James 1:2-4 says "...count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." I see no reason to think that this passage can't be applicable within the confines of a Christ-centered marriage as well (especially since a marriage made whole in God is like a single entity).
And thanks to Aaron Lipman (our wonderful new youth pastor), I have been challenged to ponder the following. While we all have heard that wives are called to "...submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22), how often do we explore the concept behind that which follows? "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her...So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself" (Ephesians 5:25, 28). Aaron challenged me to consider these verses in depth. To explore what it means to love your wife in terms of how "Christ...loved the church and gave himself for her," and try to apply that in marriage. So the questions for us husbands, I think, are then along these lines: Am I willing to sacrifice everything--and I mean EVERYTHING--for the safety, security, and well-being of my wife? Am I willing to give my life, if need be, so that my wife can live? Will I always love my wife in the purest, most self-sacrificial way, and then act on that? It's easier to say yes, I believe, than to do yes, but I suppose that's where faith comes in. After all, it is by faith we have been justified. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, " Romans 5:1-2. I have faith in Christ, and through Christ I am confident that I will always strive, so long as my marriage is Christ-centered, to be the best husband I can be, and in doing so that I might never hesitate to love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. And may it be so that in loving her in this way we might experience a wonderful, loving, peace-filled marriage!
Thank you for all the great times so far Kristin...I look forward to many more years of those to come! I love you!
Until the next time...
Kelby
