“For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him, from generation to generation.” - Luke 1:49-50
Grandma Colleen sent these verses to me in a letter during the first days of my courtship with Nathan. This beautiful song of praise, composed by Mary, has echoed in my heart through the past months like a beautiful broken record . . . I can't do anything else but lift my hands in thankfulness and praise to the One who has done great things for me, an unworthy servant.
“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgements are a great deep . . . How precious is Your lovingkindness O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.” -Psalm 36:5-7
Please forgive the recent silence of the blog. Frankly, my heart has been too full to blog. :-) In the past months, God has led me to the man I have been praying for since girlhood. This man is heaven bound, a pilgrim on the earth. He is a man who loves Christ and His Gospel with an intensity that overflows. He is a man who stands forgiven, regenerated by God’s grace and mercy. He is a warrior for truth, active in the battle to spread and preserve Christ’s gospel. A man with compassion for the lost and a love for the unlovely. God surprised me by gradually winding my path closer and closer to his until soon, they will merge as one road, leading both of us, hand in hand, to heaven. We are engaged as of June 9th and look forward to a wedding in October!
“Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:1
I can’t wait to run this race with Nathan, confident in this promise: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” -Psalm 37 23-24
Sometimes when I pause, take my eyes off Christ, and look towards a veiled future that will probably hold many challenges and difficult experiences to walk through, I begin to fear, knowing my own sinful flesh and weaknesses. But as Paul wrote, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” -Hebrews 10:23. Those fears I have are doubting God’s faithfulness and ability to preserve and finish the work He has begun.
As those wiser and more mature than I have reminded me, it is the Gospel that makes two people able to become as one in every way that God intended, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It is the Gospel that cleanses us of our selfishness and sin, enabling us to love and serve each other with the love of Christ, which then leads to an intimacy deep and precious, the kind of intimacy God intended between a man and his bride. Knowing this, I am filled with hope and joyful expectancy. For it is not in my own strength but in God’s that I can rely. With this hope in our hearts, we can walk confidently together towards the heavenly lands, not blind to the realities, or dangers that we will encounter, but steadfast, relying with unshakeable trust, on the mercy of God.
Thank-you to you, my precious friends and family for all your love and support during this amazing season of my life. Come praise the Lord with me!
When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. -C.S. Lewis
What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life - to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting? -George Eliot Adam Bede
In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic, a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts, an enabler rather than a reformer.
-- H. Norman Wright and Gary J. Oliver
