Friday, August 08, 2008

An early anniversary celebration

One's anniversary celebrations get a little unusual the longer one is married. At least, that is the way it has been in our house. Sunday will be our 34th anniversary, which is rather odd since my sister recently convinced me (on my birthday) that I had just turned 29 again. Hmmm... I was a child bride... or almost. :)

A very dear family sent us a financial gift recently, which enabled us to stock up the pantry again and get caught up on a couple of utility bills. We also used part of the gift to go out to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel this morning for an early anniversary... uh... dinner... no, breakfast! I love eating breakfast out and this is one of my favorite places to enjoy. It didn't let me down!

Since we were in that part of the county, we stopped at a Meijer's and the Super Target to take advantage of a few sales. How good it feels to have the pantry restocked and a few more items in the freezer. God (through various friends in the last six weeks or so) has definitely met our every need and even desires as birthday gifts were everything I would enjoy.... books, magazines, china, and even a few trips to Starbucks. Not to mention the goodie bag (box) I received from my daughter full of delightful items. Sigh... it doesn't get any better than that. :)

Thirty-four years? When did that happen. It hasn't been easy and there were at least two times I had my suitcases packed. When my husband was going through all the doctor's visits to go on Disability, they didn't know what to do with a married couple. Honest. It seems they had not had anyone with such severe Bipolar symptoms who was still married (the root of my husband's illness are the terrible environmental allergies but many of the symptoms come through as Bipolar).

How did we do it? Jesus is real and His love endureth forever. I still remember about twenty years ago (more or less) telling Him that if He wanted me to stay in this marriage, He had to love my husband through me. Hubby was not a pleasant person to be around. I never knew what to expect from one day to another... or one minute to another. God did answer that prayer and gave me the grace and the love to go on.

As I told a friend who was going through marriage troubles, I knew my husband was my main ministry. Living with someone who can become not only depressed but suicidal is possible only when God is in the middle of that relationship... a strand of three is not easily broken. God is good.

How much I would have missed if I would have given up back then. We would never have had Christopher for one thing. Speaking of which, I miss my boy. He's having a wonderful time and mentioned something about how much he loves the architecture in Baltimore and that he was buying a sword. Hmmm... did I hear that right?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brenda,

Well, Happy Anniversary! My husband and I will be celebrating our 17th on Monday. I'll be praying the Lord continues to bless your marriage. Sounds like you've both been through a lot. But like the young oak story, the stronger the storms, the stonger the tree, or the marriage :-).

Anonymous said...

I'll add to the celebration list. My husband and I will celebrate 33 years tomorrow (Aug. 9).
I'm glad you're feeling better, Brenda. I do enjoy reading your posts as often as possible!

Rita said...

It is so good to hear that you ladies are with the man you married. I would have been married over 30 years by now but my husband left us. I thought I'd tried everything possible to make it work. He was emotionally abusive but still I miss him and his sometimes kind and funny ways. He had a lot of money I did not know about and did not want to ever share it so he worked on me for more than 10 years to get me to leave. I wonder if he is happy without his true family? The ones who would have loved him and stuck by him no matter what. Well...on to other things. I can be happy for you and look forward to a good future for me. I know God will bless me too.

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby! What an amazing testimony you have.

Becky K. said...

Happy Anniversary!

God is good...all the time. Whether we see it or not.

It is great to hear that HE has sustained your marriage through the really rough times.

Becky K.

DebD said...

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for your honest post, it was very encouraging to me. We'll celebrate 23 years in Oct. and yes, its been very bumpy at times. Nice to know I'm not alone.

Tracy said...

Happy Anniversary, Brenda! DH & I just celebrated our 16th at the end of June. :)

flmom said...

Happy Anniversary! We received a monetary blessing recently so I know the wonderful joy it brings!!!

~~Deby said...

What a testimony...
Praise the Lord for marriages that endure and for HIS strength in those hard times..
Happy Anniversary !!!!
~~Deby

Adrienne said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your dear hubby! May the Lord bless you with many more.
~Adrienne~

Vee said...

A belated Happy Anniversary to you and your beloved!

So many women and men would do well to recognize that their "ministry" is to their spouses. What a concept, Brenda!