Tag Archives: God’s faithfulness

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Day by Day

Today Phil and I are celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary.

My overwhelming sense is thankfulness –

  • first to God for bringing us together (it is truly a God ordained match)
  • to our families for supporting us throughout our marriage
  • for our Christian friends who have set an example in their own marriages
  • and…held us accountable

It is a choice day by day to maintain a loving, supportive relationship in marriage. The vows we pledged on that cold wintery day, November 29th,1975 in Wheaton, Illinois were just empty words if we did not make the choice each day to live them out.

I was talking with a dear family friend on Thanksgiving who has been free from alcohol addiction for many years now. I asked him if it was still hard at times. He said “Gayle, I make the choice every day not to drink. Once I make that choice it is easy.”

I realized that is exactly what commitment in marriage should look like. Every day I make the choice to

  • love
  • honor
  • respect
  • forgive
  • be faithful to
  • and ENJOY my spouse.

In Ephesians 5: 31-32 Paul quotes from Genesis – the beginning of the Bible

31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

It is still a mystery to me after 48 years how God unites us into one. Anyone who knows Phil and I know how opposite we are in so many ways. Yet we are united in our desire to love one another and serve our Savior – Jesus Christ. That has been the day by day commitment that has held us together these many years.

Phil has been a wonderful, supportive husband and an outstanding father to Benjamin, Hannah, Salem, and Abigail. Our children are – and have been – a great source of joy in our lives. Now we are grandparents. How we love those grandchildren! Our family is far from perfect, we have disagreements, we argue, we see things differently. Yet we share a love for each other in spite of our shortcomings. I am so thankful for that.

Thank you, Phil, for your deep love and support low these 48 years! I am so blessed to be married to you.

May God bless us with many more years together. I love you.

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Steadfast Love

Each year, right around Mother’s Day, these rhododendron bushes along our driveway bloom in all their glory. This picture does not do justice to the magnificence of these flowers. Their size and abundance amaze me every year.

I can take no credit for them. The late Charles Mason gifted one of these rhododendron bushes to his lovely wife Peggy Queen Mason each year for Mother’s Day. They remain a living legacy of their family.

When we purchased our home in 2005 it was November. I thought it was nice that the driveway had these mature bushes along it and I was pleased that they were evergreen.

Then, the following spring, the week of Mother’s Day, they burst forth in glorious purple. How pleased we were! And they faithfully bloom each year. Unlike my hydrangeas, which got frozen in March, these mature plants withstand the uncertainties of weather and steadfastly bloom each year.

This is a lovely reminder of the faithful love of God for his children.

  • it will show up in surprising ways
  • it is steadfast, reliable
  • it is not dependent on circumstances
  • it is unconditional

The comparison is not perfect. A large white pine tree fell on one bush last year and took it out. Fortunately, a new shoot is growing from the roots. These bushes won’t live forever – God’s love will – it is eternal, steadfast.

Lamentations 3:22-24 says

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
    therefore, I will hope in him!”

In My Garden with God

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A Legacy Lives On

It has been a year since my Mother passed on to her eternal reward. As others who have experienced this loss, you know how you miss your mother every day. So many thoughts pass through my mind, and an instant response is “oh, I need to tell Mother”. I see something and I think, “oh, Mother would like that.”

Yet I am so thankful for all the wonderful memories I have and treasure. Esther Barker lived 90 blessed years!

Mother loved Bible study. While visiting our daughter Hannah recently, I started working on my study of Hebrews while I was waiting for the rest of the children to wake up. Our granddaughter, Adella, asked me what I was doing and when I told her, she went and got her Bible and said she would help me. She certainly did! After looking up a passage and reading the question, Adella came up with very good answers.

I noticed Adella had highlighted verses and I asked her about that.

“Mom said I couldn’t underline in my Bible any more so she gave me a highlighter to use instead.”

After seeing where Adella had underlined, I understood my daughter’s concern. (she had drawn lines right through the words instead of UNDER the words) Adella showed me her favorite verse in Psalms and I showed her my favorite verse, Romans 12:2.

I had forgotten my Bible in the car, so I found Hannah’s old Bible. She had used this Bible while in college and she had written many notes and underlined verses special to her.

So, the legacy Mother left of Bible study and loving God’s Word is living on in myself, our three daughters (who all attend Bible studies) and on to the next generation as well.

Psalm 119 states –

73 You made me; you created me.
    Now give me the sense to follow your commands.
74 May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy,
    for I have put my hope in your word.

103 How sweet your words taste to me;
    they are sweeter than honey.
104 Your commandments give me understanding;
    no wonder I hate every false way of life.

105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path.

We are blessed!