Tuesday, June 10, 2014

"I Do"- What 23 years of marriage has taught me..


" Dancing in the Mine Fields"

This morning  I awoke to a still small voice.. It was whispering, "Time doesn't heal all wounds.. Healing takes place in the overcoming." The voice continued with.." I will keep putting you in places where you experience the pains of past wounds over and over again until you realize that you are there for one reason.. It is so I can use your feet, Julie to overcome your enemy on his own territory. This is where you will always find healing.. in the taking back of stolen territory.. In the overcoming." 
This nugget of wisdom comes to me two days after my 23rd wedding anniversary. It reminded me of the song above.. "Dancing in the Mind Fields". The song tells "our story". We were way too young to be getting married.. but 23 years later I'm grateful for the vows we made to one another on that wedding day. I had no idea what I was committing to.. and boy am I glad for that.. As the song says above.. 

"Well, "I do" are the  two most famous last words, the beginning of the end. But to lose your life for another I've heard is a good place to begin. The only way to find your life is to lay your own life down. and I believe it's an easy price for the life that we have found. And we're dancing in the mind fields, we're sailing in the storms and this is harder than we dreamed but I believe that's what the promise is for." 


I've learned a lot over the past 23 years of Marriage. There are many treasures to find .. some about yourself .. some about your spouse.. but the greatest treasures I found were those about Jesus. It's because of the treasures I found in Jesus that I could see the real treasures in my marriage.. He has made all the difference in how we managed to come this far..We have truly learned how to dance in the mine field.. and that, I believe is what marriage is all about. 

Our marriage began with a promise.. to be with one another... through the good times and the bad times. I must say we've had our share of both. We have had so many good that I believe they overshadow the bad. Not sure how that works.. Only way that I can come to that conclusion is..it's because of our individual relationships with Jesus. We learned a hard lesson 10 years ago when our son went back home to Heaven..It was this..
We could not fix each other.. Jesus was the only One who could do that.. 
in other words.. as Husband and wife we individually had to look to Jesus for our healing.. not one another... We were gifts to one another .. a companion to dance with through the mine fields. When we learned to make the shift..to move one another off  "the throne" and allow Jesus to take His rightful place in our lives.. it took the pressure off .. It allowed for our healing. It really has made all the difference. 

Our life .. our marriage..with Jesus on the throne.. in His rightful place has proven the statics wrong. We were NOT a casualty of war.. we are still together..and stronger because of the battles. I believe this is because we understood that it was in the battles.. we would find our healing. It wasn't time that healed ..it was going to Jesus individually during the battle so we could help each other dance through the mine fields that the enemy had created for our demise.

Jesus healed us so we could be companions and comforters for one another.   
This is what marriage is for.. this is what it's about. We are helpers for one another.. We don't complete each other..we compliment one another.. Jesus is the only one who can complete us and make us whole. So, this brings me back to the whisper I heard this morning.. 

"Time doesn't heal all wounds.. Healing takes place in the overcoming." The voice continued with.." I will keep putting you in places where you experience the pains of past wounds over and over again until you realize that you are there for one reason.. It is so that I can use your feet, Julie to overcome your enemy on his own territory. This is where you will always find healing.. in the taking back of stolen territory.. In the overcoming." 

The Lord has given us so much healing in the overcoming of our earthly battles .. He has helped us recover and gain back stolen territory. What the enemy intended for bad .. Jesus has used for our good. The good began when I realized that the places of pain were places I would learn to overcome with Jesus.. They were not places of eternal punishment and sorrow.. but places where I would trade my ashes for His beauty and where He would  turn my mourning into dancing:)

I'm grateful to have this perspective today.. what a gift! We are the evidence of Gods goodness .. of His loving kindness here on earth. We are the living proof of how powerful His hope is.. it saved my life and our marriage. I'm glad I learned to dance through the mine fields... its been harder than I thought.. but the promise of healing kept us dancing in the right directions:)

Happy 23rd, Smith Peck.. You've been a wonderful dance partner:) Thanks for letting Jesus teach you some great dance moves:)







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