2nd Chances...



 

Today my wife, Cathie, and I celebrated the 40^th anniversary of our reunion, our 2^nd chance at marriage, after 9 months of legal separation that ended March 31^st, 1974.  We paused to humbly remember, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and celebrate a meal with our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren.  It is often easier to believe in 2^nd chances for others than it is for yourself, certainly that was the way it was for me back then.  While today we serve a God of 2^nd chances, until it is personally experienced in the arena of life, the appreciation and understanding of what forgiveness and redemption means in a life, a marriage, a family, can be lost.  With God’s intervention in my life, our lives, some solid Baptist marriage counseling, encouragement from my father, and my friend, Ted Shown, my wife and I journeyed through a horribly dark and emotionally wrenching time to get to a point to be able to start our marriage again.  A ‘do-over’ where the awareness of what was almost lost was keenly felt and acknowledged, as if we could actually peer over the edge of the precipice into which we almost fell.

 

I say this to encourage you, to always be asking God “what am I to be learning from this experience?”  It could be most anything…. life, marriage, work, children.  As it’s said, God never wastes a hurt.  I believe that all life experiences are to mature us spiritually. 

Thank you Jesus, my Lord, for what you did, are doing, and will do in my, and our, life.  I humbly acknowledge that You redeemed my marriage, and I am deeply grateful.  Please keep the experience fresh and in the forefront of my awareness all the days of my life.  You are an Awesome God!