Marriage Monday (day late)

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I know it isn't Monday but I missed particpating in Marriage Monday, which I have been looking forward to, because of unplanned circumstances and lack of time.

What has surprised you about your marriage?

Simply... God, the power of God. He definetly surprised us with His presence, His all consuming presence. And He still continues to surprise us day after day with His presence. A verse that is SO relevant for our marriage is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Yes, He knew the plans He had for us but we didn't!! I can definetly say with out a shadow of a doubt that His plans were far better than any we had. When we got married on October 6th 2000, we were not only naive but lost. We didn't know that Lord, we were 2 extremely selfish people coming from broken and very difficult pasts begining a life together that would in years to come surprise us. We lived together under the vows of marriage for 2 1/2 years before He began working in my heart... soon after I realized the need for Christ to reign in our marriage I began to pray over my husband. I had faith God was listening to me as I prayed night after night for Him to open his heart and save him. I was not prepared completely for how He was going to do this! About 1 year later God basically brought us both in one night to a place of brokeness that could only be repaired by Him, brought us both to our knees causing us to look up. It was in that time that the Lord opened the eyes of my husband's heart and revealed Himself to Him and it was powerful. A year later we together devoted our lives to Him in service by giving our lives to Him through ministry. Rick quit his GOOD job with lots of promises, sold our house, picked up and went to Seminary. A LOT of people thought we were crazy! Seriously crazy.

Our plans to live a happy self centered money satisfied life (if that is even possible) were completely thrown off track when Christ met us on our path to destruction, saving us from a wasted life of self glorification only leading to death. Oh Praise God for His mercy and grace, for His Son. If it had not been for the power of His grace in our lives we would with no doubts have been destroyed, just another failed marriage. Praise God for His amazing grace.

Oh, God I pray that you continue to reveal more and more of yourself to us. Let the power of Your glory reign in our marriage and consume us daily to serve you simply because You are worthy...

JOYfully in Him,