Eleven years ago today, my wife and I were married. On that day we
celebrated the grace of God in providing us to each other. Today, after
a decade + 1 of marriage, I am even more astounded at God's generosity
to me in her. Here are a few reasons why:
1.
Lory loves the grace of God. One thing I know for certain about my
wife: she has no confidence in herself, and gladly declares that her
salvation and her preservation, and every in between moment of loving
her husband and family is a testimony of God's grace.
2.
Lory is passionate about God's kingdom. Lory has crossed the country
with me three times, from Texas to Maryland to Arizona and back to
Texas. She does not consider this world her home, and she wants to
invest our family in eternity.
3. Lory is
committed to building God's church. She loves Biblical preaching,
energetic worship, Biblical community, hospitality, ministry times, and
testimonies of God using his people in the lives of one another.
4. Lory is a conduit of God's Word to me. She has spent 11 years bringing me Biblical truth--encouraging, challenging, envisioning, motivating, convicting, reminding truth--in which I hear the echoes of God's Word hidden in her heart and his voice calling me to honor Him with my life.
5. Lory is a fun wife. The Bible says that its possible for a wife to be like a"constant dripping"--so I am so grateful for how much fun Lory infuses into our marriage! She is funny and laughs hardest at herself; she notices the goofy moments that happen around us every day; she still loves watching Disney cartoons; she loves the childish sayings of our children; she celebrates the joy in the normal memories of being a family and being a couple.
6. Lory is a romantic wife. Lory has never been satisfied with seasons in which we are partnering in our home more than loving each other. She always notices when our attention has drifted to our responsibilities as parents and away from our affection as husband and wife. She loves little tokens of affection and big romantic surprises. She would gladly get away together for three days or spend a quiet evening at home when all the kids are asleep.
7. Lory is a transparent wife. She is determined to tell me her hopes and joys and struggles and needs and expects me to provide leadership and care and direction and protection. She knows that I will need God to be a faithful husband to all that she is, she counts on it, and holds nothing back.
8. Lory is an interesting wife. She loves history and horses and food and cinema and travel and exercise and conversation and parties and culture. My life could never be boring married to her!
9. Lory is a fantastic mother. She loves the kids, schedules the kids, reminds them, teaches them, trains them, corrects them, feeds them, cleans them, prays for them, envisions them, encourages them, plans for them, hopes for them, cries for them, warns them, waits for them, surprises them, comforts them, and faithfully releases them to the hand of the Lord.
10. Lory is my friend. In heaven, (don't quite know how to anticipate this yet), Lory and I will not be married, but she will always be my best friend. There is no one I would rather walk through this pilgrimage with than you, love.
11. Lory is patient with me. I'm putting this last, because as I look at the years of marriage ahead of us until death do us part, I am deeply aware of my need for God's patience to flow through her to me. I will sin, forget, be critical, be harsh, fail to love, fail to protect, fail to honor, neglect, again and again, despite my best intentions to do the opposite. I am so grateful that Lory is patient--that God's love is patient, and that Lory allows the patient love of God to flow from her to me.
To you my love, with all my gratefulness and affection. I love you.
