What a sweet word God gave me at the start of 2024. The start of our thirty-fifth year of marriage. A year of many blessings, but challenges, too. I’m not sure I was even looking for a word, but I knew it as soon as God whispered:
A year of together.
Together, praying.
Together, asking questions.
Together, seeking the Holy Spirit.
How many times this year did I return to this word when I felt perplexed? When I lacked a clear path? When I didn’t know what else to do?
A cord of three strands is not easily broken. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Husband, wife and Triune God.
TOGETHER.
I would follow you to the moon and back.
You said this to me not long ago. And I wondered about your meaning.
Where do you suppose the moon will take us??
Together we have grappled over questions of work and vocation. I suppose this is normal for people in our season. You’ve been doing the same work longer than we’ve been married. Amazing. So much provision. Such dedication. Self sacrifice. You have never been one to shirk from work.
I find myself at a place of feeling ready. Ready for what? I carry my basket of talent and treasure, and ask—what’s next?
Together. We ask. We seek. We knock.
You tell me: I’ll follow you to the moon.
We are Papi and Nana. All these years of family and there’s always more. Impossible to keep a current portrait. Impossible to freeze the moments. It makes me think of a song:
If I wished myself a superpower
I would make this moment last for hours
If I had my will, time would just stand still
Wait for me until I find some magic film
To take a photograph and live inside…*
Yes, our together does mean more than just me and you. Sixteen of us, when last I counted. And that doesn’t include counting up, and out. Of all the things I’ve questioned this year… I’ve never questioned God’s gift of family.
I look out my library window at a snow dusted woodland. Brilliant sun reflecting blue on frozen water. Birds and squirrels flitting here and there, oblivious to subzero temperatures. Oh my goodness. We do live in a portrait.
This home. The one we dreamed and built together. Our place of rest, retreat, and healing. God has strengthened us here. And yet. We do what we’ve done so many times in seasons past. Open hands. Hearts surrendered. Knowing it’s not our final destination. We give it back.
Thirty-five years we’ve been together. Will we be together thirty-five more? Sounds crazy, but not impossible. Not even beyond the realm of possibility.
What in the world would that be like?
Time is the strangest thing.
If possible, I will hold this year in my memory forever. I will remember our photo on the bedroom dresser. I’ll remember the chair by the picture window, where we clung to each other in prayer. I’ll remember you holding me tight, saying you’ll have my back. Forever.
And I will remember this, too. The feel of your embrace as I hear those same words, spoken by my Father. I will never leave you or abandon you. (Hebrews 13:5)
We are in Him and He is in us and it doesn’t end here.
To the moon and back.
Together.
Here’s to 35 years. I love you.
Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 16:5-6
*Song lyrics from Photograph by Cody Fry