29 years ago today, I married my best friend.<\/p>\n
10 years ago today, I tried to leave my husband an anniversary gift.\u00a0 He did not accept it and left a note that he had contacted a lawyer and filed for divorce.<\/p>\n
In between those dates, we had two wonderful children who have grown to be fine adults.\u00a0 I experienced deep love and harmonious companionship.\u00a0 We became adults together.\u00a0 Because of that marriage, I got to live in Europe.\u00a0 Because of that marriage, I got my first job in a library.<\/p>\n
In recent years on this day, I’ve thought about all I have to be thankful for about that marriage.\u00a0 There was very much indeed.<\/p>\n
Today?\u00a0 I’m ready to move on, to celebrate the new beginnings that a wedding day represents.<\/p>\n
And I want to celebrate the many things I have to be thankful for about the divorce.<\/p>\n
If that friend no longer wants to be a friend to me, if he no longer wants to walk through life with me and no longer wants to have anything to do with God — I’m actually thankful that I get to choose a different path.\u00a0 (I tried so very hard to stay on the original path, but that was taken out of my hands.\u00a0 In the end, it’s something to be thankful for.)<\/p>\n
And the biggest thing I have to be thankful for?\u00a0 God has been faithful.\u00a0 I have learned new depths of the deep, deep love of Jesus.<\/p>\n
So — I am going to celebrate the anniversary of my first wedding day by going over the hymns we had the congregation sing.\u00a0 We had lots of music at our wedding.\u00a0 Now, what I remember most are the hymns we chose.\u00a0 In many, many ways, singing those hymns declared my intention for my life course as a young adult.\u00a0 Now I declare them again as my life intentions.<\/p>\n
First, Be Thou My Vision:<\/p>\n
Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of my heart;<\/p>\n
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art–<\/p>\n
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,<\/p>\n
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;<\/p>\n
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;<\/p>\n
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,<\/p>\n
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,<\/p>\n
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;<\/p>\n
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,<\/p>\n
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
High King of heaven, my victory won,<\/p>\n
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun!<\/p>\n
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,<\/p>\n
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
And whatever befall, God has been faithful.<\/p>\n
And His love is amazing.\u00a0 Next, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus:<\/p>\n
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,<\/p>\n
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!<\/p>\n
Rolling as a mighty ocean<\/p>\n
In its fullness over me,<\/p>\n
Underneath me, all around me,<\/p>\n
Is the current of Thy love;<\/p>\n
Leading onward, leading homeward<\/p>\n
To my glorious rest above.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,<\/p>\n
Spread His praise from shore to shore!<\/p>\n
How He loveth, ever loveth,<\/p>\n
Changeth never, nevermore;<\/p>\n
How He watches o’er His loved ones,<\/p>\n
Died to call them all His own;<\/p>\n
How for them He intercedeth,<\/p>\n
Watcheth o’er them from the throne.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,<\/p>\n
Love of every love the best;<\/p>\n
‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing,<\/p>\n
‘Tis a haven sweet of rest,<\/p>\n
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,<\/p>\n
‘Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;<\/p>\n
And it lifts me up to glory,<\/p>\n
For it lifts me up to Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
There’s a tension in thinking about my marriage.\u00a0 When I think about how good some times were, I get sad that they didn’t last.\u00a0 When I try to get rid of the sadness by\u00a0thinking about how horribly it ended, I get angry for how I was treated.<\/p>\n
What can I count on in the present?\u00a0 God’s love.<\/p>\n
When I sang this third hymn, Take My Life and Let It Be, I meant every word.\u00a0 I still do:<\/p>\n
Take my life and let it be<\/p>\n
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;<\/p>\n
Take my moments and my days —<\/p>\n
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,<\/p>\n
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Take my hands and let them move<\/p>\n
At the impulse of Thy love;<\/p>\n
Take my feet and let them be<\/p>\n
Swift and beautiful for Thee,<\/p>\n
Swift and beautiful for Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Take my voice and let me sing<\/p>\n
Always, only, for my King;<\/p>\n
Take my lips and let them be<\/p>\n
Filled with messages from Thee,<\/p>\n
Filled with messages from Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Take my silver and my gold —<\/p>\n
Not a mite would I withhold;<\/p>\n
Take my intellect and use<\/p>\n
Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose,<\/p>\n
Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Take my will and make it Thine —<\/p>\n
It shall be no longer mine;<\/p>\n
Take my heart — it is Thine own,<\/p>\n
It shall be Thy royal throne,<\/p>\n
It shall be Thy royal throne.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Take my love — my Lord, I pour<\/p>\n
At Thy feet its treasure store;<\/p>\n
Take myself — and I will be<\/p>\n
Ever, only, all for Thee,<\/p>\n
Ever, only, all for Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
On my wedding day, I offered my heart both to my husband and to God.\u00a0 Can I really complain that God took me up on that offer?<\/p>\n
He is faithful.\u00a0 He will continue to walk with me.<\/p>\n
O, the deep, deep love of Jesus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
29 years ago today, I married my best friend. 10 years ago today, I tried to leave my husband an anniversary gift.\u00a0 He did not accept it and left a note that he had contacted a lawyer and filed for divorce. In between those dates, we had two wonderful children who have grown to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}