2nd Chances....

Today my wife, Cathie, and I celebrated the 40th anniversary of our reunion, our 2nd chance at marriage, after 9 months of legal separation that ended March 31st, 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 2nd 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 2nd 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!