Today is not the first day of Advent in church terms; it started this past Sunday there. But in a December-countdown sort of way, and in the daily readings of the book I wrote several years ago, this is the beginning of Advent. On that first day, I wrote about Mary and spent some time imagining all that would be asked of her that she did not know the day she found out she was to be Jesus' mother - or even the day He was born.
And while I don't ever suppose that I should compare myself to Mary, I hope you'll stick with me for today's analogy.
Tomorrow marks our 9th wedding anniversary, and we are excited to celebrate, of course, because we love celebrating EVERYTHING! But as we prepare for tomorrow, I'm remembering nine years ago today. It was quite a day...driving all night, long traffic jam, feeling super sick from all the weird sleep and fast food. But I didn't really care about any of it, because I was just ready to marry Ryan. I was ready to be his wife, ready to begin this new life we'd dreamt about, ready to see if marriage was really as wonderful as I hoped it would be.
It definitely has been.
But there was so much that day I didn't know. There were so many hard life moments ahead of us that I never could have fathomed. There were losses that would crash over us. There would be changes we couldn't anticipate. There would be adventures I know I never could have imagined.
We never could have known that inside of 9 years, we'd have said goodbye to two of our six parents, moved to our third city as a married couple, own an RV, and work together in ministry? We never even could have known that I'd leave radio and Ryan would leave physical therapy.
But on that day on the beach, when we said our vows, we welcomed that unknown completely. And if I could rewind and redo, I'd not change a thing. I'd welcome every bit of the unknown. While I can't ask Mary the same thing, I have a gut feeling she would have the same answer. She would still have said yes.
I am grateful Mary said yes to the Lord's assignment for her. I am grateful I said yes to Ryan. I am grateful to have had someone to walk through all those unknowns with. I am grateful for this life we share.
As you begin this December, I encourage you to keep your heart open to what the Lord has for you - unknowns and al!
3 comments:
As a planner and someone who likes to be in control, I find unknowns are scary and stressful. Thank you for reminding me that they can be beautiful and amazing too.
What a beautiful message!!
Happy Anniversary!! You two have had quite the journey. I’m so thankful that God doesn’t lay all of His plans out for us, but little by little He reveals the future. He knows how much our finite minds can handle. Hope you had fun celebrating!!
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