My Anniversary

Ok, so it isn't just MY anniversary.  It is also my husband's anniversary, or it was on Tuesday, June 29.  We've been married for a long time so we're told.  I don't know where the time went. We have been married 31 years. We have 2 sons, 2 daughters -in-law and 1 grandson.  We have lived in the same house for about 4 months shy of 27 years.  I live 2 blocks from where I grew up. One might think I'm not big on changing things.

That isn't exactly true.  I believe in changing things that need to or should be changed. I believed that children should go off to college, and later that they should move out on their own when it was time - those were changes.  Changing ones taste in music, food, clothing is always a growing change.

Several years ago, the place where I worked needed to a "step change" meaning that they needed to change things radically enough that there would be a BIG, evident change, a change our customers would recognize. I was part of the team that worked to implement that changes.  Those changes were good. One person who had been with the company a long time and even moved 3-hours-drive south when the plant relocated, couldn't take this change though. I thought it was funny because at least we didn't move the bathrooms.  The vending machines were in the same places. The same people were still there and some still in the same jobs.  The parking lot and the sign out front were the same. But this person didn't like the change to the new way of doing things so he quit for a really radical change at a new place.

I change myself when I implement things I've read in the Bible. I change the color of the walls every so often - ok, my husband actually does the painting but I help pick the colors! I change clothes.  I change cars.  I change my mind.

So I do like and participate in change. But I do not believe in changing husbands or changing from being married to being divorced. I know I can't compare my situation with other peoples' situations. I have heard people who ditch their spouses for what seems to me to be inconsequential reasons. Even if you don't have butterflies when you hear his/her voice, or if little things bother you that didn't used to, or you are unhappy with yourself so you want out, you married your spouse for a reason. Presumably that reason was love. If you loved him or her before, you can love him/her again.  If you look for the good, instead of thinking of everything bad, or irritating, you might decide that what you have is what you really need.  At least you know where he/she throws his dirty clothes, which meal he/she prefers, which restaurant he/she won't go to.  There is a lot that won't change if you stay with and love your spouse.  And sometimes that is exactly what you need. It's like the old saying, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Get rid of the bad parts and keep the good parts. That might mean overlooking the "bad" stuff and actively searching for the good stuff.

But what do I know?  I've only been married 31 years.  I can honestly say that I am a better person than I would have been without my husband. Thank you, Tim.

Thank you, Dear Father, for a wonderful husband and marriage.  I thank You for choosing Tim for me and me for Tim. In those time when we bother each other or are not as caring as we should be to each other, please remind us that You put us together. Amen.