marriage

Hang on to your hat
as time rushes by.
The days crawl along
but the years, they do fly.
A long time ago,
seems like just yesterday.
We stood in a church
and “I do”, we did say.

We had each other,
what more could we ask.
At that moment in time,
there was no greater task.
But what did we know,
could we see ahead?
To the days filled with joy,
and the ones filled with dread?

We pinched every nickel,
and squeezed every dime.
As we started our life
with a steep uphill climb.
But climb it we did,
and continue to do.
Until we reach the top,
for a heavenly view.

There are things we did wrong,
and a few we did right.
But when God looks at us,
I hope He’s pleased with the sight.
The future’s not promised,
though we plan and we dream.
And nothing can stop us
when we work as a team.

The hurdles behind us
are more than a few.
Sometimes we tripped over them,
sometimes barreled through.
I would guess they’re not over,
there are more up ahead.
But we’ll face them together,
because that’s what we said!

Promises don’t always mean a lot to many people in our world today, so some find it remarkable that any marriage lasts for very long — or the ones that do, must have somehow been easy and avoided all the difficulties that can make marriage hard. As I think this week about being married and muddling my way through so many difficult circumstances, this poem showed up in my mind as a reminder that we got through those circumstances together as we both honored our commitment to God and to what we said, “I do” — no “I might” or “I’ll think about it” or “I’ll try”, just a simple but profound “I Do!”. So, as the 36th anniversary of our wedding day approaches, Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!

In prayer,
Tom