Embrace Your Need For Safety
Yesterday my wife Amy & I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary.
Thinking back to when I asked Amy’s dad Ron for permission to marry his youngest daughter I can only imagine his thoughts. Having had three children already married lessened the shock, but it’s a huge risk to say “You have my blessing” to a relative stranger.
I never asked, but I imagine he must have though many things including:
“She’s our baby!?!”
Yes, Amy is their youngest child and a dearly beloved daughter. in fact, Amy’s name means “Beloved” and she is and was the beloved daughter of Ron & Rose Fayas.
“We barely know you.”
We’d only met a couple of times — we were going to school in Chicago, IL and they lived in Green Bay, WI. We talked a few times briefly over the phone, but that’s it.
How are you going to provide for her?
Or, more specifically, “You’ll have a college degree, but you don’t have a full-time job. How are you going to provide for her?” Right again, I wanted to permission to marry their daughter even though I only had two part-time jobs, no insurance and no specific plan for where we would live after we married.
And, I had the audacity to think that they would give me their blessing to marry their daughter?!?
And, what was Amy thinking?
I knew, and my friends all knew, that Amy was nicer, wiser, harder working, more responsible and better looking than I was. To this day I still don’t know what she was thinking she was going to get out of the deal.
Obviously with that list of attributes — I didn’t even mention her other attributes that were also on my mind — I knew that I was blessed with the undivided attention of an incredible young woman.
What was working?
I suppose the greatest asset I had is that I knew that God and I both loved Amy.
God knew Amy was pretty. God gave me some nice words to tell her so.
God taught Amy to value self-discipline and God knew I needed a lot of self-discipline. Again, God gave me some nice words to express how much that I admired Amy.
God also knew that Amy was a bit too serious for a twenty year old and that she needed to laugh. Even though my silliness and sense of humor made Amy feel VERY uncomfortable at times we laughed, a lot!
Today I’m trying to embrace my need for safety
Someday, probably sooner than later, my own kids — Shannon and Josh — will be in love and want to marry someone. When that day comes I hope that I will be as gracious as Ron and Rose were to me, and I hope that they will be as blessed and full of laughs as Amy and I have been.
Wise Words For A Happy Life
Look for positives in life. — “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” 1
Enjoy the blessings you have. — “All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” 2
Laugh with, not at, one another. — “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” 3
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