May 28—It may not mean much on your calendar, but on mine it means romance—anticipation, a dress, maybe some heels, a bow tie for my husband, wine, a meal I don't have to cook, dishes I don't have to wash, and mostly, it means conversation, long and lingering.
Once upon a time, one May 28, my husband and I stood in front of our family and friends, our campus pastor, and God Himself to declare our undying love and faithfulness to one another. We were giddy. We were tearful. We were ready.
Fast-forward seventeen years and I'm not so sure we're ready. Life caves into our romance and our love and makes it look more like dishwater that needs to be emptied from the sink than it does a fresh garden of delight. I love my husband. He loves me. We need May 28 to remind us that something was fresh at one time, something made us forsake all else for this relationship God put before us, something made us say,
“I choose you, and you alone.”
But what do we do with the 364 days in between?
Matthew 6:25-26, as well as verse 34, reminds us:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? . . . Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Marriage is a giant vortex of daily. Daily getting out of bed to morning breath and deciding who is going to make the coffee, daily paying bills and cleaning up after one another, daily partnership and accountability, daily laughter and conversation, daily sin and forgiveness.
This is one reason we open our Bibles every day and not just once a year. We need a reminder in the daily of it all that He is faithful, without fail, every day. When we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, rather than the weaknesses of our spouse and our own inadequacies, He plants our feet and our marriage on firm soil.
We can also daily say, “I do”.
Heidi, will you have this man to be your wedded husband . . . will you love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health . . . David, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife . . . will you love, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health . . .
I do.
I will.
Let's do this.
God is faithful. He said “I do” to His Church on the cross and He says “I do” by leading and guiding us, caring for us every day, every hour, and every moment.
When I get up in the morning, in the midst of the daily, I can remind myself that His Holy Spirit works in me. I can verbalize this reminder by saying, “I do.”
I do . . . to love, even when I don't feel it.
I do . . . to honor, even when I like my way better.
I do . . . to keeping, in a world that so often throws relationships away so quickly.
Saying it aloud sounds cheesy, but try it with me.
I do . . . to washing
I do . . . to arguing
I do . . . to problem solving
I do . . . to confessing
I do . . . to forgiving
I do . . . today. Every day. 'Til death do us part.
Anniversary romance is great. It has its place. When May 28 comes, you can find my husband and me celebrating it up. But let each of us also tend to our marriages on this day with a hearty “I do!” Tomorrow, let's proclaim it again.
An “I do” for every day that God gives us.
