This past weekend my wife and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We had an amazing time spending all weekend together, which works out great cause we get along pretty well.
In thinking about the 12 years I was so amazed by God’s goodness and grace in our lives.
It was 1995 when, by God’s grace alone, this little skinny, punk, hip-hop, rebellious, New England pagan pulled up the upset of eternity in landing the hand of a sweet, beautiful, kind, self-less, southern bell from Memphis (who incidentally was equally pagan, she just smiled a little more and was a bit more subdued).
Since that time we have worn many hats together. We have joined hands in the war against God as sinners who neither valued Christ nor the Law of God. We have also worked together in the military as intelligence specialists. We have had six children together, and also lost two of them before their birth. We are raising four wonderful children together now; Bryce 11, Luke 7, Alaynah 5, & Alexis 2.
We both were miraculously converted by God’s abundant grace. We became baptist legalists, Arminians, then evangelical mystics (we thought God led us there). I worked in insurance while Christie began home-schooling our children and blossoming into a beautiful woman of God. We then were grown together in the word, even embracing the sovereignty of God and reformed theology. I later became a pastor (’05) and Christie a wonderful helpmate and encourager in ministry.
In so many ways we both, having come from such diverse backgrounds, have grown up together here in Omaha. We spent hours together this weekend just taking pictures in Omaha with Christie’s new Nikon D-40. It was so fun.
Omaha is great. For it is here that God has given us a truly gracious gift in our church family with such encouragement and God-centered motivation towards holiness and service.
I cannot describe in words the phenomenon that has taken place over these years. And I do not believe that anyone who does not know Jesus Christ can relate. For what I have seen is truly flowing from his own reservoir of grace, love and mercy. I have watched the most beautiful woman I have ever seen become evermore beautiful. This beauty is not primarily outward though she is beautiful, but it is the beauty that is the inward transformation of a woman that brings outward manifestations of grace that shows itself beautiful in her further conformity to the image of Jesus.
Christie is beautiful in her steady resolve to magnify her savior; through her selfless love of others, her zealous promotion and defense of truth, her unconditional love for me, her consistency in the discipline and love of our four children, her service in the body of Christ, her steady and unflinching support of me in ministry, and her heaven wrought joy throughout all of this.
I am truly thankful for my beautiful Christie. She is a persistent epistle of grace to me. God’s faithfulness in her makes me worship him. Frankly, I do not fully understand grace. But this I do understand, it humbles me and makes me worship him with thankfulness. I do understand the response: worship.
