Our Love Story

This Valentine's Day finds us telling our story...again. Ours is a story of young love, love lost, and love renewed. It's the kind of story:

for its beauty we can take no credit...it came from ashes and scars.

that scares people who can't identify.

that God uses to bring healing to people who can relate. 

we used to be afraid to tell. 

that only God can use to bring glory to Himself.

As we told our story again this past weekend, we shared the beauty of it. We found ourselves smiling and laughing while we told how God took our hurt and replaced it with hope. There was a time when we thought we might never know these days...days of grace and peace.

If we could rewrite the tragedy of our lives, I'm not sure we would. If we couldn't have known this beauty without the tragedy, then I'm not sure we would change anything. Redemption has changed us and our marriage; I can't imagine going back to the way things were before.

We've traded:

bitterness for peace

cutting words for gentle speech

limitations for unconditional love

lies for truth

selfishness for thoughtfulness

I won't pretend that every day is roses and chocolates. Some days are difficult just because life is hard. Many days we are not at our bests. And occasionally we momentarily take back the things we've traded, and the old us will emerge. But we've learned to recognize those days, those moments, and remember the valley we've travelled together...the valley out of which God has led us. And we are thankful...for one another, and for our love story.