Firstly, let's get this in perspective ... Andrew has only recently been made redundant from dishwashing after a career spanning some 27 years. When we got married, I mentioned that I had watched my father wash the dishes every day of his life so I presumed that was what men did. He 'happily' took up the mantle. One thing Andrew and I have done well in our marriage is to share household chores. There has never been an argument about who does what, so this is definitely not a rant about a lazy husband. It was more of a reminder from above that I was designed to be Andrew's helper not vice versa and left me wondering how helpful I have been to him.
Genesis 2:18 "I will make a helper who is just right for him." The Lord has chosen me to help Andrew and I am 'just right'.
Then I remembered this project that I started two years ago ... "My Mission" I called it. Just like all my Faithbooking projects,
it was God's idea. As I read through the Bible each day I would look for scriptures that related to marriage, love, etc and journal about them. The Lord took me on the most amazing journey as He spoke into marriage in general and my marriage in particular.
The plan was to spend the year 'renewing my mind with the scriptures re marriage'. Just like Genesis I also had to go back to the beginning ...
'I will go out with him one day'. My response ... 'Lord, if that is you, you'll have to send him to me because I'm not even going to talk to him!'
I had already mistaken someone I met interstate as being the one God had sent, so I was not going to fall into that trap again! But there was no escaping Andrew. He had become a Christian a few months after I had and he was literally everywhere I went ... barbeques, New Christians Class, New Friends Dinner and even washing dishes at the Ladies Breakfast! When he asked me out, I was four months pregnant! Now that had to be God!
When our pastor asked Andrew's small group leader what was happening with us, she told him 'The bigger she gets, the more he loves her!' And so the promise God had given me (before Andrew even asked me out) came to pass ... that Andrew would be at the hospital when I gave birth. He waited outside the ward for hours and was the first to see Zach, even before I did.
Looking back ... I was probably in no emotional state to accept a marriage proposal. I would get up at night to feed Zach and my head would spin with the trauma of all I had been through with his father.
But I was so sure the Lord had brought us together and it was all very exciting ... I was getting married!!
As part of 'My Mission' the Lord took me back in time. I would read back over old journal entries and I watched our wedding video ... what a beautiful ceremony! I had walked down the aisle to the song 'Majesty'. We praised God and glorified Him. Pastor Barry's message was beautiful. Everything was just perfect! One of the things he said was that marriage was not so much finding the right person, but being the right person for the person you marry.
The day I was working on this layout, I came across a letter written by a friend of Andrew's. I had forgotten all about it, but the Lord hadn't. It fell out of a pile of journals ... on just the right day ... 25 years later! I told you it was an amazing journey!
Reading Maree's words that day and watching our video reminded me that our union certainly was God's plan and He was now setting a foundation on which He would build over the next few months. He was about to give me understanding of things that had caused me grief for many years. The healing process had begun!