Happy Anniversary…to us!! Today marks the anniversary of being married to Marianne for 23 years! Today we were graciously given the gift by our daughters to be away together overnight for the first time in over 10 years. We went to the 9:30am service at church and then left for our getaway to the Salish Lodge which has been amazing! We had an 8:30pm couples massage and plan to sleep in tomorrow and finish it off with a dinner together at the Salish Lodge Dinning Room at 5:30pm Monday night. We will get home around 10pm.
We are so thankful for Bella and Sophie taking care of the Littles at home even though little Prim (6) is battling a nasty cold. We miss them though and even though this has been wonderful, we miss them all so much!
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
My quiet time is super short this evening but also very powerful…this passage so resonated with me lately…some things we have been walking through at home have been very trying and we have felt alone in certain ways. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is nothing compared to what Paul and his companions were dealing with as he talks about here. One of the things that Marianne have I have been resolved to is seeing that these trials we walk through ‘under the sun’ are opportunities to draw closer to the Lord Himself and rely on Him for the strength we need rather than what the world might call us to for ‘self-help’. That is precisely what Paul is saying as well! He saw these afflictions (even afflictions that cause despair of life itself) as a way to further rely on the God Who raises people from the dead, not themselves.
Application:
Right here on this getaway, Marianne and I have been talking about how we can take the journey we are on with leaning on God more and more for our trials and include others who might be going through similar circumstances and need prayer and support. God is working!!