Happy 15th Anniversary babe!
Yes, today (Thursday, June 18th), as I write this, we are ready to celebrate 15 years of marriage. The 8 years of wedded bliss thing…just a joke. Not sure there has been that many! Just joking…again. The fact is: we have gotten over trying to pretend that marriage is easy, or that even a marriage between committed Christians, or even one of a pastor and his wife, is somehow a smooth journey, with no speed bumps or potholes.
In reality, Teresa and I have experienced some pretty drastic up and downs and curves, roller coaster types of experiences, over these 15 years. By God’s grace, we are still wholeheartedly committed to one another. As a child of God, I am constantly battling with my old nature and losing the battle pretty often. And unfortunately, one of the people who takes the constant brunt of my sins, is my wonderful wife, Teresa…bummer for her!
It is not that I want to sin against her, but that I am a sinner, saved by grace, but still struggling. Until I go home to be with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this will be the reality. It is not an excuse for my sins, but a biblical explanation for them. And for me, as a Christian and pastor, I put my hope in the fact that God’s Word is true, and that it is this way, regardless of my human efforts to be the perfect husband.
Enough for the dim reality. Let me say, to all 3 of you who read this blog…Teresa is the greatest, most beautiful, most awesome woman in the world (sorry mom)! Yes, I can get frustrated with her (only 3 or 4 or 20 times a day-my problem, not hers), but I wouldn’t trade her for anything or anyone. She is the incredible gift of God, just to me, and no one else. Although I don’t always express this to her very well, she is, outside of salvation, God’s greatest gift to me.
She is my one and only lover, a great mom to our 5 children, and my best friend. She is my wife, and over these 15 years, has been growing, in God’s grace, to be more godly and beautiful, than she was when I first met her in 1986 and got to know her in 1990. We went on our first date on April 23rd of 1992, were engaged on September 25th of 1993; and were married June 18, 1994.
We have had some incredibly blessed experiences together over these 15 years. We have lived in Connecticut, Florida, Iowa and, now, Ohio. We have been pastor and wife in each of those States, and have greatly enjoyed our ministry experiences. Even the very difficult ones have had an incredible impact on our spiritual growth and bond in marriage. We are praying that this present ministry at Grace Baptist Church in Westlake, Ohio, will be our last one, meaning that we would serve for many, many years to come. We love Ohio, but are especially grateful for the people we know as our church family.
God has blessed us with 5 amazing children, and has given us the challenging privilege of bringing them up in God’s ways. We fail all the time, but at least we are failing and trying and praying, together. We know we will never be rich, in our line of work, but we are already incredibly rich in more important ways. Teresa has never been led by God to be a career woman, or to make more money so that our standard of living can be higher. Her greatest desire is to support me, to help raise our children, and to use our home as a place of rest, comfort and love, not only for our family, but for every guest that graces our home. I love that about her!
There are so many other things I could say about my wife, but for the purposes of this blog entry, I had better quit. Since I know you are one of the three reading this Teresa, let me say one more thing to you….(the rest of you can log off now-yes, that means you mom, and dad)…
I LOVE YOU…more than you will ever know!
Your devoted (albeit incredibly stupid sometimes) husband,
Greg
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