Echoes

The past four days are like a whirlwind to me. My life has been filled with friends and family that I have been blessed with. There have been happy moments and sad moments.

I have seen the pain on friends faces as they told me of how they are hurting in their marriage. A realization of how he failed his wife and hurt her. Words from another that he is tired of trying and not getting any results. Another yet as they shared the hottest topic in their marriage.

These conversations heavy my heart. These conversations echo inside of me the brokenness of world, the brokenness that touched me as a 12 year old child and again as a 32 year old man. These conversations echo inside of me the need for God's redemption in our lives.

I enjoyed the privilege of attending Nick and Abbey Wagenmaker's wedding this weekend.  As I prepared myself for this wedding, as I listened to the wedding, and as I talked with my friends in attendance, there was something else that echoed in my heart...the truth that we were created to know and be known intimately.

This truth is perhaps one of the most difficult things to honor about ourselves though because we get hurt along the way (either by things that shouldn't have happened to us or by the absence of things that should have) and we want to protect ourselves from that same hurt.

Today, my journey is about overcoming my defenses and learning to relate in a deeper way. That is really just a fancy way of me saying I am learning to trust God and people with the parts of me that can be hurt the most. Progress has been made, but there is much more to be done.

Let me finish with this thought:

The world and the evil one are continually trying to pull every marriage apart. They are trying to take the one you have committed to before and with God and separate it into two. They use busyness of life, our past hurts, and current stresses to isolate us from the intimate we were created for.

Please live with that knowledge and please plan accordingly with your life, whatever and however that means for you. For me, as a divorced man who hopes to remarry, it means to continue dealing with my issues so that whenever it may be the right time to be in a committed relationship that I can offer myself as completely as possible to her.