| Ephesians 5:25 – “As for husbands, love your wives just like Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.” |
We are keeping our grandson for a few days while his sister is greeting the world from the hospital. My wife, (Grammy), was heating up our dinner, and had sliced up some french bread, buttered it, and was broiling it. She forgot to set the timer, and as we began to smell the bread getting a little torched, she removed it from the flames. It was blackish in places, but I took the worst pieces for myself. As I ate them, my thoughts went back to my grandmother Hazel. She liked her toast blackish. Crunchy. We even nicknamed the highest dial marker on the toaster the “granny” setting. When I smell slightly scorched bread, I think of her. I also wanted to spare my wife having to eat it. I have a heightened sense of appreciation for her these days. I watch the way she gives her undivided attention to our grandson Milo. I see the care she gives to me, her husband of 33 plus years. She is pretty, and I see the beauty inside as well. We are best friends, and I feel blessed that my wife is my best friend. Jesus said “the two will become one flesh.” Sometimes I can finish her sentences, and even know what she is going to say before she says it. She can tell what I am thinking by the look on my face, sometimes. She can tell when I am fabricating something to pull her leg or tease her. Our marriage didn’t start out this way. It has taken us 33 plus years of experimentation, trial and error, trying and trying again, to arrive where we are today.
There was a time I did not think we would stay together. Not that I wanted out, but I didn’t think I was strong enough to hold on. It was like centrifugal forces were pulling us apart. I am very grateful to God that we are still “one flesh.” Satan works on us and would love to split us up. We hold hands when we pray, and that reminds me that we are still together. I wear the ring she gave me so long ago. Engraved inside the band: are my initials and 11-11-89, our wedding day. As the wedding is the marker of the beginning of marriage, so is baptism the beginning of a life in Christ. Father in heaven, thank You for baptism, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
– Jeff Beall
